Samsung phones could intentionally be making apps like Instagram, Netflix, and TikTok worse
The Korean smartphone giant has been accused of throttling apps with ‘performance limits’ without users’ knowledge
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Your support makes all the difference.Samsung is reportedly throttling the performance of 10,000 apps on its devices.
The Korean smartphone giant has apparently made apps subject to “performance limits” as part of its Game Optimizing Service – leading to reports being made on Twitter and pages upon pages of complaints in its forums in Korea.
The list of apps include Instagram, Microsoft’s Office apps, Netflix, Google Keep, and TikTok, Android Authority reports.
It even includes Samsung’s own Secure Folder, Samsung Cloud, Samsung Pay, Samsung Pass, and the phone app. Google’s main apps, including YouTube, Google Maps, the Play Store, Chrome, Gmail, and Google Play Services are also included.
However, it does not seem to affect benchmarking apps such as 3DMark and Geekbench, which means the devices might show as having faster performance than they do in reality.
One YouTuber renamed the 3DMark app to ‘Genshin Impact’ – a popular mobile game – and found that the Galaxy S22 Ultra they were testing on would begin throttling it.
It is not clear exactly which phones are using the Game Optimizing Service. Android Authority reports that it was not present on Galaxy S22 devices, the Galaxy S20 FE, or the Galaxy S10E, but it was find it on the Galaxy S21 Plus.
However, 9to5Google reports that the software was installed on their Galaxy S22 Plus.
This is not the first time that an Android manufacturer has been caught ‘optimizing’ phones performance. OnePlus performed similar actions on the 9 Pro – claiming that it was done for better battery life and heat resistance, but which also excluded benchmarking apps.
The Independent has reached out to Samsung for comment.
In a Korean announcement, quoted by XDA developers, the company said: “We would like to inform you about the Galaxy S22 GOS. We are continuously working to expand user options and provide optimal performance by collecting opinions from customers. The Samsung Galaxy S22 series’ GOS (Game Optimizing Service) is preloaded with our app ‘ that optimizes CPU and GPU performance to prevent excessive heat during long game play.”
Samsung continued: “In order to meet the needs of various customers recently, we plan to implement a SW update that provides a performance priority option in the game booster lab within the game launcher app as soon as possible. We will continue to listen to consumers’ opinions and do our best for customer satisfaction and consumer protection.”
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