Handsets

Got a OnePlus One without CyanogenMod branding? There’s a good reason for that

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oneplus without cyanogenmod logo

Folks ordering units from recently produced batches of the OnePlus One will notice that the iconic CyanogenMod branding is not present on the shipping box or the device itself.

An immediate assumption might be that the recent falling out between the two are to blame, but it’s not wise to sensationalize. OnePlus actually addressed the change back in an update post made to the company’s forums a couple of weeks ago (though we weren’t immediately sure what they meant):

As OnePlus continues to grow and plant its flag worldwide, we’ve also decided to unify and conquer. As such, we have recently altered the back covers of all OnePlus Ones to feature a cleaner and more unified look across all region.

Whether that’s wholly accurate or there was more to the decision is for them to know and us to find out, but it is a valid excuse. We imagine the change was quite important for a couple of different reasons:

  1. Considering the OnePlus ships with different types of firmware in other parts of the world (namely the ColorOS version for China) we imagine it’ll save the company a lot of time, money and logistics headaches to not have to worry about producing the right amount of CyanogenMod-branded devices vs a standard set.
  2. A company with OnePlus’s infancy has to plant the branding seed early, so it’s important for their product to take on a more unified look no matter where in the world you buy it or which version you buy.

After all, the lack of CyanogenMod branding doesn’t change the fact that it still comes loaded with CyanogenMod (and that you can freely flash CyanogenMod for versions that don’t if you so choose) so there’s much ado about nothing. If anything, we’ll probably have to start considering the CyanogenMod-branded versions as a limited edition set that could net some nice money on eBay someday.

PS: We’re told Silk White models will now have a special small nub on the back to prevent scratching while it’s sitting on rough surfaces, so there’s that. No word on whether existing owners of the Silk White model will be able to order these new back covers, but we’ll sure do our best to find out.

[via Google+]

 

Quentyn Kennemer
The "Google Phone" sounded too awesome to pass up, so I bought a G1. The rest is history. And yes, I know my name isn't Wilson.

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29 Comments

  1. People beotch and moan about branding on phones all the time. So there are nerds out there actually pizzzed off that their overly hyped 1plus1 phones came with no CyanogenMod branding?

    1. No.

      1. Well if there are, they can go buy a .50 cent decal and stick it on… done. Branded.

  2. Interesting,…the “falling out” that is! I was this close > < to buying the OPO back in Aug.'14 after hustling an invite…but,I just heard more negatives than positives! If you received one from a good batch then you were golden,but if you happen to get somewhat of a lemon then it was GOOD LUCK trying to get some decent customer service! So to me,bad c.s. is a deal breaker…I can understand getting a not-so-perfect smartphone that may have a couple two-three issues…but if I cannot get some decent help from the said company I purchased it from then forget it!

    1. My fiance hasn’t had a single issue.

  3. I’ve been growing a little weary of Cyanogen Inc. I know they say they don’t usually give time tables, but they did say that the OnePlus One would get Lollipop with in 90 days of the operating system’s public release. That would put the last day to meet this deadline on Sunday February 1, but there hasn’t even been a peep out of them. I will be shocked if they meet this deadline, which is disappointing. Especially so since other flagship devices such as the Galaxy S5 and the HTC M8 have already received their 5.0 updates. It feels like Cyanogen Inc. is chasing the money instead of supporting it’s most devoted followers.

    1. Such is the way of the burgeoning biz life so I don’t hate 1 bit. I remember when Cyanogen was just a dude putting out a ROM we loaded up and a series of cool app hacks here and there. I suppose being in this position for them is the hope & dream of any business – and they are likely in a place now they never expected to be. It has, afterall, become a business. Not just a single dev cranking cool stuff out over on XDA.

      1. I was putting CM on my S2, then my S3, LG G2….and after a while, I just got tiresome of the constant updates and bugs that would randomly pop up. Then you back track to a build that is days old. Then scanning XDA forums for people who have a good enough build to upgrade to, just to find out that its just not working for your variant….so then I bought my Nexus 6 and have retired from CM.

        1. Yep, agreed. Same experience. It was fun and cutting edge to some degree, and then a real PITA in another as you realized you got some really amazing features, but then something core and simple like the camera or wifi or BT would not be functioning or ready for primetime yet so we all waited for that to be solved.

          Anymore, I use things like the Exposed framework and Ninjamorph to just tweak the pieces of the stock ROM I want to tweak. That way, everything works and I can just have the bits and pieces of other ROMS I would want, without the hassle of the other 99 pieces I don’t care about or busted items that came with a ROM.

          1. totally agree with everything there. cant tell you how many times Wifi would not connect or the camera would crash (or suck haha). I was doing xposed framework apps for my G3 after rooting it but never touched ROMS after my G2. I’m pretty happy with my Nexus 6….but I’m thinking more and more about rooting to get tap-to-wake and LED support. (off-subject)

          2. I think it should be illegal for people to NOT root and profit. Like, you have to pay a fine or some jail time or something. I mean, come on, no root? That is nutso. Hell, I think all phones should come rooted in all seriousness, all jokes aside. There is a zero.zero chance if I had a Nexus (or any phone) that it wouldn’t be rooted. Every phone or tablet i have ever had, and those of friends and family that would allow me, got at least simple root so they could get some basic bonus features. And no rootability – which is rare but happens – means I would simply not buy the phone.

            BluSamu6… root that beotch today and get on with the joy!

          3. haha I am going to after I get the next update here in a week or 2. If nothing changes in my favor then I will root away. I really dont get why they threw an LED light on here….but then said, yeah but we are not going to use it. We shall see! I have the XDA page saved for rooting cause i’m not confident it will go my way!

          4. Yep root and then grab Light Flow – which is a core app I use on all devices as it is awesome. I have read some stories and theories on the LED, but there is no way I wouldn’t want an LED as that is something I count on daily. Now, I understand new phones might do away with it for their own newer methods of notification visually, but that hidden LED is a gem that alone is worth it to root and activate.

            I do understand about waiting for an update – especially if you know it is coming – prior to root as that can bring some unknowns with what you have tweaked with root power versus what the update tweaks and can make issues. But, with Voodoo Root Keeper you should be able to ride out any updates and at least save your root should you opt to do nothing more than just get root.

            Remember, not saying this in the Nexus’ case, but some updates that have come after phone release locked out root ability. So I always at least at a minimum watch XDA to find the best current root method and get on it ASAP and lock root it.

            Yeah… we have floated way off topic. But that’s ok, it’s more exciting chit chat than the OG story we came to read.

          5. i’m worried about losing OTA’s….I can use voodoo root keeper to keep them?? I always used towel root for my previous devices….

          6. VRK does not root you – you use a different app or protocol for that – and you should keep your root even through an OTA update, that IS the point of VRK. VRK will not stop OTA updates – though with root you can stop them like on Samsung just hibernate the SDM app. So with root and VRK you should get OTA’s and keep root.

            The bigger concern is more often when you root what do/did you tweak and thus, what do you loose when the OTA update comes? For example, use root to use Ninjamorph to change your drop down notification functions. An OTA might kill that tweak as it replaces the core files you tweaked with Ninjamorph. So that sucks as then you have to do it again. BUT, you should at least keep your root through an OTA with VRK and that is most important. One never wants to loose root, but if one looses a tweak created thanks to root that can often be redone. But sometimes, like with some Asus tweaks, once root is gone it is gone so keeping that through any OTA is critical. Hence, VRK.

          7. I have a Nexus 6 and when I got it it had 5.0. I rooted and unlocked the bootloader just fine. Then when 5.0.1 came, I just unrooted it and flashed the 5.0.1 update without wiping, and then I was able to re-root after the update. It was really simple and easy. But to unlock the bootloader you have to factory reset the phone.

          8. thanks for the advice. i’ll look into it tonight….I’m alright with stock…I just miss tap-to-wake from my LG and the lack of LED usage is driving me nuts. I am turning my phone on so much! grr

          9. If you root I highly suggest this:

            http://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-6/themes-apps/modpack-mcr-modpack-nexus-6-r1-t2996168

            It enables double tap status bar to sleep, enables double tap to wake on the lockscreen, and lets you double tap anywhere on the lockscreen to put it back to sleep. It also enables the LED light I believe. If not there is a separate app for that I can give you.

          10. that is actually what I bookmarked. I think i’ll give it a go and bypass waiting for the next update. The more I read, the less sure I am that they are going to throw in any LED/knock support. its just bug fixes. blah. so its not like LG tap?? when I flashed CM or any other rom on my G2, I had to use an app to get my knock feature to work but it was only on the task bar or lock screen.

          11. How does it work on the G2? Can you tap anywhere twice on any screen to relock the phone?

            All this does is lets you wake up the phone by double tapping, and then you can relock the phone by double tapping anywhere on the lockscreen. And then in any app you can double tap the status bar to turn off the screen. I thought that was how it worked in the G2.

          12. I thought thats what I put? That’s what I meant either way

          13. I’m confused but I think we are saying it works the same way lol

    2. I think they meant 90 business days lol

    3. in other words: Cyanogen is a big fat Cynosellout.

    4. They said they’d release a dev build within the 3 months. It wasn’t a promise for a stable update. They did provide an alpha stock Lollipop build, and CM12 night lies have been out for a while. Also, they posted a pic on their FB page that teases something happening tomorrow.

  4. Just pop on my notification lollipop

  5. Three months after release well get lollipop. Oh..wait.

    1. “we’ve also decided to unify and conquer”….who cares about Lollipop, let’s conquer the world with one invite at a time.

    2. If you have a OnePlus One and/or you know what Lollipop is (you should also realise this update is a BIG change) a release is likely to take much longer than normal. I’ve had Lollipop on my OPO for almost two months now. I’m going back to CM11S though as some of my most needed / wanted apps don’t work on Lollipop.

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