Updating software isn’t a mean task and OnePlus is the latest brand to experience the same. The Chinese smartphone maker had recently announced the rollout of Android 12-based OxygenOS 12 for its flagship devices including the OnePlus 9 and the OnePlus 9 Pro.
However, just days after the new update was released, the company has suspended its distribution till further notice. In a statement to Android Police, OnePlus says, "We are aware of the issues caused by the OxygenOS 12 update and our software team is fixing them. We will suspend this software update and roll out a new iteration as soon as possible.”
To recall, the rollout started on December 7 and it was the first major OS update after the company announced that it is merging the code base of ColorOS and OxygenOS.
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However, the end result is far from what the company might have wanted. Some reports termed the new OS awful and some called it highly unstable, unsettling and ColorOS Lite.
Users who got the update took to social media to highlight their disappointments over a couple of things, primarily around how several features that aren't working as expected. This limited regular usage of the phone and then there was the shift towards a ColoOS-like OxygenOS.
Analysis – A shift that was inevitable
This is quite a shift from what OnePlus has been known for since its launch. One of the primary reasons behind the success of OnePlus was the fact that its phones quickly filled the void created by the shutting down of the Nexus lineup by Google.
OnePlus phones were not only known to offer a minimal yet near-stock Android experience with tweaks that help improve the user experience but also was hailed for timely and swift OS updates. The recent update not only seems to be half baked, but appears to be limiting customization – which has been a OnePlus highlight so far. A case in point is the OxygenOS 11 update for the OnePlus 7 and 7T.
Moreover, of late, we’ve had multiple instances where the software update was not only delayed by being buggy as well which is quite unlike OnePlus.
Also, OnePlus devices had been developer-friendly which means that adding custom features, porting apps like GCam etc that could improve the camera performance drastically was a thing. Another report from Android Police reveals that the company is also limiting the access to camera sensors – a practice that Oppo is notoriously known for - which means that GCam might not work on OnePlus devices anymore after it updated to OxygenOS 12.
However, with its proposed gradual merger with Oppo, OnePlus phones have become premium Oppo phones and the OxygenOS is now an extension of ColorOS – which most purists and OnePlus fans are upset about.
The company might be able to resolve the bugs and might resume the rollout as soon as it is done, however, OxygenOS losing its identity is something that the users will have to live with.
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