[GH-ISSUE #2056] [Bug]: Racing Master visual jitter / flicker after macOS 26.2+ update (Metal FPS stable at 60)

kerem commented

2026-03-03 19:06:14 +03:00

Owner

Originally created by @Kaigen13 on GitHub (Jan 9, 2026).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/PlayCover/PlayCover/issues/2056

Describe the bug

After updating macOS to 26.2 / 26.3, I’m experiencing severe visual jitter / flicker when playing Racing Master via PlayCover.

Macbook Pro M1
Macos 26.3
Playcover nightly (1355) i keep updating daily to see if the issues are gone.

This also happened on other version of the game (SEA, Taiwan and JP version) So i assumed it is something can be fixed on the Playcover side

Important details:
• The game reports a stable 60 FPS in the Metal HUD
• Performance is smooth numerically, but motion feels broken
• The issue did not exist before the macOS update
• Lowering graphics does not help
• Enabling motion blur significantly reduces or hides the issue but the motion jitter not dissapear only make it fade

This feels like a frame presentation / compositor / Metal timing regression, not a performance problem.

Steps to reproduce

1.	macOS 26.2 or 26.3
2.	Launch PlayCover 3.1.0 nightly (1355)
3.	Run Racing Master v0.26
4.	Enter any race
5.	Game is running smooth on frames, but there is issue with the motion on the whole (road, cars, drifting)

Additional information when I turned on the Metal HUD:

Composited
Metal: 400-700Mb
App : 1-2Gb
FPS 58-60 most of times
GPU average 4.5 ms
Frame intervals average 17 ms
Composited
Metal: 400-700Mb
App : 1-2Gb

hope this information helps

it was running perfectly on macos 26.00

Expected behaviour

I need the game to be motion broken free like it did on previous macos version (26.0)

Because I have motion sickness with the jitters, flickering or whatever it called)

Crash log

What version of PlayCover are you using?

Nightly/beta (please specify build number)

What version of macOS are you using?

Sonoma (macOS 14)

Issue Language

Yes my issue is written in English

Originally created by @Kaigen13 on GitHub (Jan 9, 2026). Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/PlayCover/PlayCover/issues/2056 ### Describe the bug After updating macOS to 26.2 / 26.3, I’m experiencing severe visual jitter / flicker when playing Racing Master via PlayCover. Macbook Pro M1 Macos 26.3 Playcover nightly (1355) i keep updating daily to see if the issues are gone. This also happened on other version of the game (SEA, Taiwan and JP version) So i assumed it is something can be fixed on the Playcover side Important details: • The game reports a stable 60 FPS in the Metal HUD • Performance is smooth numerically, but motion feels broken • The issue did not exist before the macOS update • Lowering graphics does not help • Enabling motion blur significantly reduces or hides the issue but the motion jitter not dissapear only make it fade This feels like a frame presentation / compositor / Metal timing regression, not a performance problem. ### Steps to reproduce 1. macOS 26.2 or 26.3 2. Launch PlayCover 3.1.0 nightly (1355) 3. Run Racing Master v0.26 4. Enter any race 5. Game is running smooth on frames, but there is issue with the motion on the whole (road, cars, drifting) Additional information when I turned on the Metal HUD: **Composited** Metal: 400-700Mb App : 1-2Gb FPS 58-60 most of times GPU average 4.5 ms Frame intervals average 17 ms Composited Metal: 400-700Mb App : 1-2Gb hope this information helps it was running perfectly on macos 26.00 ### Expected behaviour I need the game to be motion broken free like it did on previous macos version (26.0) Because I have motion sickness with the jitters, flickering or whatever it called) ### Crash log ```shell ``` ### What version of PlayCover are you using? Nightly/beta (please specify build number) ### What version of macOS are you using? Sonoma (macOS 14) ### Issue Language - [x] Yes my issue is written in English

kerem added the

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2026-03-03 19:06:14 +03:00

kerem commented

2026-03-03 19:06:15 +03:00

Author

Owner

@Kaigen13 commented on GitHub (Jan 9, 2026):

hey @viatearz could you please help me with this issue?
The game was perfect previously with all those terminal command from you.

it just broke after i updated my macos

@Kaigen13 commented on GitHub (Jan 9, 2026): hey @viatearz could you please help me with this issue? The game was perfect previously with all those terminal command from you. it just broke after i updated my macos

kerem commented

2026-03-03 19:06:15 +03:00

Author

Owner

@viatearz commented on GitHub (Jan 16, 2026):

hey @viatearz could you please help me with this issue? The game was perfect previously with all those terminal command from you.

it just broke after i updated my macos

I cannot reproduce this issue on macOS 15. Could you provide a short video? Maybe someone else can help you.

@viatearz commented on GitHub (Jan 16, 2026): > hey [@viatearz](https://github.com/viatearz) could you please help me with this issue? The game was perfect previously with all those terminal command from you. > > it just broke after i updated my macos I cannot reproduce this issue on macOS 15. Could you provide a short video? Maybe someone else can help you.

kerem commented

2026-03-03 19:06:15 +03:00

Author

Owner

@Kaigen13 commented on GitHub (Jan 16, 2026):

hey @viatearz could you please help me with this issue? The game was perfect previously with all those terminal command from you.
it just broke after i updated my macos

I cannot reproduce this issue on macOS 15. Could you provide a short video? Maybe someone else can help you.

Thankyou for your response @viatearz
Here is the visual

Video

As you can see, the frame looks fine, and it supposed to be no issue before.
But now the camera visual looks shaky (jittery effect) I dont know what to call it.

And now it became uncomfortable to play because of the shaky motions.

@Kaigen13 commented on GitHub (Jan 16, 2026): > > hey [@viatearz](https://github.com/viatearz) could you please help me with this issue? The game was perfect previously with all those terminal command from you. > > it just broke after i updated my macos > > I cannot reproduce this issue on macOS 15. Could you provide a short video? Maybe someone else can help you. Thankyou for your response @viatearz Here is the visual [Video](https://drive.google.com/file/d/15WOZcvLtV26Rt3Ru154Di0auBHr-D2By/view?usp=share_link) As you can see, the frame looks fine, and it supposed to be no issue before. But now the camera visual looks shaky (jittery effect) I dont know what to call it. And now it became uncomfortable to play because of the shaky motions.

kerem commented

2026-03-03 19:06:15 +03:00

Author

Owner

@viatearz commented on GitHub (Jan 16, 2026):

hey @viatearz could you please help me with this issue? The game was perfect previously with all those terminal command from you.
it just broke after i updated my macos

I cannot reproduce this issue on macOS 15. Could you provide a short video? Maybe someone else can help you.

Thankyou for your response @viatearz Here is the visual

Video

As you can see, the frame looks fine, and it supposed to be no issue before. But now the camera visual looks shaky (jittery effect) I dont know what to call it.

And now it became uncomfortable to play because of the shaky motions.

Have you tried using a lower resolution? You can change it in PlayCover’s graphics settings.

@viatearz commented on GitHub (Jan 16, 2026): > > > hey [@viatearz](https://github.com/viatearz) could you please help me with this issue? The game was perfect previously with all those terminal command from you. > > > it just broke after i updated my macos > > > > > > I cannot reproduce this issue on macOS 15. Could you provide a short video? Maybe someone else can help you. > > Thankyou for your response [@viatearz](https://github.com/viatearz) Here is the visual > > [Video](https://drive.google.com/file/d/15WOZcvLtV26Rt3Ru154Di0auBHr-D2By/view?usp=share_link) > > As you can see, the frame looks fine, and it supposed to be no issue before. But now the camera visual looks shaky (jittery effect) I dont know what to call it. > > And now it became uncomfortable to play because of the shaky motions. Have you tried using a lower resolution? You can change it in PlayCover’s graphics settings.

kerem commented

2026-03-03 19:06:15 +03:00

Author

Owner

@Kaigen13 commented on GitHub (Jan 16, 2026):

hey @viatearz could you please help me with this issue? The game was perfect previously with all those terminal command from you.
it just broke after i updated my macos

I cannot reproduce this issue on macOS 15. Could you provide a short video? Maybe someone else can help you.

Thankyou for your response @viatearz Here is the visual
Video
As you can see, the frame looks fine, and it supposed to be no issue before. But now the camera visual looks shaky (jittery effect) I dont know what to call it.
And now it became uncomfortable to play because of the shaky motions.

Have you tried using a lower resolution? You can change it in PlayCover’s graphics settings.

yes, and even changing the graphic and fps in game to the lowest doesn't fix this shaky visual effects.
dont you think it's not the graphic issue? i tried reasoning with GPT
it suggests it has something to do with the updated Metal processing or something. is it possible?

@Kaigen13 commented on GitHub (Jan 16, 2026): > > > > hey [@viatearz](https://github.com/viatearz) could you please help me with this issue? The game was perfect previously with all those terminal command from you. > > > > it just broke after i updated my macos > > > > > > > > > I cannot reproduce this issue on macOS 15. Could you provide a short video? Maybe someone else can help you. > > > > > > Thankyou for your response [@viatearz](https://github.com/viatearz) Here is the visual > > [Video](https://drive.google.com/file/d/15WOZcvLtV26Rt3Ru154Di0auBHr-D2By/view?usp=share_link) > > As you can see, the frame looks fine, and it supposed to be no issue before. But now the camera visual looks shaky (jittery effect) I dont know what to call it. > > And now it became uncomfortable to play because of the shaky motions. > > Have you tried using a lower resolution? You can change it in PlayCover’s graphics settings. yes, and even changing the graphic and fps in game to the lowest doesn't fix this shaky visual effects. dont you think it's not the graphic issue? i tried reasoning with GPT it suggests it has something to do with the updated Metal processing or something. is it possible?

kerem commented

2026-03-03 19:06:15 +03:00

Author

Owner

@11gcode commented on GitHub (Jan 16, 2026):

Hi! Can you provide a link to the decrypted ipa file so I can test it on macOS Sequoia 15.7? Because on a well-known resource, the free download limit has been exhausted.

@11gcode commented on GitHub (Jan 16, 2026): Hi! Can you provide a link to the decrypted ipa file so I can test it on macOS Sequoia 15.7? Because on a well-known resource, the free download limit has been exhausted.

kerem commented

2026-03-03 19:06:15 +03:00

Author

Owner

@Kaigen13 commented on GitHub (Jan 19, 2026):

Hi! Can you provide a link to the decrypted ipa file so I can test it on macOS Sequoia 15.7? Because on a well-known resource, the free download limit has been exhausted.

you could use the older version from that site. works just fine as I was unable to download the latest as well

@Kaigen13 commented on GitHub (Jan 19, 2026): > Hi! Can you provide a link to the decrypted ipa file so I can test it on macOS Sequoia 15.7? Because on a well-known resource, the free download limit has been exhausted. you could use the older version from that site. works just fine as I was unable to download the latest as well

kerem commented

2026-03-03 19:06:15 +03:00

Author

Owner

@11gcode commented on GitHub (Feb 14, 2026):

Are there the same issues with version 0.28.0 on macOS Tahoe 26.3? Due to other software I use, I will have to switch to Tahoe, and this is the only game I plan to play.

@11gcode commented on GitHub (Feb 14, 2026): Are there the same issues with version 0.28.0 on macOS Tahoe 26.3? Due to other software I use, I will have to switch to Tahoe, and this is the only game I plan to play.

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[GH-ISSUE #2056] [Bug]: Racing Master visual jitter / flicker after macOS 26.2+ update (Metal FPS stable at 60) #1372

Describe the bug

Steps to reproduce

Expected behaviour

Crash log

What version of PlayCover are you using?

What version of macOS are you using?

Issue Language