Third-Party Apps Can't Take Full Advantage of iPhone 13 Pro 120Hz ProMotion Displays

CyberTech

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The new iPhone 13 Pro models that launched today are equipped with ProMotion display technology, which allows for adaptive refresh rates ranging from 10Hz all the way to 120Hz, which is ideal for scrolling through content, gaming, and more, because it makes for a smoother viewing experience.

Though there's a 120Hz maximum refresh rate, App Store developers have found that most app animations are limited to 60Hz, which results in an uneven viewing experience for users. As noted by 9to5Mac, ProMotion works at the full 120Hz for scrolling and full-screen transitions, but animations are limited to 60Hz.

So when you're scrolling through your Twitter timeline, for example, you'll see the smooth ProMotion experience, but animations at 60Hz mean other interactions are noticeably less smooth. Apollo developer Christian Selig has already seen complaints from customers.

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CyberTech

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After developers discovered that their apps are not currently able to use 120Hz ProMotion refresh rates for all animations, there was confusion over whether it was a limitation imposed for battery life or a bug. Apple has now provided clarification.

Apple told MacRumors that all third-party apps can take full advantage of 120Hz ProMotion refresh rates, but developers will need to declare that their apps use higher frame rates by adding an entry to their app's plist. Documentation on the required plist entry will be made available to developers soon.

Apple is requiring this opt-in step to provide higher fresh rates only to apps that will benefit from the technology, which will optimize battery life on iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max devices.

It's worth noting that this opt-in process is designed for apps that need full ProMotion support. Standard UI animations in all third-party apps automatically get the benefits of the the higher and lower frame rates available with ProMotion without developers having to change anything.

There is also a bug that is affecting some animations built using Core Animation that Apple says will be fixed in an upcoming software update.

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SpiderWeb

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Well... I mean yeah, developers will need to change their apps to support VRR instead of being fixed 60 Hz. I can see how Apple simply forcing apps to unlock 120 Hz would break a lot of stuff and some apps/games probably can't keep up with that framerate either. I remember this was/is an issue with emulators when you ran a game at a higher framerate but the music/audio was tied to the refresh rate lol.
 
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