Snapdragon 865 and 765 SOC GPU drivers are updated via Play Store

The GPU drivers of future Snapdragon socs will be updated via the Play Store. Currently, such drivers are integrated into system updates. The first socs to support this are the upcoming Snapdragon 865 and 765.

Qualcomm indicated during the Snapdragon Tech Summit that the GPUs of future socs will be updated via the Play Store, which in theory should lead to users receiving driver updates faster. The company does this by providing drivers to phone manufacturers such as Samsung and Google, who in turn make updates for their own smartphones. These updates should then appear in the Play Store. Currently, GPU driver updates are integrated into system updates. These sometimes take a long time with some manufacturers. Also, GPU drivers are no longer updated if the phone manufacturer stops providing system updates for a device.

According to Qualcomm, the new system should ensure that users receive driver updates more often and for longer via the Play Store, although it is ultimately still up to phone manufacturers to provide these updates. GPU drivers include security updates and bug fixes, as well as performance improvements and optimizations for new games and software, so are important to receive regularly.

Driver updates of current Qualcomm chipsets, such as the Snapdragon 855+, will still be distributed via system updates. The Snapdragon 865 and 765 chipsets announced on Wednesday will be the first to receive GPU drivers via the Play Store. According to Android Police, all future Snapdragon chipsets will transition to this new system.

Qualcomm uses Project Mainline for the updated driver updates, which updates core components of an Android smartphone in the background via the Play Store, without users noticing. Such updates also do not require reboots. Project Mainline has been part of Google’s mobile operating system since Android 10.