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OnePlus brings back its development seeding program (Update: Statement)
Update, February 1, 2019 (02:03 PM ET): OnePlus issued Android Authority a statement on the reintroduction of its development seeding program. The statement is here:
We appreciate everyone’s patience recently while we paused our developer program. We understand the importance of the developer community and are always looking to provide the best possible support on development efforts for OnePlus devices. We welcome feedback on our new criteria for our developer seeding program, as we continue to provide our community with support.
Original Article, February 1, 2019 (10:40 AM ET): At the end of November 2018, word spread that OnePlus was shuttering its development seeding program, which gives free OnePlus devices to Android developers so they can test apps, custom ROMs, and other software.
Later, OnePlus issued a statement saying it wasn’t permanently shutting down the seeding program, but rather temporarily scaling it back to make it bigger and better.
True to its word, it looks like the OnePlus development seeding program is back in action. On Twitter, developer Chris Renshaw (a.k.a. “osm0sis” and developer of AnyKernel2) posted a message thanking OnePlus for sending him a brand new OnePlus 6T for development purposes.
Check out the tweet below:
And true to their word, my OnePlus 6T arrived today! Thanks to @oneplus for continuing to foster an open development community in keeping the Developer Seeding Program alive, and saving us all from having to start doing unboxing videos to get devices for development! ?— Chris Renshaw (@osm0sis_xda) January 31, 2019
If you go down further in the thread underneath that tweet, you find a tweet from OnePlus’ official support account:
Thank you. We are glad to welcome you the OnePlus family. It is for our fans like you that we try to provide the best. We truly wish you the true OnePlus experience.— OnePlus Support (@OnePlus_Support) January 31, 2019
Broken English aside, it does seem OnePlus is officially back in the game when it comes to sending out complimentary devices to developers. We reached out to OnePlus to get an official statement on the matter, but didn’t hear back by press time. We will update this article should we receive a statement.
With the development seeding program supposedly back in action, we will hopefully see more custom ROMs for OnePlus devices as well as new software tweaks. Granted, the OnePlus development community is still pretty robust, but considering OnePlus owes most of its success to that community, it’s nice to know things are copacetic for now.