Tag: Game Optimizing Service

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Samsung starts rolling out promised fix for GOS app throttling

Samsung started rolling out its promised fix for the ongoing performance throttling issue plaguing its flagship Galaxy S devices.

XDA Developers spotted reports from Galaxy S22 series users in South Korea who received an update that adds a “Game Performance Management Mode” to the Game Booster app. That should allow users to override the Game Optimizing Service (GOS) performance throttling and eek more performance out of their handsets (as long as they’re willing to put up with some extra heat and reduced battery life).

At the time of publication, Samsung hadn’t provided a timeline of when the update would arrive in other regions.

It also remains unclear if the update fully addresses the problem.

Users accused Samsung of throttling the performance of some 10,000 apps with GOS, including games, social media apps, and more. In a recently published FAQ page, Samsung said GOS didn’t impact anything beyond games.

Samsung has been under fire for its implementation of GOS, particularly because the performance throttling didn’t apply to benchmarking apps. Some felt that by not applying throttling to benchmarking apps, results weren’t an accurate portrayal of real-world performance. The debacle resulted in GeekBench removing results for Galaxy S flagships dating back to the S10 line over “benchmark manipulation.”

Hopefully, the update from Samsung sufficiently corrects the problem. If not, the GOS debacle could continue to tarnish the company’s reputation going forward.

Source: XDA Developers Via: Engadget

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Samsung FAQ page addresses concerns about app throttling with GOS

Samsung published a frequently asked questions (FAQ) page on its South Korean website addressing some of the concerns around its Game Optimizing Service (GOS), which was at the heart of recent controversy around the company.

For those who haven’t followed the GOS debacle, the short version is that Samsung’s optimization software throttled performance across thousands of apps (one list put the total at 10,000). Following the outcry, Samsung said it would issue an update that allowed customers to disable GOS on their Galaxy smartphones.

The GOS issue impacted Galaxy S series smartphones dating back to the S10 line and led to Geekbench delisting performance scores for those devices for “benchmark manipulation.” The debacle has even sparked a preliminary investigation from South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission into Samsung’s Galaxy S22 advertising.

Fast forward to now, and the new FAQ posted by Samsung seeks to explain away some of the (admittedly well-earned) ire against the company.

Spotted by Android Authority and machine translated from Korean, the FAQ reiterates the incoming software update and clarifies it will add a performance priority toggle. Samsung says that enabling the toggle will bring a performance boost of “approximately 10 frames” based on one game.

Interestingly, Samsung also claims in the FAQ that the list of 10,000 apps supposedly throttled by GOS was actually for determining whether an installed app was a game or not. Specifically, Samsung claims GOS “does not work with regular apps other than games.”

The FAQ page also addressed the issue of GOS not impacting performance for benchmarking apps. In short, Samsung says that benchmark tools aren’t games, and therefore GOS doesn’t apply — not a great line of reasoning overall.

Finally, and perhaps one of the few positive revelations in the FAQ, is Samsung’s commitment to offering free repairs to phones even if users turn off GOS (assuming the phone is still under warranty, of course). That should alleviate any concerns about turning off GOS.

Those interested can check out the full FAQ here.

Source: Samsung Via: Android Authority

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Samsung says an update is coming to address throttling issue

Samsung officially addressed reports that its ‘Game Optimizing Service’ (GOS) software was throttling performance in thousands of apps. The company says an update with an option to disable GOS is on the way.

In a statement to The Verge, Samsung spokesperson Kelly Yeo said:

“We value the feedback we receive about our products and after careful consideration, we plan to roll out a software update soon so users can control the performance while running game apps. Our priority is to deliver the best mobile experience for consumers. The Game Optimizing Service (GOS) has been designed to help game apps achieve a [sic] great performance while managing device temperature effectively. GOS does not manage the performance of non-gaming apps.”

The response comes after reports claimed several Samsung phones throttled the performance of some 10,000 apps, which included social media services like Instagram and TikTok, games such as Genshin Impact, and more.

GeekBench delisted Galaxy S devices impacted by GOS throttling

The throttling did not apply to benchmarking apps, which meant results from those apps didn’t reflect real-world performance. That led GeekBench, one of the more popular benchmarking services, to delist Galaxy S devices ranging back to the S10 series for “benchmark manipulation.” It’s worth noting that Galaxy Note and Galaxy A series phones are not included in this and don’t seem to have the same GOS throttling.

Moreover, Android Police analyzed the GOS code and noted that the throttling is quite sophisticated. GOS appears to balance various parameters, including temperature, expected battery level, CPU speed, and predicted FPS benefits when determining what resources a game gets. In other words, the tuning happening with GOS likely varies between different games and apps, as well as devices.

Along with the statement offered to The Verge, Samsung confirmed the authenticity of a statement shared to the Samsung Members app that was translated to English and shared widely on Twitter.

As for when users can expect an update, Samsung hasn’t yet shared a timeline.

Several publications have drawn parallels to OnePlus, which was caught in a similar situation last year. OnePlus tried to explain away the throttling as a battery life optimization feature before ultimately adding an option to let users turn it off.

Perhaps the most frustrating part of this is the lack of transparency. In both cases, I think if OnePlus and Samsung had been upfront with users, said the phones included a throttling mechanic to extend battery life, and provided an option to enable it or not, there wouldn’t have been a big debacle. The secrecy, however, soured people on the feature.

Source: The Verge

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Samsung reportedly looking into service that’s throttling apps on its phones

Samsung is investigating an issue with its ‘Game Optimizing Service’ that could be responsible for limiting the performance of as many as 10,000 apps. Thankfully, the problem may not be widespread.

Android Authority detailed reports from Twitter user ‘GaryeonHan‘ and other people from South Korea who created a list of 10,000 apps that are apparently subjected to “performance limits” from the Game Optimizing Service (GOS). The list isn’t limited to games — it includes tons of prominent apps, like Instagram, Microsoft’s Office apps, Netflix, Google Keep, TikTok, and more. GOS even restricts some of Samsung’s apps, including Samsung Cloud, Pay, Pass, and the dialer app.

Moreover, GOS doesn’t include benchmark apps. Interestingly, Android Authority highlighted a video from Korean YouTuber who tweaked the 3DMark benchmark app to appear as the game Genshin Impact — which does appear on the list. The tweaked 3DMark had its performance limited, resulting in a lower score and reduced framerate.

Screenshot comparing 3DMark performance between normal and ‘tweaked’ app to force GOS | Credit: Android Authority

This all looks pretty bad, but there are a few things to know before you start worrying about your fancy new S22 Ultra not performing as well as it should. First, Samsung is looking into this, at least according to information circulating on Korean blog platform Naver. Hopefully, this will lead to a resolution for those dealing with performance issues.

The other thing to keep in mind is the problem may not impact certain phone models. Android Authority reports that the GOS app isn’t installed on its Galaxy S22 series devices. The app appears on the Galaxy Store, but can’t be installed. The same applies to the S20 FE and S10e. The same seems to be true in Canada — we couldn’t find GOS on the Galaxy Store at all on an S22 Ultra.

Regardless, it’s frustrating when manufacturers limit performance on devices. Several Android manufacturers have gotten a bad rap for restricting background apps to conserve battery life. Samsung is already among the worst offenders for that (at least according to dontkillmyapp.com) and this GOS debacle won’t help that.

Source: @GaryeonHan Via: Android Authority