Windows Phone 8.1’s Battery Power Sense will bring fine-grain control over apps

The SDK leak for Windows Phone 8.1 keeps churning up little tidbits. Earlier today, the big news was the swipe-keyboard function, shown in a hands on video. This afternoon, a new morsel has shed some light onto the new Battery Power Sense.

Currently in Windows Phone 8, consumers have a Battery Saver section under settings. That looks to be renamed to Battery Power Sense, with Battery Saver falling under it in 8.1. It will offer deeper level functionality, including seeing specifically which apps draw the most juice from your battery.

That in and of itself is a supremely useful feature, but you will also be able to override Battery Saver for specific apps. Battery Saver is a unique tool that shuts down non-essential apps from running in the background when the battery hits 20%. It’s a user option, and it can even be turned on manually and turn back off when plugged in—it’s pretty smart.

However, say you wanted Battery Saver on, but you need WhatsApp running to check for new incoming messages? In 8.1, you will be able to add that app – and others – to an exclusion list, bypassing Battery Saver. That fine grain control is what a lot of users are looking for, instead of the current all or nothing approach.

Windows Phone Central has independently confirmed that this feature is present in 8.1, though the final UI may look different upon release.

It’s the little things in 8.1 that will make the user experience go a long way. Read our full feature list of 8.1 right here for more details.

Thanks, Alessandro Spisso (https://twitter.com/ilGianfri@ilGianfri), for the screenshot!

Daniel Rubino is the Editor-in-chief of Windows Central. He is also the head reviewer, podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been covering Microsoft since 2007 when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, laptops, next-gen computing, and wearable tech. He has reviewed laptops for over 10 years and is particularly fond of 2-in-1 convertibles, Arm64 processors, new form factors, and thin-and-light PCs. Before all this tech stuff, he worked on a Ph.D. in linguistics, performed polysomnographs in NYC, and was a motion-picture operator for 17 years.