KEY POINTS

• Samsung introduced the GOS feature in March
• Users complained that GOS limits the smartphone's gaming performance
• Samsung rolled out a new update to fix the GOS issue

A new report claims that Samsung is slowly losing its loyal customers in South Korea as consumers switch to Apple iPhones due to the Game Optimizing Service (GOS) feature of Samsung mobile phones.

A report from Sammobile, an online blog and platform that provides its users with information, news, and insights related to Samsung mobile devices, revealed a recent activity conducted by a Korean YouTuber, who interviewed random South Koreans on their smartphone brand preference and why.

The report noted that the YouTube video showed a two-times increase rate of people in their 40s switching from samsung to iPhone, although it never revealed the reason behind the switch. It also noted that one respondent admitted to have been swayed by memes saying those using Samsung smartphones are "less hip".

Other respondents preferred an iPhone over a Samsung smartphone because of the former's camera capabilities. Several others, according to the report, underlined the Samsung GOS controversy as the major reason for their switch. This is the younger demographic who used their mobile phones for games.

But, what is this GOS and why are users ditching their Samsung smartphones because of it? Samsung introduced the Game Optimizing Service (GOS) feature in its Galaxy S22 flagship smartphone. The idea is to help users use their Samsung phones in a more efficient way by maximizing its battery life.

The feature is pre-installed on the Samsung Galaxy S22 series, which was originally rolled out to improve game performance. Interestingly, the feature also hampers the performance of other apps installed on the device.

A Twitter user who goes by the handle @GaryeonHan reported in March that GOS limits the performance of more than 10,000 apps. "Samsung created an app called GOS and used the app to limit game performance, making the gaming experience worse. However, according to what the Korean community found out today, Samsung confirmed that it has put performance limits on more than 10,000 apps," the tweet read.

After multiple complaints online, Samsung released a statement saying, "In order to meet the needs of various customers recently, we plan to implement a SW update that provides a performance priority option in the game booster lab within the game launcher app as soon as possible." With the new update, the impact of GOS now differs based on what the user is running.