Methods, systems, and devices are described for managing wake locks in a wireless communication device. The described methods, systems and devices may enable a wireless communication device to monitor activity of an application for which a wake lock is held. The described approach may manage the wake lock based at least in part on the activity or inactivity of the application. For example, when the application is inactive or has activity below a particular threshold for a certain amount of time, the described approach may determine to release the wake lock.