Your Guide to Governors

XDA

By egzthunder1

Published Dec 13, 2012

By now, you have all been around XDA long enough to have heard the term governor at least a few times. However, have you ever wondered what a governor is, what it is used for, or what differences might exist between the various ones available? Well, if your answer to any of these questions was yes, then you may want to keep reading because what we found may teach you a thing or two. First of all, a governor is not, in the world of Android, an elected official. However, the name was chosen because of what it does. The governor is essentially a set of instructions given by the kernel to the device's processor which dictate how it is supposed to act based on several factors and circumstances by controlling actions of CPU Freq. The different governors will act differently based on how you want to use your device. Most custom kernels are loaded with many more than those available from manufacturers and can solve apparent cases of sluggishness on your device.

For instance, if you want to have ultimate performance on your device and want to crank the power to the max while squeezing every last ounce of battery of your device to maintain superb performance on games, you will (temporarily) choose a governor that has the frequency set to max at all times, which is the Performance governor. However, this is just one of the various governors available. It looks like XDA Forum Member jpkelly05 came across a guide in the HTC EVO 4G section that explains in very good detail the different governors available for Android. The list is quite longer than what most people would expect because there are some governors that are not readily available for use outside of very select kernels. However, lots of familiar names immediately pop out of the page such as smartass, lionheart, and many more. Each one is explained in detail but with easy enough terminology for most people to understand it - aka Layman terms.

So, what are you waiting for? Grab a chair, a nice cup of coffee, and have a read through the different options available to make the best out of your device. It is well worth it. As there are new governors added frequently, if you come across some that may not be listed, please be sure to let the OP know so that they can be added to the list.