Google won’t let Google Maps, Waze, and other apps use Pixel 4’s Smooth Display – The Verge

Pixel 4 XL. We haven’t yet been able to evaluate ourselves if these apps are unable to perform at 90Hz, however Android Police validated that Google Maps and Waze just performed at 60Hz on its Pixel 4.

For Google Maps, Pokémon Go, and Waze, it’s not too surprising that Google may have locked them to a more standard 60Hz. All of those apps are already huge battery drainers, considering that they simultaneously utilize your phone’s GPS, cellular radio, GPU, and keep the screen on for extended periods of time. Performing at 90Hz would, in theory, suck up battery even faster. (And Niantic obviously capped Pokémon Go at 30 fps

earlier this year, anyhow.)

Google apparently won’t let Google Maps, Pokemon Go, Waze, and WeChat utilize the Pixel 4’s “Smooth Display” function to perform at 90Hz, according to an explicit blacklist that

XDA Developers ‘Mishaal Rahman and 9to5Google found in obvious source code for the Pixel 4 and

Maybe someday Google will let these apps perform at 90Hz

It does not make as much sense why WeChat may not be permitted to run at 90Hz, however Google’s source code for the Pixel 4 obviously

says that the app has “bad performance”at the

Let’s hope that Google follows through with its software updates and discovers a way to let you utilize Smooth Display at lower brightness levels– and, maybe one day, let the apps that are obviously locked at 60Hz make the most of the 90Hz screen in a battery-friendly method.

greater refresh rate. Smooth Display hasn’t discussed as efficiently as Google might have hoped. Previously today,

some Redditors If its screen is at 75 percent brightness or lower, figured out that the Pixel 4’s refresh rate falls to 60Hz. Google informed us that upcoming software application updates will enable 90Hz “in more brightness conditions,” so in the future, you might be able to use Smooth Display when the screen isn’t as bright.

dedicates: The display uses different gamma curves for different refresh rates. It’s difficult for panel vendor to tune the curves to have exact same brightness for various refresh rate. So flicker could be observed at switch time. The issue is even worse at the gamma lower end. In addition, human eyes are more conscious the flicker at darker environment. To prevent flicker, we only support higher refresh rates if the display screen brightness is above a limit. And the darker environment could have greater threshold.

We may now know why Google disabled 90Hz at lower brightness, by the way: commits discovered in Android 10’s source code by

XDA Developers state it’s since you would have seen the screen flicker as the refresh rate modifications. Here’s a more technical description from one of the

For Google Maps, Pokémon Go, and Waze, it’s not too unexpected that Google might have locked them to a more basic 60Hz. Smooth Display hasn’t gone over as smoothly as Google might have hoped.: The display uses different gamma curves for various refresh rates. It’s difficult for panel supplier to tune the curves to have specific same brightness for various refresh rate. To avoid flicker, we just support greater refresh rates if the display screen brightness is above a limit.

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