Robert Triggs / Android Authority
TL;
Update: March 3, 2022 (1:27 AM ET): Samsung appears to be investigating the GOS issue below. According to information published in Naver, the company is conducting an internal investigation and is treating the issue as seriously as the Galaxy Note 7 debacle. It is expected Also, Samsung will make an official announcement about it soon.
Original article: March 2, 2022 (2:49PM ET): We've seen many cases over the years of smartphone manufacturers reducing the performance of a number of apps, ostensibly in an effort to restore battery life. Now it appears that Samsung does the same.
The so-called list is not limited to games, here we see notable apps like Instagram, Microsoft Office apps, Netflix, Google Keep, and TikTok. Even Samsung's own apps and services are listed here, such as Secure Folder, Samsung Cloud, Samsung Pay, Samsung Pass, dialer.
It is not surprising to know that benchmarking applications such as 3DMark, Antutu, PCMark, GFXBench, and GeekBench 5 are not included here. This indicates that Samsung does not subject benchmarking applications to throttling. A Korean YouTuber went so far as to change the name of the 3DMark package to reflect Genshin's influence Impact (which appears in the menu) and ran the benchmark. The renamed package had much lower benchmarks and average frame rates. Check out the screenshot below, with the renamed package on the left.
For what it's worth, the app doesn't appear to be installed on Galaxy S22 series units. It shows up in the Galaxy Store, but pressing "Install" says the app isn't compatible with my review device S22 Plus. We also can't see it on Galaxy S20 devices FE and Galaxy S10e. However, a team member reported seeing the app on his Galaxy S21 Plus, and confirmed that it cannot be disabled.
READThis Cyber Monday Dell deal is almost up: Alienware RTX 3090 gaming PC for $3,199On the one hand, it's understandable that smartphone makers strive to balance performance and battery life for many applications. On the other hand, there is an argument It is particularly suspicious that benchmarking applications are not included here, which means that these results would not be representative of real-world experience.
Samsung didn't seem to learn from last year's stifling OnePlus saga.
This wouldn't be the first time we've seen a mobile phone manufacturer engage in such ethically questionable practices. OnePlus caught "improving" the performance of popular apps with the OnePlus 9 Pro last year, but that also spared benchmark apps from throttling.
We contacted Samsung representatives to see if this list is accurate and to determine what exactly the GOS is doing with these apps. We also asked the company if reference requests are subject to the GOS system. We will update the article if/when Samsung responds.
Akeem Ala“Social media addict. Zombie fanatic. I like to travel. Obsessed with music. Bacon expert.