Samsung may block performance of 10,000 apps (updated)

Update: March 3, 2022 (1:27 AM ET): It looks like Samsung is investigating the GOS issue described below. According to the information spread NavigatorThe company is conducting an internal investigation and is taking the issue as seriously as the Galaxy Note 7 failure. Samsung is expected to release an official announcement on the matter soon.

Original article: March 2, 2022 (2:49 PM ET): Over the years we have seen many instances where smartphone manufacturers limit the performance of a certain number of apps in order to restore battery life. Now, it looks like Samsung might do the same.

The so-called list is not just for games, as you will find significant applications here such as Instagram, Microsoft Office applications, Netflix, Google Keep and Dictoc. Listed here are also Samsung’s own apps and services such as Secure Folder, Samsung Cloud, Samsung Bay, Samsung Pass and Dialer.

Not surprisingly, benchmark apps like 3DMark, Antutu, PCMark, GFXBench and GeekBench 5 are not listed here. This means that Samsung standard apps are not subject to throttling. A Korean YouTube He went so far as to change the name of the 3DMark package (which appears in the list) and run the scale to reflect Jens’ influence. The renamed package reached a significantly lower reference score and average frame rate. See the screenshot below with the renamed package on the left.

For its value, the application does not appear to be installed Galaxy S22 series Units. It appears in the Galaxy Store, but pressing “Install” indicates that the application is not compatible with my S22 Plus review device. This is not the case with Galaxy S20 FE and Galaxy S10e devices. However, a team member reported seeing the app on their Galaxy S21 Plus and confirmed that it could not be disabled.

On the other hand, it is understood that smartphone makers will try to balance performance and battery life for multiple applications. On the other hand, there is a clear argument that users are not getting the performance they demand. It is doubtful that standardization applications are included here, meaning that these results do not represent actual experience.

This is not the first time we have seen a mobile phone manufacturer engage in such protocol questionable practices. OnePlus was Capture It “improved” the performance of popular apps with the OnePlus 9 Pro last year, but it also removed the benchmark apps from the throes.

We contacted Samsung representatives to see if this list is accurate and to determine what GOS does in these applications. We also asked the company if modular applications are subject to GOS. Samsung will return to us / update the article.