OnePlus’ Oxygen OS is now available for download

OnePlus needed an extra week to deliver it, but its new Oxygen operating system is now available for download.

“Our goal for OxygenOS is to provide faster, more meaningful updates and a better-integrated range of services for every OnePlus user,” said OnePlus’ Carl Pei in a blog post. Pei emphasized the back to basics philosophy of the project, that values “performance and battery life over gimmicks and bloated features.”

The initial version of Oxygen OS looks to be very close to stock Android, both aesthetically and from a functionality point of view. However, there are a number of features that the OnePlus team added in order to enhance the user experience.

Oxygen OS carries over gesture support, first available on Oppo’s Color OS and adopted on Cyanogen OS 11s. You can draw various gestures on the screen of the OnePlus One (even with the screen turned off) and quickly launch apps like the flashlight or camera.

Another feature is the improved quick settings, which lets you reorder settings tiles and choose the ones you want to see. This feature seems to be inspired by Paranoid Android, and that should be no surprise, given that many of the key people behind PA are now contributing to Oxygen OS.

Oxygen OS also comes with a file manager, a welcome addition for any power user, as well as the ability to customize lockscreen wallpapers and switch between capacitive and on-screen navigation keys.

Oxygen OS is now available for download from OnePlus, with full installation instructions available. If you want to help, you can provide feedback by downloading and installing this special app. Note that updating to Oxygen OS from Cyanogen requires wiping the system and flashing manually, though OnePlus says an automated method is in the pipeline.

The OnePlus DR-1 drone is an April Fool’s joke, except you can actually buy one

It had all the makings of an extremely elaborate April Fool’s joke, and it technically was, except that you will be able to get one. OnePlus has been teasing a “game changer” ever since MWC, and most recently, it was suggested that this “game changer” was going to be a drone. Well, as it turns […]

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CM12S OTA update is coming to OnePlus One users in India

OnePlus and Cyanogen have certainly gotten off to a rough start ever since the One’s launch in India, which ultimately banned (then unbanned) the device from being sold in the region due to an exclusive partnership between Cyanogen and Micromax. Following the big debacle from a few months ago, many OnePlus One users have been wondering if their devices would ever get the update to CM12S. If you’re an owner of the One handset and live in India, you’re in luck. Carl Pei, co-founder of OnePlus, recently revealed on Twitter that OnePlus One users in India would in fact receive the update to CM12S as an OTA.

For now, we haven’t been given any sort of timeframe for the update, but we do know that CyanogenMod 12S is making its way to the United States sometime this week. We’re not sure if that’s an indicator for a potential timeframe or not, so we’ll have to wait for further word from the OnePlus team.

We’ll surely let you know if OnePlus holds up its end of the bargain and delivers the update on time. Once the U.S. update rolls out, it shouldn’t be too much longer until other regions see the update as well. OnePlus One owners in India, are you excited for CM12S?

Game on: OnePlus will announce a “game changer” in April

OnePlus has had mixed success with its marketing ever since the Chinese outfit’s conception, ranging from offensive to appropriate, but thankfully, it’s latest marketing campaign is actually pretty good. Ever since MWC in Barcelona, OnePlus has been teasing something it calls a “game changer”, saying that it is neither a smartphone or tablet. Given how explicit […]

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OnePlus One will get a price increase in Europe on March 25th due to exchange rates

Due to the declining value of the euro, the OnePlus One‘s price will increase in Europe beginning Wednesday, March 25th. OnePlus explains that due to the euro’s instability, many manufacturers tend to launch devices in the region for higher prices. OnePlus ultimately opted not to raise the price of its “flagship killer” when it launched, resulting in the company actually selling devices at a loss in the EU.

Beginning March 25th, the 16GB Silk White variant will be available for €299 (up from €269), and the 64GB Sandstone Black variant will be sold for €349 (up from €299). The company explains:

We sincerely wish that we had an alternative option here. We explored all possible avenues in an attempt to avoid any changes, but as a startup with exceedingly-slim margins, our current euro prices simply aren’t sustainable.

Now, these changes don’t go into effect until next Wednesday, so you can still buy the smartphone at the cheaper price until then. Even though you’ll need an invitation to purchase the phone, OnePlus is holding an open sale promotion on Tuesday, March 24th if you can’t get your hands on an invite. Moreover, OnePlus confirms that official accessories won’t be affected by the price increase.

European readers, does this affect you in any way? If you were thinking about buying the device, what are your thoughts now?

Cyanogen 12 will let you theme individual apps, paid themes also coming

With Cyanogen 12 (Lollipop-based) expected by the end of the month, the Cyanogen team announced two new features coming to the OS: individual app theming and paid themes.

Extensive theming is one of the core features of Cyanogen OS (as well as the non-commercial CyanogenMod project), and a lively community of modders and themers has sprung up around it. The new features coming to Cyanogen 12 should boost activity in this budding ecosystem.

First up, App Themer will let users select specific themes for individual apps. Accessible from the Theme Chooser, the feature only allows selecting one of the installed themes, so you won’t be able to manually tweak the appearance of apps. However, the feature should still be very helpful for the times when the system theme doesn’t look good on a specific app or when you simply prefer some apps to look different. There’s no limit on how many apps you can theme or how many different themes you can use.

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The second feature, paid themes, has long been requested by Cyanogen themers looking to monetize their work. Free themes will continue to be available, but it’s safe to assume that many high quality themes will be paid going forward. You will need a Play Store account to buy themes.

The new features will roll out as part of the Cyanogen 12S update coming over the air to the OnePlus One on or before March 30. The Yureka Yu and Alcatel OneTouch Hero 2+ will also receive the update via OTA in the coming weeks or months.

OnePlus: OxygenOS and CyanogenMod 12S both coming by month’s end

Last week the Cyanogenmod team reported that Cyanogen OS’ Lollipop update would finally be arriving to the OnePlus within a “few weeks”. Now OnePlus has piped in as well, promising that the update to Lollipop for the OnePlus will be arriving by the month’s end.

More specifically, OnePlus says that Cyanogen OS 12S should arrive on or before March 30th, with the stable release of OxygenOS expected on or before March 27th. That means you’ll have more than one path forward this month, CM or OPO’s new in-house ROM. In addition to revealing specific timeframes for the Lollipop update, OnePlus also issued an apology of sorts, alongside an explanation:

We never intended to keep you waiting. Unfortunately, we ran into some unexpected roadblocks. First, there was an unforeseen OS signing issue, which has recently been resolved. Our camera module had stability issues on Lollipop, and we had to rebuild it for compatibility. Several other crucial drivers, including our Wi-Fi drivers, also needed to be updated to work flawlessly with the upgrade. Admittedly, it took a little more time than we had planned, but we only release updates that we are proud of; that means refusing to take shortcuts or deliver sub-par experiences.

Will OnePlus actually hold true to its new targeted release dates? The company sure seems to think so and as a gesture of good faith says that it if misses either of the above deadlines it will give away five 64GB OnePlus One devices to its fans.

OnePlus owners: will you be moving on to the next version of Cyanogen OS when it arrives this month, or are you jumping ship to OxygenOS instead? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.