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.

Samsung created an app called GOS and used the app to limit game performance, making the gaming experience worse. However, according to what the Korean community found out today, Samsung confirmed that it has put performance limits on more than 10,000 apps… pic.twitter.com/U58AreZZoo

— 한가련 (@GaryeonHan) March 2, 2022

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