After announcing to offer two-year software service guarantee for all its phones, OnePlus has now come up with another user-friendly initiative for older version device owners.
The company introduced the Google's Project Treble support in the OxygenOS Open Beta software v12 and v10 for the OnePlus 5 and the 5T, respectively. This means OnePlus has altered the structure of the OxygenOS so that there will be very less work to optimise it with Google's source code. Once the public version is rolled to the devices in coming weeks, they will be assured of getting the timely release of the future software update to the devices.
What is Google Project Treble?
Google caters to several hundreds of phone-makers with Android mobile OS, but due to variation in hardware and custom UI in different products, it becomes tedious for both the companies to offer timely software updates, as it requires several tests to be conducted before it is released to the phones.
This apparently is the reason why Google's Android version distribution is so skewed compared to Apple iOS. The former's Android Oreo was announced in August 2017, and yet it has reached to just 5.7-percent, while the latter's iOS 11 (launched in September 2017) has been adopted by more than 87-per cent of Apple device owners.
Google, in a bid to streamline the software release process, it introduced Project Treble in May 2017. But, very few like Nokia have accepted the offer.
How does Google Project Treble work?
Prior to the Project Treble, Google used to first deliver open-source code of the new mobile OS to the processor-makers and they used to modify it to suit their specific hardware, and pass it to the phone makers, the companies that design and manufacture Android devices. Mobile manufacturers modify the firmware again to make it compatible with the individual devices.
In developed markets like the US, the device makers had to perform two more steps before they release the OS. They need to further tweak the software as per individual carrier networks suggestions and get them certified, and then release the final version to the devices, causing a huge delay in the roll-out.
With Project Treble, smartphone-makers can deliver Android release to consumers by just updating the Android OS framework without any additional work required from chipset manufacturers.
Now that OnePlus has joined the Project Treble, OnePlus will be able to offer faster software updates soon after the Google's Pixel phones. It can be noted that OnePlus 6 already supports Project Treble and device owners, even have an option to test the beta version of the upcoming Android P at the official company forums.
