OnePlus’s custom Android spin was a point of pride for both the company and phone owners. Although it ended up not using the famed CyanogenMod, it was not that heavy on customizations, and the changes that OnePlus added on top were generally received well and highly desired. Recently, however, OxygenOS has started to become a liability more than an asset, and the supposedly stable OyxgenOS 12 update for the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro did a lot of damage to its image. OnePlus is coming out with an update to address some of those bugs, but it doesn’t exactly address all the concerns about the ColorOS-based spin.
OnePlus’ Android flavor isn’t exactly based on any existing custom ROM, but it took pride in having the developers from Paranoid Android as the brains behind it. For years, OxygenOS felt like a true Android experience designed to cater to its users, even going as far as incorporating user feedback. While many smartphone companies would claim that, OnePlus is probably the only one that could prove that it really did.
That proof came with the inclusion of an Always-on Display feature, something that OnePlus was set against. The user community voted to overturn the company’s decision, and OnePlus eventually caved in with some caveats. The implementation and rollout of this feature weren’t perfect, but it still proved that OnePlus was willing to yield its ground if its customers demanded it.
Today’s OnePlus, however, might be a very different company, especially after the merger of its R&D and software departments with that of its cousin OPPO. OyxgenOS itself would eventually use OPPO’s ColorOS as its base, and that is being blamed for the bug-ridden rollout of OxygenOS 12 for the OnePlus 9 series. After pulling out that update, OnePlus has resumed the process with a more usable version of its Android skin.
The new OxygenOS 12’s changelog does mention some of the pain points from the previously broken update. That includes problems with using mobile data, screen issues, and invisible notifications. There are also other improvements mentioned, but there are some that are curiously absent from the list.
The ability to use Google Camera mods, for example, isn’t fixed yet, and that might never be fixed since ColorOS also has that limitation. For those who rely on these apps, it might be a good idea to hold off for a while longer. Actually, it might be a good idea to wait for a few more days or even weeks to first see how stable the update really is before taking a dive.
