Google Maps' New Power Saving Mode Only Works on One Type of Phone, and That Stinks

If you have a Pixel phone, there's good news, and bad news. The good news? Google is releasing a handful of new features for your device, via its November Pixel Drop. And among the new changes, like Google Photos' Nano Banana upgrade, is something genuinely useful: a new power saving mode for Google Maps. The bad news? Your Pixel probably doesn't support it.

According to Google, the new Power Saving Mode is simple to use. Whenever you want to spare your battery some excess power consumption while using driving directions in Google Maps, you can tap a new power button in the app. Once you do, Google Maps will shift into a "simplified layout": From Google's press release image, this turns the map black and white, with no discernible elements other than the road, your driving arrow, ETA, and upcoming turns. The feature currently only works with driving directions, so you won't see the option for walking or biking directions, nor can you use it in landscape.

Credit: Google

Google says this new layout can save your Pixel's battery life for up to four hours—though that depends on a number of factors, including the assumption that your phone is charged to 100% at the start, and that brightness is set at P90 and Adaptive Brightness is disabled. But if that's true, it could be huge: If you're on a road trip without power, that can keep your phone going much longer. You could either eke out another four hours of navigation time in the car, or actually have some battery to spare when you reach your destination.

Why is this a Pixel 10 exclusive?

But before all the Pixel owners of the world get too excited, the feature comes with disappointing fine print. Only Pixel 10 devices—meaning Pixel 10, Pixel 10 Pro, Pixel 10 Pro XL, and Pixel 10 Pro Fold—can use Power Saving Mode in Google Maps. Google: What gives?

Google doesn't actually offer any explanation as to why Power Saving Mode is exclusive to its newest line of Pixels. As Android Central notes, the feature likely takes advantage of Android's upcoming AOD Min Mode, which lets apps use the device's Always-on Display to save power while running visually simplistic versions of their programs. AOD Min Mode isn't widely available to developers yet, and will likely arrive with Android 17, but it doesn't seem exclusive to Pixel 10—or Pixel, for that matter. Most Android phones these days have Always-on Displays, so AOD Min Mode should theoretically work with them—not just phones released this year.

If I had to guess, Google won't keep this feature locked to the Pixel 10 line forever. The company is probably using this limited rollout as an opportunity to test out AOD Min Mode with a smaller pool of users. Since the Pixel 10 series is the company's newest set of devices, it'd be a prime candidate for a test. The company could then take the feedback and analytics from this beta, and use it to help developers better optimize their apps for this experience. Perhaps then, Google would expand support to more Pixel devices, or more Android devices in general.

For now, however, only Pixel 10 users can try out Power Saving Mode in Google Maps. I don't have one of these newest Pixels, but if I did, I wouldn't be surprised if I just kept this mode on all the time. Frankly, it looks cool, and if it saves me battery at the same time, all the better.

Google seems to be making battery life savings a priority. Starting next year, the company will start dinging apps that excessively wake the display, either by removing those apps from Play Store discovery pages, or by issuing a warning to users on the app's Play Store page itself.

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