OnePlus walks back ‘unified OS’ plans, Oxygen OS is here to stay

After announcing plans to shift its phones to a new “unified OS” in 2022, OnePlus has unexpectedly decided to junk the move. The company confirmed during a media roundtable that Oxygen OS and Color OS will remain separate entities in the global market.

OnePlus phones are already running Oppo’s Color OS in China. Meanwhile, global models were supposed to get the new integrated operating system, starting with the company’s first flagship of the year. OnePlus had even said that older devices will also jump on the so-called unified OS with the major Android update of 2022, aka Android 13. Clearly, those plans didn’t work out for the company.

OnePlus offered the following explanation for its decision to ditch the unified OS:

Back in September, Pete announced the codebase for both Oxygen OS and Color OS would merge with the goal of creating one unified and upgraded operating system for both OnePlus and Oppo devices globally. Oxygen OS and Color OS will continue to be developed on the same codebase — to allow for faster updates and better build quality — but we have decided that Oxygen OS and Color OS will remain independent brand properties. This new course was taken in accordance with feedback from our community — we understand users of Oxygen OS and Color OS want each operating system to remain separate from each other with their own distinct properties.

The company further noted that Oxygen OS 13 will be its next big system update.

“We want to deliver an experience that long-time OnePlus users will be more familiar with while ensuring it offers a fast and smooth experience and a robust set of features for everyone. Oxygen OS 13 will have its unique visual design, along with a range of exclusive customization features that we believe Oxygen OS fans old and new will enjoy,” the company told Android Authority in an emailed statement.

You can read more about OnePlus’ plans for the next major Oxygen OS version here.