Android is all great with its massive catalog of features and more, however, it lacks one of the most-desired features that iOS offers i.e. Battery Health Checker. The wait is likely to be over soon as Android 14 has rolled out BatteryManager API in its latest iteration which could bring up exciting insights about the battery on your phone.
According to Mishaal Rahman (of Esper.io), the BatteryManager API is built to provide users with key insights about their batteries. It includes information such as original capacity, charge cycles, charging status, date of first use, charging policy, manufacturing date, and the state of battery health.
The API is already available as a part of Android 14 Beta 2 (and higher) on Pixel devices at the moment although we could see it rolling out across non-Google smartphones too.
You might ask why this feature is important. As of now, there’s no way of saying what’s the battery health on Android except for a few signs such as the Screen-On-Time (SOT), battery backup, if the battery is getting overheated among others. As batteries deteriorate with every charge cycle, you might get less output from the same battery over a period of time.
With the battery health checking feature onboard, one can easily check out the aforementioned key insights about any battery. It is especially worth it if you are buying a used smartphone where battery health could make or break the deal.
Developed @narektor created a battery health call called Batt that lets you access battery health statistics on their devices. Do note that it might not be wholly accurate but until the feature gets native support from Google or other OEMs on non-Google phones, the app can work as a temporary resort. As of now, the app is available via GitLab and you can download it right away.
The feature was removed from the Android 14 Beta 1 build and instead, got onboard on Beta 2. Of course, there are chances that Google could skip or turn off the feature on Android 14 builds and instead, roll it out on Android 15 which will arrive next year. Battery Health Checking is one of the most user-requested features and getting hands on it will probably make Android more in line with iOS’ battery health feature.
