The "which apps are using battery" feature is easily useable by novice users.
However most phone vendors incorrectly assume "background connections" will drain battery life despite evidence to the contrary.
Phone vendors have a vested interest though in forcing developers to use their proprietary "push" feature for syncing to phones, they say it's for "battery life" but really its about vendor lock in.
A well engineered app can sync over its own TCP connection just fine and not hurt battery life, but then such an app can work on any device, not just blessed Android builds that have access to GCM.
However most phone vendors incorrectly assume "background connections" will drain battery life despite evidence to the contrary.
Phone vendors have a vested interest though in forcing developers to use their proprietary "push" feature for syncing to phones, they say it's for "battery life" but really its about vendor lock in.
A well engineered app can sync over its own TCP connection just fine and not hurt battery life, but then such an app can work on any device, not just blessed Android builds that have access to GCM.