Last December, Qualcomm announced the possibility of delivering GPU driver updates via the Google Play Store. Last month, the company added support for older chipsets and devices from Samsung and Google to be the first to get this feature.
Now it seems that Xiaomi became the first smartphone manufacturer in China to support this feature. The company has added a GPU driver update application to its App Store in China, which it claims is intended for independent updates to enhance the stability of games like Crash 3, Peace Elite, Fortnite, and others.
This new method of updating GPU drivers via the Play Store is welcome as it is much easier than the current solution. GPU drivers are currently packaged with system updates, so you need to get operator permission before release.
Although the new solution requires manufacturers to test GPU driver updates before releasing them to Google Play Store for the general public, the removal of operator testing from the process should lead to a faster publication of updates.
The Google Play Store GPU Driver Update Initiative was announced as part of a partnership between Qualcomm and Google's Android GPU Developer Tool, which allows you to check mobile GPU usage (including Qualcomm's Adualo GPU) in games to find out where improvements can be made.
Shortly after announcing this new update process Qualcomm explained that GPU driver updates would not be performed monthly as security fixes, and added that it “performs a quarterly frequency of releases of updated drivers for OEMs. "
