2021 was an important year for OnePlus and OPPO, with companies that are getting closer to each other, but we are already talking about OxygenOS 13. You will probably remember that the announcement of the union between the two brands was accompanied by the news of a unified operating system.
News that was probably left on purpose with an aura of mystery, as it was not concretely explained what would happen. Since then, OxygenOS has essentially merged with ColorOS, with OnePlus’s UI inheriting a lot from OPPO’s.
In the announcement of OnePlus and OPPO, it was confirmed verbatim that this ” unified global operating system ” would make its debut with the “next OnePlus flagship” Since then, the OnePlus 10 Pro has been launched in China with the ColorOS 12, which we recall has completely replaced the HydrogenOS (the Asian version of the OxygenOS).
However, this is not definable as the new operating system, given that it is that of OPPO and which has already been introduced in the course of 2021 on models sold in China.
In all of this, the OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro have started updating to the OxygenOS 12, which like the OxygenOS 11 has brought forward the integration of the ColorOS into the OnePlus UI.
But even in this case, we are not talking about a new unified operating system, but the OxygenOS that we already knew. If this were not enough to create confusion, it is during these hours the announcement by the company that it is working on OxygenOS 13.
OnePlus has kicked off the Open Ears program, allowing its community to express their opinion on the official forum. It will be held on February 28th and various members of the OxygenOS team will be involved, who will listen to the feedback to understand how to develop the next major update.
Putting aside that it is still early to talk about what the OxygenOS 13 will be like, presumably arriving at the end of 2022, it is interesting to talk about it in view of the merger with OPPO.
The announcement of a unified operating system has hinted that OnePlus and OPPO were about to announce a new OS, at least in name, that would unite the two interfaces. This is not going to happen, however, as evidenced by the fact that OnePlus has already announced the OxygenOS 13 for 2022/2023.
In light of this information, I continue to be of the opinion that there may not be a real new unified system, but maintenance of the current one.
This would mean that OnePlus would continue to mount the ColorOS in China, where the OPPO UI is well known, while in the West it would remain the OxygenOS in ColorOS sauce that we have already seen with OxygenOS 11 and 12. There is also the theory according to which OnePlus and OPPO would have set aside the UI unification plans, perhaps postponing them to a date to be defined.