Android 13 May Cut Game Loading Times By A Lot

When you’re loading a game, it’s not only on the CPU and GPU to carry the load. The software has to do a lot of heavy lifting. Well, Android 13 might find a way to make the process of getting the game up and running faster. This seems like something that was originally planned for Android 12, but it didn’t really pan out.

How will Android 13 reduce game loading times?

It’s all about how the game communicates with the software while it’s loading. A new method was added to the Android GameManager API called setGameState. This API will let the platform know the game’s state. This matters because it can let the platform know that it’s actively loading something. When it does this, the game will pass a hint to the power HAL to boost the CPU’s performance. Boosting the CPU’s performance for that task will increase the game’s loading speed. This means that the game’s loading times will depend on the phone’s hardware, but we should still see some improvements overall. The CPU will dedicate more power to the task of loading the game and then go back to managing other things afterward. In order to prioritize the game’s loading, it’s possible that other processes will see a dip in power. Background processes like programs running in the background will take a hit, but you probably won’t notice.

This could only be for certain devices

While it’s neat that game loading times will improve, there’s a catch. It comes in the form of a program called the Google Requirements Freeze (GRF). Basically, when a phone receives a platform update, the company behind that phone’s SoC doesn’t need to update its side of the software. Here’s a better explanation. While that’s a good thing, this program might make it so that some devices that upgrade to Android 13 from an older platform won’t be able to boost the CPU’s power. Right now, this is still up in the air, as this is code discovered in the software. There was no official announcement given by Google just yet. However, we can’t rule out this being discussed during Google I/O when it happens next month.