Forking Away: OnePlus Introduces Android-Based OxygenOS

The Verge reports that phone maker OnePlus has introduced its own OS, an Android fork called OxygenOS. OxygenOS was developed in-house by OnePlus, though at this point it is merely a modest refresh of Android 5.0 Lollipop. In a blog post, the company explains that it took a "back to basics" approach with the software, adding, "We place things like performance and battery life over gimmicks and bloated features." ... The company says its goal with OxygenOS "is to provide faster, more meaningful updates and a better-integrated range of services for every OnePlus user." What it doesn't say is that the software also gives it a way to reduce its dependence on Cyanogen. The two companies have had strained relations since Cyanogen signed an exclusive deal with Indian phone maker Micromax just before OnePlus' planned launch in the subcontinent. It's expected that OxygenOS will eventually be the default on future devices like the OnePlus Two, but, for now, you'll have to install it yourself over Cyanogen if you want it. You can find instructions on OnePlus' website. (Also at TechCrunch.)

Comments

What they really mean is:

[Dzimas]

"We released an almost vanilla fork of Android Lollipop because it's the easiest thing to do to step away from Cyanogenmod."

  And that's actually a good thing, because picking up an "Android" phone that's running some perplexing launcher with everything in the wrong place and packed with dozens of horrible branded apps that you can't remove is utterly stupid (Yes, Samsung, I'm looking at you).

Re:What they really mean is:

[AmiMoJo]

CM12s (the OnePlus One version of Cyanogenmod 12, Android 5 Lollipop) is due in the next few days as well. They are not abandoning it, they are just having OxygenOS as an alternative for markets where they don't have the right to ship Cyanogen.

I'm on the stock CM11s ROM at the moment and am not going to switch. I'll wait a few more days for CM12s. It's a shame they broke their promise to release Lollipop within 90 days, but the phone was so cheap and is so good I can forgive them. £230, extremely fast, big high resolution screen with excellent brightness and colour, a really good camera, can run for 3-4 days on a charge, sold and well made... And it runs Cyanogen, which is basically stock Android with a few nice tweaks and extras. Next to that people like Samsung wanting £600-700 for a phone that is in some ways inferior looks kind of insane.

Re:YAGPLV

[sumdumass]

Don't need to give source code until they distribute it. And then only to those who they distribute to if they wish. Not a GPL violation at all _yet_.

And this is news... why?

[SirJorgelOfBorgel]

I'm usually thoroughly annoyed by people asking this question, but I really don't get why this is news. So many good tech articles go around in the Firehose that never make it, then cruft like this floats up. If only my uid was shorter I could yell for you all to get off my lawn.

"Its own OS" ? It's just a bloody stock Android build with Google Apps and a handful of 5 minutes tweaks courtesy of the Paranoid Android developer they hired. It's literally 2-3 guys who 'built' this in a couple of weeks.

There really is nothing special about this whatsoever, many OEMs have this. OnePlus (A handful of Oppo rejects) marketing strikes again, and you all fell for it (again). Heck, OnePlus is more of a virtual OEM than a real one, relying on Oppo for their funding and production.

The only tiny part news about this is that they did this to have an alternative to CM, which isn't really news, as it's been known for quite a while that they'd be doing this.

Re:Can someone please advise...

[ThePhilips]

a generic Android phone?

There is no such thing as generic Android phone.

That became patently obvious to me when I have tried to buy a "generic" ARM board (Raspberry, Banana, Odroid) for Ubuntu.

It just doesn't exist.

There is no IMB/Intel/Microsoft aliance to help create and maintain a standard ARM-based platform. And it seems all vendors try to differentiate, making the devices slightly incompatible with each other.

The most ridiculous part is that past boot loader/after kernel is loaded, differences are minimal and can be expressed with the Linux' device tree. But it is apparent that nobody makes an effort even to catalog the differences. Google, with their rolling releases and "selected" devices, is simply oblivious to the rest of the market.

Which is closer to desktop Linux: Firefox OS, Sailfish, Ubuntu Touch, Cyanogenmod, OxygenOS, Tizen?

None. Or rather: Linux desktop with systemd and Wayland is headed the way of mobile phones.

Flashing ROM, if possible at all, is a nice thing to avoid. Any suggestions?

At least in the past, Samsung devices were recommended. They keep backup copy of the original OS on the flash, I was told. If you flash alternative OS and something goes wrong, you can still boot the original OS and repair/reinstall. (One of the reasons why CyanogenMod was originally developed on Samsung devices.) But I haven't tried that personally.