🧩 NYT Games
July 18, 2026 · View on GitHub
Morphe patches for the New York Times Games Android app
(com.nytimes.crossword). One patch today: Unlock high refresh rate, which lets the
app render above 60 fps on 90/120 Hz and variable-refresh-rate (VRR) displays.
Maintained by Tim_Buckrue. Independent and unofficial — not affiliated with or endorsed by The New York Times or the Morphe project; the name only describes compatibility with Morphe.
❓ Why
NYT Games never opts into a high refresh rate — its code contains no setFrameRate,
preferredRefreshRate, or preferredDisplayModeId call anywhere. On a 90/120 Hz or VRR
panel, Android's power-saving frame-rate override then pins the app to 60 Hz, which is the
source of the scrolling and animation judder. This patch installs a lightweight hook that
asks each Activity window for the display's top refresh rate — a soft, seamless hint that
lifts the 60 Hz cap while letting the system's Adaptive Refresh Rate keep scrolling smooth
(it deliberately avoids pinning a fixed display mode, which fights ARR and causes stutter).
🩹 Patches
v1.1.0 •
main• 2 patches total
📦 NYT Games • 2 patches
🎯 Supported versions:
| 6.34.0 |
|---|
| 💊 Patch | 📜 Description | ⚙️ Options |
|---|---|---|
| Optimize home screen (disable animated cards) | Forces the NYT Games home screen to use its lightweight static-icon card layout instead of the animated Rive cards. The Rive cards are embedded in the Compose list via AndroidView interop, whose per-item churn plus Rive TextureView compositing is the dominant UI-thread cost while scrolling — the reason busy home screens can't hold 120 fps. Cards stay fully functional; they just don't animate. | |
| Unlock high refresh rate | Let NYT Games render above 60 fps on 90/120 Hz and variable-refresh-rate displays. The app never opts into high refresh, so Android's power-saving frame-rate override pins it to 60 Hz; this makes each Activity window request the display's top refresh rate (a seamless, adaptive-refresh-friendly hint), lifting that cap. |
📲 Install & use
- Install Morphe Manager on your Android device.
- Add this repo as a patch source — tap Add to Morphe, or add the URL manually in Morphe Manager:
https://github.com/TimBuckrue/nyt-games-vrr-patch. - Select NYT Games, enable Unlock high refresh rate, and patch your installed app or the NYT Games
.xapk(let Morphe handle the split APKs). - Install the result. It's re-signed with a new key, so uninstall the Play Store version first — and sync your progress to your NYT account beforehand, since local progress won't carry over.
✅ Verify
Enable Developer options → Show refresh rate. With the patched app open, the overlay should hold at your panel's maximum (e.g. 120) during play and scrolling instead of dropping to 60.
🛠️ Building
Releases are built automatically by GitHub Actions (release.yml): a fix: or feat: commit to dev cuts a pre-release, and to main cuts a stable release. For local builds you need a JDK and a GitHub token for the Morphe Gradle plugin (hosted on GitHub Packages); see the Morphe documentation.
📜 License
Tim_Buckrue Patches are licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0. Not affiliated with The New York Times or the Morphe project; see the NOTICE.