How much of this should be blamed on Google? iOS only allows certain types of apps to run in the background unfettered - audio, navigation, Bluetooth communications apps (like the Pebble) and third party calling apps. Other types of apps can be periodically awakened by the OS (background app refresh), but the OS decides how often they can be awaken based on the frequency of interaction and a few other heuristics. In low power mode, apps that do background app refresh don’t get CPU time(?) and you can control which apps allowed to run in the background.

This allows the OS to distinguish between apps that always need to work in the background and those that don’t. The only drawback is server type apps. While VLC will keep playing audio in the background, I don’t believe the http server that allows you to copy media over a web interface to your phone will work over an extended period of time unless you’re playing audio at the same time.