@Rob ⚡️ Recently, I used an Android emulator from the Play Store called VPhoneOS on my Nothing Phone 2a and tested YouTube playback on two Android versions: Android 7 (emulated) and my current Android 15 device. I played a clip from Robert Pattinson’s The Batman and noticed some clear differences.
The playback from android 7:
And the playback from android 15:
As you can see, both platforms performed very differently…
The playback on Android 7 (emulated) was through the web app version, as the android version doesn’t support the current YouTube app. Meanwhile, Android 15 used the app version. Visually, both performances were quite different. Android 15 exhibited noticeable black crush, which led to a loss in shadow detail and color accuracy. On the other hand, the Android 7 playback, although slightly pixelated, offered a better overall viewing experience in terms of color and visibility
I ensured both videos were set to the maximum resolution of 1080p, yet the difference remained.
- There was an option for enabling V-Sync which minimized screen tearing, but although I turned it on/off, the quality remained the same on the android 7
