AV1 codec update coming to Android for better video playback

Most applications including Netflix, YouTube, inbuilt video players, and more on Android devices, play AV1 videos using the operating system’s libgav1 software decoder. Due to the lack of hardware, most smartphones still use h.264 or h265 codec, which is not as efficient as AV1 in terms of video playback performance.

Therefore, to offer users better and smoother video playback a new AV1 codec update coming to Android. According to the information of Mishaal Rahman, Google is planning to push an update to Android phones that could dramatically improve AV1 video playback on budget devices.

Google is expected to release the AV1 codec update to all Android devices, which means the optimization for video playback will also come to budget Galaxy smartphones such as Galaxy M, F, and some A series models.

However, currently, there’s no information available about when Google will roll out the libdav1d decoder. While the tipster suggests that, the company might offer it with the March 2024 Google Play System Update.

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What is the AV1 codec

AV1 is an open, royalty-free, next-generation video coding format from the Alliance for Open Media. It was designed to succeed Google’s VP9 and compete with H.265/HEVC. AV1 can provide 30% bandwidth savings compared to VP9 and HEVC and drastically improves visual quality at equivalent bitrates.