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

If you own a Pixel phone, there’s good news and bad news. The good news? Google is launching a handful of new features for your device, via its November Pixel Drop. And among the new changes, like the Nano Banana upgrade to Google Photos, there’s something really 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 easy to use. Whenever you want to save your battery from excessive power consumption while using driving directions in Google Maps, you can press a new power button in the app. Once you do, Google Maps will switch to a “simplified layout”: from the image in Google’s press release, the map becomes 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 cycling directions, nor will you be able to use it in landscape mode.

Credit: Google

Google claims this new setup can save your Pixel’s battery for up to four hours, although this depends on a number of factors, including assuming your phone is 100% charged to begin with, brightness is set to P90, and adaptive brightness is turned off. But if true, it could be huge: If you’re going on a trip without power, it could keep your phone running for much longer. You can either save another four hours of car navigation or have battery power to spare when you reach your destination.

Why is this a Pixel 10 exclusive?

But before all the Pixel owners around the world get too excited, the feature comes with some disappointing fine print. Only Pixel 10 devices i.e. Pixel 10, Pixel 10 Pro, Pixel 10 Pro XL, and Pixel 10 Pro Fold can use power saving mode in Google Maps. Google: what does it give?

Google offers no explanation as to why power saving mode is exclusive to its new Pixel lineup. As Android Central notes, the feature likely takes advantage of Android’s upcoming AOD Min mode, which allows apps to 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 appear to be exclusive to the Pixel 10 – or the Pixel, for that matter. Most Android phones these days have always-on screens, 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 lineup forever. The company is likely using this limited rollout as an opportunity to test AOD Min mode with a smaller group of users. Given that the Pixel 10 series is the company’s latest set of devices, it would be a prime candidate for a review. The company could then leverage 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 power saving mode in Google Maps. I don’t have one of these newer pixels, but if I did I wouldn’t be surprised if I kept this mode on all the time. Honestly, it looks cool, and if it saves me battery at the same time, all the better.

Google seems to be making reducing battery life a priority. Starting next year, the company will start ringing up apps that wake up the screen excessively, either by removing these apps from Play Store discovery pages or by issuing a warning to users on the app’s Play Store page itself.