As more is being learned about Android 13, specifics about what the update will be adding to Android TV are being uncovered. We already know that Android TV 13 will expand on the operating system’s Picture-in-Picture capabilities and now it looks like it will also add a new low power standby mode, as spotted by Esper (via Phone Arena). The new mode goes beyond the standard standby mode in existing Android TV devices to further lower power usage when the devicew is not in use.

For the most part, standby or sleep mode on streaming devices like Fire TVs and Android TVs just signal to apps that the device is not being used and blackout the display. They don’t go much further to reduce power usage and the streaming device can still perform background tasks while in standby or sleep mode. The new lower power mode being included with Android TV 13 goes further by placing restrictions on apps while the device is in this mode. More specifically, network access is blocked while in low power standby mode, which doesn’t occur during standard standby or sleep mode.

I suspect this new low power mode is being added to comply with power consumption regulations in the European Union, which is stricter than those in the US. The EU requires devices to use very little power when not in use and those requirements are becoming stricter in the near future. Amazon added deeper sleep modes in Fire OS 7 for devices used in Europe, to comply with the stricter EU requirements, and it looks like Google is now doing the same for Android TV devices with Android TV 13.