Poor Graphical Quality on Android

This seems like a long standing issue - I presume for the sake of device compatibility, the Android client runs by default at a very low render resolution. Now utilizing a Samsung Tab S10 Ultra, the larger display emphasizes the distractingly poor visual quality. The app also looks pretty rough on my S24 Ultra, but the smaller screen makes this look less obvious.

It seems like this could be rectified by simply having an in-game option to change render resolution. This is especially disappointing after paying for the tablet holder on the zwift ride for, what would be, a very ideal setup.

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Exactly. I wouldnā€™t hold out much hope for sensible answers here on this topic.

Nor hold your breath for zwift to improve the tablet / phone versions.

I ended up streaming zwift from a gaming PC and using the companion app to connect trainer et al. You could do that to a tablet so long as it runs steam (there are potentially other streaming apps as well but steam is free and ubiquitous)

The downside for steam is that I need to run steam as admin on the PC and then get to the desktop and then launch zwift, i.e you canā€™t simply launch zwift from steam - I believe thereā€™s a 3rd party add on for zwift that might make launching it directly work. In spite of the faff it works and the quality is significantly higher than running zwift on the tablet itself.

Of course the streaming itself needs a decent wifi or wired network to wherever youā€™re zwifting.

But yeah, the tablet holder is adding insult to injury really - thankfully I noticed it was going to suck before I bought a tablet.

Everyone else will either tell you that they donā€™t care / look at the screen so you shouldnā€™t care either. Or tell you to either use Apple TV (which sucks too but theyā€™ve drunk the kool aid), a gaming PC / laptop (caveat here you donā€™t really need a gaming PC per se, the specs are much lower than a typical gaming PC) and put it, with a big display in the same room as your trainer.

I mean the hud is more or less unreadable on most of the platforms zwift support too, so I guess they have a point - zwift makes the most sense if you watch youtube instead or if you have a big TVā€¦but this is tragic. Iā€™d love someone to walk in their HQ holding a kitchen sink.

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Same issue for me! Got a new more powerful tablet (Lenovo Tab P12) with 12.7" display to have a better Zwift experience, only to find out that graphics stays at the same very poor level as at my old tablet. Isnā€™t it that difficult to simply add a basic graphic adjustments for android devices?

Yeah that would be nice, and I donā€™t know the reasons why itā€™s fixed at such a low level on all the mobile devices regardless of their capabilities. I realize this doesnā€™t help you very much now but whenever you are considering buying devices and want a better visual experience, I recommend coming to the forum to ask about it. This one would have been easy to answer and I wish I could have spared you the disappointment.

I canā€™t express my disappointment regarding the lack of graphics settings adjustments for Zwift on an Android tablet. I recently purchased an Honor MagicPad 3, a high-performance device equipped with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, Adreno 750 GPU, 12GB RAM, and a stunning 3K OLED 144Hz display. Despite its impressive specifications, Iā€™ve found that the Zwift experience on this tablet is visually underwhelming, lacking the graphical fidelity and customization options that are currently available on older iPad models.

I understand there must be challenges of optimizing for the diverse Android ecosystem. However, I believe a solution could be implemented by integrating a system that dynamically assesses the deviceā€™s hardware capabilities. This would allow Zwift to either unlock or restrict graphics settings accordingly, ensuring optimal performance and visual quality for each individual device.

Now Iā€™m not a developer, so I donā€™t understand how complex it must be to create and manage this game for multiple different hardware and operating systems, but itā€™s simply a meh Zwift experience on Android currently and would be great if we can get this on a roadmap for a future update.

Now not cause controversy, but MyWoosh has had graphic setting on Android since version 3.2.5. Is it time to make the switch?

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ZHQ sets graphics profiles on their end; itā€™s not user customizable.

Perhaps if youā€™re lucky, itā€™ll get upped one or two levels on a patch eventually.

In the grand scheme of things though; itā€™s always easier to enable the lowest settings on unknown hardware, versus something that can potentially cause the software to become unreliable.

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I have to agree to disagree with you on the ā€˜easy approachā€™, this is just complete laziness from ZHQ and disregard to the Zwift Android rider base.

Most games on Android offer graphics adjustment for that exact reason, to be more open compatible to the various hardware that is found in Android systems, if the device canā€™t run ultra then put it in low, simple.

No different to PCā€™s that vary in specā€¦

The fact that this isnā€™t a thing, in a game that costā€™s 18 quid a month and itā€™s already been done by a community driven virtual riding game is pure embarrassment for the developers that work at ZHQ who clearly have no say.

It cuts down on support requests for folks asking on the daily why their device is laggy when they change something, or some setting changes (which does happen time to time).

Itā€™s technically the correct way to do it for what the software is and how many devices itā€™s developed on.

Cost is pretty much unrelated in this case, when half the support team is answering the same question every day year after year.

Could they build a check to where profiles would be set on the user end and reconfirm it every patch; absolutely. But lazy and just another thing to break in the end.
This isnā€™t the first complaint, and it isnā€™t the last.

Happens every time new hardware is released as well, and ZHQ fails to put the names in the game, and folks with brand new $2000 GPUs (laughing at Nvidiaā€™s 5090 announcement) in their home built computers get stuck with AppleTV graphics.

Same disappointment here. New android tablet here and the graphic are worst on it than on my 7 yo laptop, itā€™s really shameful.
Itā€™s even worst since i bought the zwift ride and the tablet holderā€¦

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I brought the holder too, it makes the Zwift Ride setup look super clean when every thing is charged, no cables!

Iā€™m currently using MyWoosh with the QZ App on my mobile phone so I can use virtual shifting, the tablet can run this in ultra at 144hz and itā€™s stunning, they did such a good job with the visuals.

Itā€™s not ideal but Iā€™d rather this then look at PS2 graphics in Zwift Android, a developer at MyWoosh has also said they are looking to make the game more compatible with the Zwift Ride for virtual shifting and use of the controllers without the need for the QZ app.

Itā€™s impressive given that itā€™s a community built open source game.

Hi folks, weā€™re currently working on some improvements to the Zwift experience on Android, including some that will improve visual quality on many devices. Weā€™re currently testing these changes internally and weā€™ll share more soon.

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Just ordered my Zwift Ride and super excited to try it for the first time. Now itā€™s time to select a large Android table. Will graphics depend on a processor?

Iā€™m considering between S10Ultra (MediaTek Dimensity 9300+) and Honor MagicPad (Snapdragon 8 Gen3).

If graphics quality is important to you, I donā€™t think you should be looking for a tablet display.

Nothing wrong with tablet graphics, as I mentioned earlier MyWoosh looks stunning in ultra. The problem is Zwift not keeping up with Android hardware capabilities.

Also the Zwift Ride setup with a tablet looks clean af, no cables if everything is charged.

Iā€™ve seen some setups with gaming pc rigs and they look awful, cables everywhere and huge monitor stands

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I donā€™t disagree. I guess I should have clarified that ā€œfor Zwiftā€ I donā€™t think a tablet is the way to go if graphics quality is important.

Magic Pad was my preference and looks and performs really well. Yes the graphics are integrated into the chipset Snapdragon 8s Gen which was benchmarked against the A14 Bionic Chip found in the latest iPads to be at a very similar specification at a much better price point. The oled 144hz 3k display wonā€™t disappoint and Zwift should look great on it once they provide control over the graphic settings

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I like the convenience of content consumption on a tablet - few swipes and you on the game, then studying something on LinkedIn or using another riding platform.

Using a PC/Mac is not that convenient, especially if there are other people in the family who might be interested to use the bike, but have troubles to start the ride. Also cable management can be complicated depending on the setup.

I am considering to choose Samsung because of aspect ratio - media consumption is definitely better (smaller black bezels in movies), but most likely there is no difference for Zwift and the price difference is quite big.

Hi Andrew,

Iā€™m Diarmaid an engineer at Zwift.

We have made some visual improvements to the Samsung Tab S10 Ultra ( and other android devices that share that GPU ) in the next release.

Thanks!

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Hi Diarmaid,

This is really great news!I look forward to checking out the improved visual quality on my tablet soon!

Andrew