Paranoid Android Devs Seek Donations Citing Financial Woes

The developers behind the ever-popular AOSP based Paranoid Android have apparently run into financial trouble and taken to the web to ask users for donations. That’s based on a recent post published on the official Paranoid Android Google Plus profile. Interestingly enough, the next variation of the OS is very close to being completed, according to that post but lack of funding and bills have brought down the associated website and Gerrit. That leaves the developers in a difficult situation since it effectively halts efforts moving forward. As such the software engineers responsible for the OS are asking for help in mounting a comeback.

The group has not provided any information regarding how far behind on bills they are or how much they hope to garner in terms of support. However, providing aid is simple enough. Users or anybody else who might be interested can visit the official Paranoid Android community page on Google Plus or contact the developer’s Telegram team for more information. Those can be found via buttons below. Those who just want to make a quick donation to the cause can head straight over to Paranoid Android’s official PayPal account – also accessible via a button below.

As of this writing, the developers also haven’t provided any information about the new OS that’s currently being held back. Presumably, that release is slated to be based on Oreo since the most recent prior release, based on Nougat, was launched in November of last year. For those who don’t already know, Paranoid Android is an AOSP-based open-source OS. Some more noteworthy features of the custom installation, alongside other features included with stock Android, is a Color Engine theming tool and support for Substratum themes. Additionally, the OS has built-in accidental touch rejection and a locking mechanism which prevents accidental button presses while in a user’s pocket – aptly called Pocket Lock. Screenshots in Paranoid Android can also be taken via a three-finger swipe gesture instead of just with hardware keys. Sticking with gesture features, users can also hide the main on-screen navigation buttons and regain access via a swipe from the edge. The next version of the OS would likely keep those features while adding the new optimizations and improvements from Android 8.0 Oreo.