[Update] OnePlus 5/5T Android Q update officially confirmed, OxygenOS new features will be backported

New updates are being added at the bottom of this story…….

OnePlus fans and followers are still mused with the captivating release of the OnePlus 7 Pro, while the Chinese OEM quietly achieved a new record. Guess the name of the only Snapdragon 820 powered phone to get official Android Pie update?

Yes, none other than the OnePlus 3 has recently crossed the virtually unbeatable barrier. It’s cousin, the OnePlus 3T also received the official Pie update in the form of OxygenOS 9.0.2 OTA update. Together, the phone duo got three major Android revisions (Nougat, Oreo and Pie).

What about the remaining OnePlus phones?

Readers should remember that the Shenzhen based smartphone maker enabled Project Treble support for 2017’s OnePlus 5 and 5T via OTA update, although both of them were initially launched with Android 7.1 Nougat. As a result, OnePlus was not obliged to provide Treble compatibility.

But they did it anyway.

In subsequent years, OnePlus 5/5T did not receive much attraction from the developer’s point of view. Meanwhile, their successor, i.e. the OnePlus 6 was selected for both Android P and Android Q (alongside OnePlus 6T) public beta testing.

Well, neither the OnePlus 5 nor the OnePlus 5T is being abandoned by OnePlus. According to a recent announcement made by Manu J., Global Product Operations Manager of OnePlus, both of them are going to get Android Q in future.

We have already released Android Q Developer Preview on the forum for the OnePlus 7 Pro and OnePlus 6/6T, available. For those wondering, rest assured: Android Q will also make its way to the OnePlus 5 and 5T. Just remember, there are no ETAs.​

As usual, they are sticking with the no-ETA rule. Nevertheless, OnePlus is proving themselves a valuable OEM in terms of updating older phones since the controversy around the Nougat update for OnePlus 2.

Wait, there more of it!

Manu has also listed the features of OxygenOS 9.5 in OnePlus 7 that will be coming to older OnePlus phones such as OnePlus 5/5T and OnePlus 6T.

In one of the older articles, we speculated that the software based new features should make their way to the legacy OnePlus phones in upcoming updates. OnePlus did confirm the same, and mentioned that hardware dependent functionalities (like Nightscape 2.0) couldn’t be backported.

Zen Mode will be coming to the 6 and 6T in a future update. Because of a hardware limitation, Nightscape 2.0 will remain exclusive to the 7 series.

Tinkers eventually separated the relevant APKs of Zen Mode and Screen Recorder and successfully installed them on OxygenOS 9.0.x for OnePlus 5/5T and 6/6T. Although they seemed to be working fine, OnePlus issued a formal warning regarding the potential incompatibility issues.

After checking with the team, the reasons are that current Screen Recorder and Zen Mode are only compatible with the OnePlus 7 and OnePlus 7 Pro and are not fully integrated with previous models. If you install these apps on other phone models, you may face some issues while using it. We recommend that you do not install and use the 2 applications until we fit them to the OnePlus 5/5T/6/6T.

As per previous statement, OnePlus s going to integrate them in the upcoming Open Beta builds of OxygenOS for OnePlus 5/5T/6/6T. Besides those two, the OEM is also bringing the new Fnatic branded gaming mode, quick reply in landscape, DC dimming and RAM Boost.

The DC dimming feature will be initially introduced for the OnePlus 6 series via Open Beta. Based on the implementation and internal evaluation, they will bring it to the OnePlus 5 and 5T.

On the other hand, the existing Smart Boost function of OnePlus 6/6T will be revised as RAM Boost. Once again, OnePlus 5 series will get it later.

Source: OnePlus forum

OnePlus is currently rolling out the third set of Open Beta builds in May for OnePlus 5/5T and 6/6T. The latter got the first taste of Zen Mode and Screen Recorder via this OTA update.

For further details and download links, refer to this article.

OnePlus 5T & 5 are now getting Open Beta 32 & 34 update respectively, which bring Digital Wellbeing, Fnatic mode, Screen Recorder and June security patch. Details here.

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