OnePlus News Daily Dose #28: OnePlus 3/3T Pie update cue, Android Q beta, 5G apps and more!

It’s that time of the year, and Google actually released the successor to the Android Pie a day before Pi day.

Kidding apart, the first beta of Android Q is officially here. The new version of Android is going to be well-optimized for foldable displays, contains more privacy protections and supports numerous new standards of connectivity as well as multimedia.

Last year, Google surprised the Android community by the inclusion of several third party devices in their beta testing of Android P. Well, the ‘Pie’ moniker was not finalized then.

Project Treble played a key role to bring such a wider beta support, which was always limited to Google’s portfolio of devices. Android developers from Google mentioned it as well:

And thanks to Project Treble, you can now get the beta on top devices from our partners as well — Essential, Nokia, Oppo, Sony, Vivo, and Xiaomi, with others on the way.

Among other devices, OnePlus 6 got the opportunity to be a part of the roster.

The builds were more close to AOSP than OxygenOS, as they were never intended to be used by regular users. The Chinese OEM also supplied special roll-back builds to downgrade to stable Oreo based OxygenOS.

With the announcement of Q Beta, OnePlus fans are getting agitated to get their hands on the latest Android. A number of threads have been popped up since last night in the official OnePlus forums, discussing the same.

The frequency of ‘Android Q when?’ threads will increase exponentially in coming months. Believe me – it is an inevitable side effect. Fortunately, OnePlus Community Consultant dsmonteiro has decided to step in and closed down these threads for now.

His closing comment is rather interesting though:

Android Q Beta 1 is a Developer Preview provided directly by Google. It’s only available for Pixel devices. OnePlus devices will only get it when and if Google opens up the Developer Preview program to other manufacturers.

And even that happens, there is no confirmation of what devices will be included. If the OnePlus 6 doesn’t receive the Dev Preview, the Beta will only be available once the source code is publicly available, which should only happen in Q3.

We already know that Google is planning to include more OEMs for the beta testing of Android Q.

So at Google I/O [2018], when we did the first beta, we had all these companies lined up and that was really that amazing. The number is bigger for the upcoming Android release, which I am very happy about. I cannot share the exact numbers yet. But the trend is positive and strong, and I am very happy about this.

(Credit: XDA Developers)

The Mountain View based company is also targeting to release 6 Android Q betas this year.

Do you think Google will include devices from other OEMs in subsequent betas? Or will OnePlus users have to wait Q3 of this year to get the release candidates builds directly? Share your thoughts by commenting below.

As I mentioned above, supporting newest connectivity standards (like 5G) without hampering the battery life will be a major standout for Android Q. OnePlus has their own R&D team for 5G related developments, which is responsible for crafting the future-proof hardware.

OnePlus community team decided to ‘educate’ the community members about 5G and discuss about it. As a part of the initiative, they began this ‘OnePlus 5G Open Course‘.

Part 2 of the course is live now, where staff member Dale F. the technological advancements and benefits of the upcoming tech. As part of the drill, members can grab an exclusive ‘OnePlus 5G Scholar badge’ after completing every 5G Open Course quiz.

Wait, there’s more! If someone can score 100% on every quiz in the series, they will receive something called ‘OnePlus 5G Scholar E-Certificate’.

If these virtual gifts can’t attract you, you can still take part in the 5G Apps of Tomorrow program.

The team has also posted a thread in r/Android to interact with Android enthusiasts as well as end users.

Go, check them out! You need to submit your ideas before March 26.

Meanwhile, a Chinese OnePlus user has claimed that they got a chance to talk with the Hydrogen OS (also referred as H2OS) development team regarding the Android 9 Pie upgrade status for OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T.

Automated translation is kinda fuzzy, but it seems that the devs are trying to iron out the bugs, and the process needs some more time. Initial target of Pie rollout was mid-March, while now it could be shifted to April as well.

According to the guy, they got the invitation to visit OnePlus HQ after taking part in some conference/meetup. The person also thinks that a May/June release of the Pie update is highly unlikely. Given OnePlus 3 will be 3 years old then, the user base will likely to be extremely small.

Take these notes with a truckload of salt, as always.

Let’s finish it up for today, shall we?

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