Today is a brand new day and for Google, a day to update the Stadia Android client which often can offer inside on what Google is working on its Cloud Gaming platform and high-end Smartphone users are a threat, hopefully soon.
Both Stadia Dosage and 9to5Google highlighted all new code references after decompiling the official apk and yes, Google is still working on 1440p support for Smartphones that were designed with that resolution as per the “UPTO_1440P” reference.
Their new entry “Data usage may reach 14.4 GB/hr” as a string can suggest that Google could be on the final development for native 1440p on mobile and obviously, those using 4G/5G via mobile providers should get notified about big data usage.
Talking about graphics, we got these reference:
MEDIASAMPLE_AV1_1080P_HDR
MEDIASAMPLE_AV1_2K_HDR
MEDIASAMPLE_AV1_ULTRALOW
MEDIASAMPLE_AV1_1080P_MQ
MEDIASAMPLE_AV1_HIGH8
MEDIASAMPLE_AV1_HIGH_HDR
MEDIASAMPLE_AV1_4K
MEDIASAMPLE_AV1_720P_HDR
MEDIASAMPLE_AV1_MED
MEDIASAMPLE_AV1_720P8
MEDIASAMPLE_AV1_LOW
MEDIASAMPLE_AV1_1080P
MEDIASAMPLE_AV1_4K_HDR
MEDIASAMPLE_AV1_LOW_HDR
MEDIASAMPLE_AV1_ULTRALOW_HDR8
MEDIASAMPLE_AV1_720P_MQ
MEDIASAMPLE_AV1_MED_HDR
As where for the H.256 and VP9 support, AV1 encoding for content streaming is coming to Stadia and for an easy explanation, this 4 years old codec is the most recent advance in Internet video distribution which permits further quality on a video WITHOUT making the video file to be heavy and seamless to process on video players as it is 30% more efficient than H.256.
For mobile users this will mean less data usage per gaming session when the support gets official.
The following reference deals in how Stadia client can use the “Help” platform more directly instead on invoking a browser and in my opinion, this should have been a feature for year 1:
_buildContactStadiaLink
enableGoogleHelp
enableGoogleHelpFlag
Next references suggest that Google is still working with the virtual controller’s redesign for mobile to be highly customizable for users:
enableTouchGamepadCustomizationMenu
tapTargetSize
Other important highlight it seems that Ubisoft remains a strong partner for Stadia as now the mobile side of the Cloud Gaming Platform can receive benefits and DLCs via the Ubisoft+ subscription and not forcing you to use an Android TV or Chromecast Ultra 4K environment:
enableUbisoftPlusRewards
enableUbisoftPlusRewardsFlag
Ubisoft+ Rewards
Finally, we got to sets of references and I am not highlighting it as it is obvious that Google is updating the ESRB and PEGI codes for game’s rating but there seems to be something new that neither Stadia Dosage nor 9to5Google could identify on what it’s next for Stadia:
modelBruno
I don’t want to hype the expectation on what “Bruno” is referencing in the code for, but not without noting that Google sometimes gets artistic on code names for projects and products, so we got to be looking out for more Stadia’s apk updates.