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New Samsung app GameDriver promises better performance, fast driver updates
- Samsung has launched an app called Samsung GameDriver.
- The app will increase performance with certain games and phones, while also allowing for GPU driver updates through the Play Store.
- Although limited in scope at the moment, this app could be a big deal eventually.
In December 2020, Samsung announced the launch of a new Android app: GameDriver. You can find it at the Google Play Store by clicking here (Adreno/Qualcomm models) or here (Mali/Exynos models).
On the outset, the app doesn’t seem too notable. It claims to offer better gaming performance on a select few Samsung Android phones. However, it only supports a handful of games at the moment and you must play those games on a Galaxy S20 or Note 20 device. As of this writing, it does not yet support the more recent Galaxy S21 phone series.
In the future, though, Samsung GameDriver could be a game-changer.
Samsung GameDriver: Why it could be a big deal
Samsung promises that the new app will eventually work on more of its devices and be compatible with more games. Right now, it only works on two phone families and with three games: Call of Duty: Mobile, Black Desert, and Fortnite. Those are some huge titles, but still a very limited selection.
The big deal about GameDriver, though, is that it will allow Samsung to issue hardware driver updates without needing to issue a system-wide update. That means GPU tweaks and upgrades would come through the Play Store. This knocks down a significant barrier, as slow operating system updates are usually partially the fault of carriers, which need to test and approve updates before pushing them to users.
Play Store updates, though, are far less stringent. Theoretically, Samsung could push an update to all of its GameDriver users in a matter of days or even hours. That is great news.
Granted, this will all depend on whether or not Samsung keeps its promise to make GameDriver available to more phones and work with more games. If it can’t do that, then the app will basically be DOA.