In this guide, we will show you the steps to fix the issue of the Restricted App Battery Usage option missing for an app on your Android device. The OS gives you the option to place restrictive measures on an app, thereby preventing it from carrying out its functionalities in the backend. The obvious benefit of this is the saving of battery juice as well as network bandwidth.
But on the flip side, the app might not function along the expected lines as it might not be able to carry out some of its tasks in this restrictive environment [such as server-side sync and notifications]. Therefore, the OS has given you complete control over this feature by allowing you to select from three different modes:
Unrestricted: The app is allowed to carry out all its tasks in the backend without having to worry about battery drainage.
Optimized: It maintains an equilibrium between the backend tasks that an app has been permitted to carry out and the resultant battery drain.
Restricted: The app isn’t allowed to carry out most of these tasks in the background. The notifications might be delayed and sync might not even take place.
While optimized is the default as well as the recommended option, however, you may choose from either of the three as per your need. Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be the case for many. Numerous users have said that instead of the Unrestricted, Optimized, and Restricted options, they now only get a single Allow Background Usage toggle.
So while they can instruct the OS to allow or prevent an app from working in the background, they cannot have more granular controls over the same. As a result of this, they are only left with two extreme options: either to allow the app to consume all the battery in the backend or completely prevent it from doing so, there is no in-between. Fortunately, there does exist a nifty method using which you could easily rectify this issue. So without further ado, let’s check it out.
Fix Restricted App Battery Usage Missing on Android
First and foremost, let’s address the elephant in the room- it’s not a bug but rather an intended feature. Beginning with Android 14 QPR2 and Android 15 DP1, this menu has been revamped. So instead of being visible right under the App Battery Usage section, these options have been transferred inside the Allow Background Usage section.
So you just need to tap on that menu [not on the toggle, the text to the left of it] and you’ll get hold of the Optimized and Unrestricted options. But what about Restricted? Well, in that case, you just need to disable the Allow Background Usage toggle altogether. So these were the steps to fix the issue of the Restricted App Battery Usage option missing for an app on your Android device.
Truth be told, there wasn’t a need as such to tweak the UI of this menu. And even if they did that, they could have at least laid down the instructions that the option has now been buried inside that menu. But that is not the case and you’ll have to get hold of this new way of accessing this menu, so instruct your muscle memory to get used to it sooner than later!
Optimized and Restricted Battery Missing: Is it a Bug?
If you are unable to find the Optimized and Restricted battery settings for any app, then fret not, it’s not due to any UI/UX bug, instead, this is an intended change from Google and this is how things will work from now on. The said options haven’t been removed, it has just been buried inside the Allow Background Usage section and this is the reason why many users are unable to get hold of these options.
The tech giant could have done a slightly better job in placing these options somewhere easily accessible or left them in their original place, as was the case with Android 14. Sometimes, making a change simply for the sake of it doesn’t make much sense and this is the perfect example of the same! What are your views on the same? Do let us know in the comments section below.
Is There Any Other Way to Prevent Apps from Using Battery?
If you wish to prevent all or rather most of the apps from accessing battery in the backend, then disabling the Allow background usage toggle for each app will end up taking ages. Therefore, a much better approach will be to simply enable the Battery Saver mode. This will require just a couple of taps and will subsequently prevent all the apps from using battery in the background.
As far as enabling this feature is concerned, you could simply do so from the Quick Settings toggle or by heading over to Settings > Battery and enabling the toggle next to Battery Saver. To take it to the next level, you could even select the Extreme Battery Saver, which, apart from preventing the app’s background activity, will even end up pausing most of the non-essential apps! [you have complete control to customize this list of essential apps].
