While the release of the OnePlus 9 series right around in the corner, the company has shared some developments as to the operating system which the device will run on in its local market, China.
OnePlus revealed that the device will run a customized OPPO’s ColorOS in China. This development came after different rumors began circulating across the internet about whether the company will be ditching its own Android skin in favor of its sister brand Oppo’s ColorOS.
The latest development comes from OnePlus forums where the OxygenOS Product Lead shared the news of OnePlus going with the ColorOS in China.
Addressing the rumors, the company official wrote, “Today I would like to update you on a new development for our Chinese users and that you may have heard discussion about in the last few days: after listening to their feedback and voices, our China market devices will now be using a customized version of ColorOS.”
This version of ColorOS will be tailored “specifically for OnePlus smartphones,” and it will be starting with the upcoming OnePlus 9 series.
The company uses the HydrogenOS in China but then since OPPO began selling OnePlus’ smartphones on its website in the world most populous country, this drew multiple suspicion and questions.
However, outside of China, users will get OxygenOS. “For all of our users outside of mainland China, we will continue using OxygenOS for global devices in the future and remain committed to offering a fast and smooth experience with OxygenOS,” says the forum post.
Only OPPO and Realme’s devices uses the ColorOS even though the latter uses the Realme UI branding for the custom Android skin.
This fact seems to be a done deal as OnePlus CEO Pete Lau said on Weibo that previous devices running HydrogenOS will continue to get support, while the OnePlus 9 series will have ColorOS pre-installed from the factory.
Lately, OnePlus has been lagging behind in terms of software support. While the next smartphone lineup is just around the corner, the OnePlus 7 and 7T series are yet to get the Android 11 update. This development should help the cause – at least in China.