Yesterday, and perhaps the whole week, might be Google’s moment, but that doesn’t mean that other firms out there are slowing down. In fact, OnePlus’ CEO and Founder, Pete Lau, has taken to Twitter to tease the impending launch of Android 7.0 Nougat on the OnePlus 3. For those that were put off by how long it took them to get Android 6.0 Marshmallow on to the OnePlus 2, this could be a good sign. When the company launched their first device, the OnePlus One, they did so with the support of Cyanogen Inc. which meant that updates were pretty much guaranteed and while they weren’t the fastest, they were still pretty speedy overall. Since then however, OnePlus has had to go it alone with their own software with the likes of OxygenOS, which in the case of the OnePlus 2 and OnePlus X certainly appeared to slow things down where updates were concerned.
The tweet from Pete Lau is little more than a quick video of the OnePlus offices and then a device running Android 7.0 Nougat that just happens to be a shiny OnePlus 3. The teaser basically shows off the Easter Egg page from Android Nougat that we’ve come to know and love, but other than that it doesn’t give us any idea of when the release of Nougat will be happening. The tweet simply says that the team is “already hard at work on the latest and greatest”. Given that Nougat has been out since the end of August, it’s easy to point the finger and say that OnePlus is already a little late to the party. Of course, OnePlus is not your usual company and they have a much smaller team developing their software for their devices than say, Samsung or LG, and they also have fewer devices in the world to roll out to.
OnePlus 3 owners will be hoping that the Chinese upstart can get the update to Android 7.0 Nougat out the door much quicker than they did with Marshmallow for the OnePlus 2, and this is also a good opportunity for the firm to show those sitting on the fence about the OnePlus 3 that a small company like this can be trusted when it comes to updates.
Already hard at work on the latest and greatest. #NeverSettlepic.twitter.com/pirsJS3jOD
— Pete Lau (@petelau2007) October 4, 2016