Google’s Sameer Samat, the Android chief, has already confirmed that the company’s Android 17 will not be a Liquid Glass makeover, but don’t believe that's because the Tensor chips powering the Pixel family are underpowered in any manner. Sure, these SoCs are slower than current-generation competitors, but running Apple’s latest UI shouldn’t be a problem for them. It’s just that Google has a different vision for how its Android platform should look and behave, and there’s actually a major benefit for users with the company sticking to Material You.
Google is highly conservative in background processing, which helps preserve battery life, which is why Liquid Glass may never arrive on Pixel devices
While Apple’s new software design has the populace divided, you have to admit that it’s an exceptionally impressive way to showcase ray-traced-style blurring and refractions as you scroll through supported devices. The problem is that these transitions are happening in real-time, and while Apple would have employed certain optimizations to ensure that battery life isn’t affected by this change, Google will likely steer clear of it.
For those that don’t know, the Mountain View giant is highly conservative when it comes to background processing, which ultimately helps battery life, with its Material You design sticking to static colors and simple transitions to prevent unnecessary strain on the graphics processor. Speaking of graphics processors, the Tensor G5 houses the newest PowerVR DXT-48-1536, which supports tiled-based deferred rendering.
In short, this lineup of GPUs is incredibly efficient at handling transparent layers and blurred glass, which are the exact properties belonging to Apple’s Liquid Glass, with the feat being achieved without requiring insane levels of horsepower. Despite these perks, there’s still a performance penalty, which is why those who wished for Google to make the transition will be disappointed.
Fortunately, other Android smartphone makers, especially Chinese OEMs, have aggressively adopted Liquid Glass to their custom skins. However, the drawback is that the aforementioned effects will adversely affect battery life because MediaTek’s and Qualcomm’s chipsets will always be active to render them.
About the author: Omar Sohail is a reporter and analyst for Wccftech's mobile section, specializing in the technology and business of the mobile industry. His expertise lies in the intricate hardware supply chain, covering developments in semiconductor manufacturing, chip lithography, and camera sensor technology.
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