Google has quietly added a new safeguard for Wear OS users who are tired of watching their smartwatch batteries melt away after installing flashy watch faces. 
With the latest Play Store update (version 47.7), listings for watch faces now include a warning if the design is considered power-hungry.
The feature is aimed at faces that pack in heavy animations, constantly changing data feeds, or frequent phone interactions – the kind that make your watch look slick but leave you scrambling for a charger by mid-afternoon. By flagging these designs upfront, Google is nudging users toward more efficient choices without banning creativity outright.
The rollout is happening in waves, so some users may notice the new warning sooner than others. For many, it’s a practical quality-of-life update that helps set expectations before hitting the download button. But others see it as another step in Google’s long-term tightening of what users can or can’t do with their devices, sparking speculation about where these restrictions might lead next.