Open Betas 14 & 6 for OnePlus 6 & 6T

[ironass]

OnePlus have just started the Open Beta 14 & 6 OTA roll out for the OnePlus 6 & 6T to test new features and fixes that may or may not, come to future firmware updates. You will only receive this test firmware OTA if you are already on their Open Beta releases.

Changelog

System

• Updated Android Security patch to 2019.3
• Improved lock screen interface
• Improved sensitivity for screen rotation

Messages

• Now able to select contact groups for sending SMS

Camera version now 3.0.32


WARNING! Open Beta releases are for competent and experienced users since they may not always be stable and are for the purposes of testing and reporting to OnePlus to help them develop future stock firmware and features. By installing this Open Beta, you accept the potential risks. Once on the Open Beta pathway you will no longer receive the regular OnePlus, Official Stable OTA's and you will need to completely wipe your phone before attempting to return to Official Stable OnePlus stock firmware.

If you have the McLaren OnePlus 6T you, "may", lose the McLaren Warp Charge animation/facility by flashing this Beta firmware.

(N.B. Open Beta is not available for the T-Mobile carrier minority variant)

This is the 6th Open Beta release for the 6T in 84 days

 

[ironass]

Re: Open Betas 14 & 6 for OnePlus 6 & 6T

Android Security patch... March 2019

Download full Official Open Beta 6 .zip for the OnePlus 6T

Download full Official Open Beta 14 .zip for the OnePlus 6

 

[Ryano89]

Just flashed. "Improved lockscreen interface" appears to consist entirely of moving the face unlock indicator(the little smiley face) from the bottom of the screen to the top. Massive improvement.. bahahahahaha. Seems smooth and bug free so far though.

 

[ironass]

So far... so good!

Been on this latest Beta 6 for 10 hours and no issues. Obviously it is too early to say about battery life. Will go through 2 or 3 charge cycles before commenting.

 

[Kendahl Titcomb]

Anyone experiencing any WiFi issues. Mine continues to drop or struggle to keep a signal. I would normally attribute this to my router, but no one in the house has the same issues.

 

[ironass]

Anyone experiencing any WiFi issues. Mine continues to drop or struggle to keep a signal. I would normally attribute this to my router, but no one in the house has the same issues.

No problems with Wi-Fi on Open Beta 6 for me. I guess you've tried removing the Wi-Fi connection and then re-adding it.

 

[Kendahl Titcomb]

I actually ended up going through and clearing my cache and restating the phone... Now I'm good

 

[ironass]

I see that a 4GB Swap File has been added to this Open Beta release. "Perhaps", to help gamers on things like PUBG with apps closing. We shall see. If successful, it will be in a stable update for the global model.

 

[ironass]

This app refers to it as ZRAM which is slightly different.

 

[Ryano89]

I see that a 4GB Swap File has been added to this Open Beta release. "Perhaps", to help gamers on things like PUBG with apps closing. We shall see. If successful, it will be in a stable update for the global model.

https://i.imgur.com/KqOxgdxl.jpg

I'm not a fan of this, as it is more CPU intensive and could affect battery life. You shouldn't need a swap file of this size with 6 or 8gb of RAM. The swap file will also be slower than just using actual RAM. I feel like this is a poor way to optimize memory management IF I'm understanding correctly how all of this works.

 

[Ryano89]

This app refers to it as ZRAM which is slightly different.

https://i.imgur.com/ztmwzT9l.jpg

What app is this?

 

[ironass]

What app is this?

DevCheck Hardware and System Info

 

[ironass]

I'm not a fan of this, as it is more CPU intensive and could affect battery life. You shouldn't need a swap file of this size with 6 or 8gb of RAM. The swap file will also be slower than just using actual RAM. I feel like this is a poor way to optimize memory management IF I'm understanding correctly how all of this works.

I would normally agree with you Ryan89 but I have been on this Open Beta for a week now and have not seen my battery life affected. The other thing is, as per both of my screenies, it is not like I was short of RAM but the Swap/ZRAM is being used for something... I just don't know what.

 

[Ryano89]

I would normally agree with you Ryan89 but I have been on this Open Beta for a week now and have not seen my battery life affected. The other thing is, as per both of my screenies, it is not like I was short of RAM but the Swap/ZRAM is being used for something... I just don't know what.

I have been following a couple of developers on telegram and they are convinced it's being used to prevent apps from being killed in the background prematurely, which is a good thing, but as you said you have plenty of RAM so it shouldn't be necessary. I'm trying a custom kernel that disables it to see if I notice any difference myself. I'll report back.

 

[Ryano89]

I have been following a couple of developers on telegram and they are convinced it's being used to prevent apps from being killed in the background prematurely, which is a good thing, but as you said you have plenty of RAM so it shouldn't be necessary. I'm trying a custom kernel that disables it to see if I notice any difference myself. I'll report back.

Disabling the new swap file and ZRAM has allowed me to use almost all 8gb of RAM with no apps being closed in the background and absolutely phenomenal performance

 

[phillymade]

I am contemplating going to the beta builds, but I have question that I am unable to find an answer to. Perhaps I looked in the wrong channels.
I have used betas in the past on Nexus devices, so there were a series of builds before a stable build or update version became available. Does OP do this as well or are the betas never ending? I would assume that the builds may be in preparation for the next Android version?

 

[ironass]

I am contemplating going to the beta builds, but I have question that I am unable to find an answer to. Perhaps I looked in the wrong channels.
I have used betas in the past on Nexus devices, so there were a series of builds before a stable build or update version became available. Does OP do this as well or are the betas never ending? I would assume that the builds may be in preparation for the next Android version?

OnePlus bring out Open Betas roughly every 2 weeks which are ongoing. Stable releases are released every 1-2 months and may or may not incorporate some of the features from the Open Beta test firmwares. See...

OnePlus update schedule explained

However, Open Betas are really for competent and experienced users to report to OnePlus and require a full wipe of the phone if you wish to return to the stock, stable, OxygenOS releases. See post #3 of OxygenOS Open Beta 14 for the OnePlus 6 and Open Beta 6 for OnePlus 6T

 

[ironass]

Disabling the new swap file and ZRAM has allowed me to use almost all 8gb of RAM with no apps being closed in the background and absolutely phenomenal performance

Interesting! Have you tried any games on the phone during this time? I am thinking of PUBG.

 

[Ryano89]

Interesting! Have you tried any games on the phone during this time? I am thinking of PUBG.

Tried a Asphalt 9 with great results, but I don't play PUBG so I can't comment on it unfortunately.

 

[ironass]

Tried a Asphalt 9 with great results, but I don't play PUBG so I can't comment on it unfortunately.

Thanks Ryano89! It looks like you've used Ex Manager to disable ZRAM in the stock kernel... is that correct?

One suggestion being put forward on another forum is that the ZRAM might be used for the Smart Boost feature in OnePlus Laboratory. I turned off Smart Boost and rebooted and the ZRAM usage went from 1.3GB to 101MB but did not disappear.