OnePlus has a better record than many Android manufacturers when it comes to pushing timely software updates to its range of flagship-killing phones.
Just last week the firm re-upped its commitment to customers by promising two years of software updates and three years of security updates from each phone’s launch date. That’s akin to what Google offers Pixel buyers.
Now the firm is hoping to get those updates out faster to OnePlus 5 and OnePlus 5T owners as part of an update to its own Oxygen OS custom UI.
The latest Oxygen OS open beta 13 brings support for Google’s Project Treble, which enables manufacturers to push out Android updates faster than before. Owners of both handsets can download the beta from today.
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This comes after OnePlus had initially reneged on a promise to bring Project Treble to 5/5T owners (via Engadget) due to the need for a separate storage partition and the fears it may brick the handsets. The about-face means the pair is now among the 20-odd phones that do support Project Treble, the OnePlus 6 being one of them.
Given that the OnePlus 6 already supports the Android P beta, there’s a chance that OnePlus 5 and OnePlus 5T owners will now be able to snap it up before too much longer.
Elsewhere the beta brings an improved weather app and some tweaks to the UI.
Project Treble arrived as part of Android Oreo and represents one of the biggest back-end changes Google has introduced in a while. The company has been searching for a solution to OS fragmentation – the absolute scourge of Android for nigh-on a decade – and this looks like the best bet yet.
Do you have high hopes for Project Treble? Do you think it will help solve Android fragmentation? Or will you believe it when you see it? Drop us a line @TrustedReviews on Twitter.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.