Samsung is this week facing backlash from fans after it emerged that the South Korean company is throttling more than 10,000 apps on almost all its phones. It is believed a feature that cannot be disabled is to blame.
The “performance limits” have been in place for years, some reports claim. However, Samsung carefully avoids throttling popular benchmarking apps so that its devices still achieve impressive scores.
Samsung throttles Android apps
If you browse Reddit and other online forums, you’ll find plenty of complaints from Galaxy smartphone users who are disappointed with the performance they’re seeing in demanding games like Genshin Impact and Call of Duty.
That’s despite the fact that Samsung’s latest handsets pack the fastest Exynos and Qualcomm chipsets on the market today. But as it turns out, the company is intentionally reducing performance in more than 10,000 apps and games.
A built-in feature called “Game Optimizing Service,” which users are unable to disable themselves, is said to be imposing limits not only on demanding games, but also apps like Microsoft Office, Netflix, and TikTok.
Samsung unsurprisingly leaves out benchmarks apps like 3DMark, AntTuTu, and Geekbench so that its devices still achieve decent scores. Users just don’t get the same level of performance inside other apps.
Samsung fans aren’t happy
One Korean YouTuber published a video that demonstrated the difference throttling makes by performing two 3D Mark benchmark tests. In one, they used the regular 3D Mark app. In another, they used an app disguised as a game.
3D Mark reported an overall performance score of 2,618 when the device — a new Galaxy S22 Ultra — identified the app as 3D Mark. But when the same app was identified at Genshin Impact, it reported a score of 1,141.
Photo: 네모난꿈
That’s a significant difference, and Galaxy smartphone owners are understandably upset. Online forums have become filled with complaints from outraged Samsung fans who had no idea this was happening.
Of course, Samsung has never disclosed the practice publicly. It wasn’t until another Korean user discovered it this week that others started carrying out their own tests and the tactic was brought to light.
But why would Samsung do this?
You might be wondering why Samsung would intentionally make its smartphones slower. It likely has something to do with battery life. Allowing most mobile chips to run at full performance uses significantly more energy.
Samsung likely decided that battery life was more important to the majority. It also had to compete with significant battery life improvements made by other smartphone manufacturers, including Apple, in recent years.
It’s not the first time a company has been caught throttling its own phones, either. OnePlus did the same with its 9 Pro flagship last year, and Apple was famously sued when it finally admitting throttling older devices in 2017.
Korean website Naver reports that Samsung is approaching this problem seriously and conducting an internal investigation to find out exactly what’s going on. It is expected to make an official statement soon.
Via: Android Authority
