Alongside today’s release of the Zwift game release v1.21.0 is an updated version of the Zwift launcher for PC.
What Launcher v1.1.1 does:
It checks that all Windows components needed to run Zwift are installed on your PC.
One of the needed items is a Microsoft component called Webview2. It should be included with Windows 11. If your Windows 10 computer prompts you to install Webview2 - say yes.
It checks if a newer version of the Zwift game app is available and downloads it
It installs that latest game version
It starts the Zwift game app. Always start Zwift from ZwiftLauncher.exe and not ZwiftApp.exe.
Bug fixes:
Fixed an issue with the Zwift Launcher for PC which would display a Script Error dialog box.
@Dave_Wolfson
The launcher app has a very limited set of things on its to-do list, and there’s nothing in it that would cause the flickering. We had a Zoom meeting some months ago with @Dave_ZPCMR to discuss this, and he brought the OBS discovery to our attention.
Installing OBS (or other similar apps) clears up the issue at the OS / hardware level for affected computers. Since not all Windows users experience the flickering, it doesn’t make sense for everyone to install OBS. What would you have us do? Force everyone to install this package that not everyone sees any benefit from?
Only because their frame rate isn’t high enough. Likewise everyone gets the stuttering I believe - it’s just obviously a lot harder to spot below 60fps. The game just isn’t as smooth as it should be and was previously, without the workaround.
Anyway you’re right, it’s not directly related to the launcher, but given that these issues were not present with version 1.0.50, and have been on every launcher version since, it’s just become pretty easy to identify the change that way. As soon as it wasn’t possible to use 1.0.50 any more, we were stuck.
Thank you. Can we (the community, not saying you specifically, Dave ) stop blaming the launcher? The hypothesis has set false expectations that Zwift has to fix the launcher in order to solve the flickering avatar.
Since my post has been moved here, it’s worth saying I’ve no idea whether my Zwift and OBS issue is related to the launcher version or even specifically Zwift. I used to run Zwift and Streamlabs no problem (last time was more than a year ago though).
I’ve run Zwift without issue for years, but I installed OBS last week to try streaming again. OBS ran fine, and everything was OK with the launcher running. As soon as I started the Zwift game, it all fell over. Sometimes Zwift exited to desktop. Sometimes my PC hung. Sometimes my PC rebooted.
If I ran Zwift without OBS running it was fine. So I uninstalled OBS and installed Streamlabs with the same effect. It ran fine in isolation. Audio capture was OK, video capture was fine. I could select Zwift as a source, but after a few seconds I encountered the same behaviour.
I don’t know whether the problem exists in Zwift or OBS and Streamlabs, but there seems to be a conflict of some description. (Also I think my GPU drivers are at least a release or two out of date)
I also didn’t go as far as looking in the Event log as it wasn’t something I particularly cared to investigate at the time, I just uninstalled Streamlabs until I’m ready to try again.
Game with system tray saying ‘Launcher Version 1.0.50’ and earlier = okay
Game with system tray saying ‘Launcher Version 1.0.51’ and later = not okay
Whether the problem is actually zwiftlauncher.exe itself or not, the fact is these issues arose when the launcher version, as reported to the user, changed from 1.0.50 to 1.0.51 and have been there since. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to wonder if an announcement on a new launcher version means they have been addressed tbh. Especially when it’s pushed out rather than being optional.
I didn’t mean to imply the problem was related to the Launcher. Sorry if the implication was there.
These kinds of issues are EXTREMELY hard to track down (and I know this because I’ve worked in software for decades). The exact set of circumstances is hard to encapsulate.
I spent hours, days, on this issue. I almost returned my new laptop because I thought at one point the RTX3060 was the cause. Or Windows 11? Probably we can take this issue to separate thread, or add on to the existing thread that Dave_ZPCMR created.
I’ve been updated and the flicker is still there. It isn’t really at the point where I throw up my hands and quit Zwifting but the video is certainly not as rock solid as it was before.
I’m running:
Dell i7-6700 workstation with 16gb ram, 500gb SSD, RT1660-TI, wired GigaLAN and a very fast internet connection (AT&T fiber, literally 1gb up&down). It’s been doing this since the change in the launcher and this update did nothing to change that.
Updated to 1.21.0 today and when lunching the launcher it asked me again for username and password (although I supposed to be logged in, as I see my name an photo on top right corner of launcher) after retype my credentials it said is incorrect
Zwift Launcher still doesnt work on my Laptop with Windows 10. I click the Launcher icon and nothing happens. Sometimes a black rectangle appears for a couple seconds. This is an ongoing issue for me on this laptop. Zwift works on my desktop, my macbook and my android phone. I thought this update would fix the issue but no it seems not to. Any thoughts?
If the Windows auto-update process didn’t take - we recommend a brute-force uninstall/reinstall. Before you do, you’ll want to move your personal best and custom workout files out of harm’s way.
Likewise everyone gets the stuttering I believe - it’s just obviously a lot harder to spot below 60fps. The game just isn’t as smooth as it should be and was previously, without the workaround.
