Android 17 leak reveals dedicated gaming mode for foldable devices

New Delhi: In several reports, it has been reported that the Android 17 upgrade will bring a dedicated gaming mode for foldable devices. It will be called the Foldable gaming mode, and it will basically spawn a highly customizable virtual controller on the bottom half of the user’s unfolded foldable device, with the actual game playing on the top half. Currently, it is just a 50/50 split, which users can’t adjust, but that might come in the future. The virtual joystick emulates controller inputs on the system level.

It means that any game that already has a controller going to support should work automatically. The only real requirement for the game is for it to be adaptive so that it can scale down to half the display in the first place. However, the virtual gamepad currently supports the usual controller inputs: D-pad, left and right thumbsticks, A, B, X, Y, L1, L2, L3, R1, R2, R3, and Start, despite lacking split percentage adjustments, even in its current pre-release date.

This feature already has quite a bit of customization to it. Users can select the staggered control layout, which several people prefer and find more ergonomic. Users can also adjust the size of the buttons with three settings: Small, Medium, and Large. The joystick supports the dark mode, and there is a toggle to allow or turn off haptic feedback. Google engineers also made sure to make it display and hide the virtual gamepad as seamlessly and easily as possible. Users can do it on demand, while or before users start gaming, and if the Android detects a USB or Bluetooth physical gamepad connected, it will hide it automatically.