Android phones ship with a lot of Google features switched on by default, and most of them are useful one way or another. The only issue is they all drain your phone’s battery in the background. For me, some of them are certainly not worth the battery they cost and also easy to live without. So these are the Google features I always give up on every phone I use.

Now Playing is the first to go

No wonder other phones haven’t adopted this

This one is Pixel-only. Now Playing is a fun feature that identifies songs playing around you. What makes it convenient is that you don’t need to trigger it manually.

But that’s also a problem. For it to catch a song, your phone’s microphone has to be listening more or less constantly. And honestly, I haven’t found myself actually using that information much. So yes, giving it up is an easy decision. You can do the same by heading to Settings > Sounds and Vibration > Now Playing and turning off the toggle.

“Hey Google” detection is a bit too much

I’d rather just use the side button

Now Playing isn’t the only feature that keeps your phone’s microphone awake around the clock. By default, your phone is also listening for “Hey Google” so it can fire up Gemini the second you say the magic phrase.

It’s not like I don’t use Gemini, I do. But most of the time I’d rather just double-press the side button or open the app directly. It’s just the way I’ve triggered Google Assistant for years, mostly because it’s quicker, and partly because I don’t love announcing to everyone in the room that I’m talking to my phone.

And since I’m never actually using the wake word, my phone is basically listening for something that isn’t coming, which hurts the battery life. To turn it off, head to Gemini Settings > Talk to Gemini hands-free and turn off Hey Google toggle.

Stop Google Maps from tracking movements 24×7

I don’t remember checking my location history ever

Google Maps doesn’t just wake up when you open it to get directions somewhere. It also logs your location in the background pretty much all the time. It’s not enabled by default, but it’s easy to opt in without realizing, usually when you’re setting up your phone or using Google Maps for the first time.

This all runs through the Timeline feature, and the idea is to help you remember everywhere you’ve been with exact timestamps. Later, you can dive into your location history to recall the name of the café you went to in another city or relive a vacation through your own location history.

For years, I kept this feature enabled hoping it’d eventually be useful some day. That day never actually came, and all of that data collected almost felt like a waste. Also, it’s not exactly fun to know your location history is recorded around the clock.

To disable it, tap the Google Maps profile picture and choose Your Timeline. Tap the three-dot icon at the top and choose Location & privacy settings. Finally, tap Timeline is on and turn it off.

My apps are fine without Google Location Accuracy

Guess what? It’s optional

Google Location Accuracy is a feature that constantly scans nearby Wi-Fi networks, Bluetooth devices, and cell towers for one thing, which is to improve location accuracy. But that extra accuracy comes at the expense of battery life. Your phone is constantly scanning for these things even when you’re not using location services at all.

More importantly, most of your apps can work just fine without that extra accuracy. Your phone still has GPS and other sensors to detect your location whenever needed. Google also mentions it uses this data for its own “legitimate interests” and those of third-parties, which is vague enough to make me want to opt out even more.

To turn it off, head to Settings > Location > Location services > Location Accuracy and disable the toggle.

Stop Chrome’s background activity

Background Chrome is still Chrome

Chrome comes preinstalled on pretty much every Android phone, and unless you’ve taken the time to disable it, it might be draining your phone’s battery right now. Chrome’s cross-device syncing, webpage preloading, and site notifications all work behind the scenes, which increases the battery usage, sometimes unnecessarily.

Head to the battery usage menu on your phone and you’ll see how much battery Chrome is using even with very little screen time. The good thing here is that you can disable all these unnecessary features individually from Chrome’s settings. Or, if you want a quick fix, open its app info page, go to Battery, and choose Restricted.

You’ll still be able to browse with Chrome as before. It’s just that Chrome won’t be able to do anything once you exit it.