Qualcomm’s new partnership aims to improve haptic feedback on Android devices

Haptic feedback on Android phones running Snapdragon 888 chipsets may be better likely to begin in the second half of 2021. Qualcomm recently announced (via 9to5Google) That it is working independently with a company to increase haptics through Lofelt SoftwareNo hardware

It was initially read as a strange decision, as hardware – not software – plays a large role in the quality of vibration. But it actually sounds very clever, certainly more clever than Loftel’s Baslet Hill wearable that it launched on Kickstarter in 2016.

Outside of some high-end LG phones, most Android phones give sloppy or tingling vibrations that don’t feel that great. Even the best people can’t compete with Apple’s taptic engine that makes it in-house and in iPhones and Apple Watch wearables. Tactile, perforated vibrations are probably not high on many people in terms of high-level features, but it goes a surprisingly long way to make you feel like you’re using a quality product.

Image: Qualcomm

Loeffelt has developed a framework and an open API for phone manufacturers (as well as game controllers “and beyond” Issues press releases) That can convert universal haptic data into signals that are finely tuned and preferable to the specific hardware of that device.

Therefore, instead of incorporating a standard hepatic actuator on the chipsets needed for companies to adopt, it developed a more scalable software solution that could work on any phone running the required Snapdragon hardware. Manufacturers can keep making the phone the way they want, and Loeffelt’s API can help create a more uniform experience across the vast Android ecosystem.

Lofelt CEO and co-founder Daniel Butner spoke at length Medium In a post called “Key to providing better haptics on Android” And it covers everything you want to know about why the difference between haptics on Android and Apple devices has been so wide over the years. It certainly comes down to fragmentation.

Apple can set a standard for haptics at both the hardware and software levels, by which its phone has a small cluster. Android, on the other hand, is the Wild West in terms of haptics, as it is in most other regions. The post states that the only way to improve haptics in Android is through software. Hey, if you can’t reverse fragmentation at this point, then you can lean into it.