OnePlus’s unified OS could be called H₂OOS

As a part of its ongoing Oppo-ficiation, OnePlus planned to ditch the old OxygenOS on its devices to switch to a new unified OS that shares its underpinnings with ColorOS, seemingly starting with the recent (and poorly recieved) OxygenOS 12 update. Though OxygenOS and ColorOS now share a lot of code, they still have separate names, and who knows what the OnePlus 10 series might bring when it comes to the US. A trademark filing might indicate change is coming — or it could just be a bit of housekeeping.

According to leaker Mukul Sharma (via Gizmochina) and confirmed by Android Police, OnePlus has filed a new trademark in China for H₂OOS. There is a small twist, though: OnePlus also already had this trademark as of 2015. The renewed attention and new filing could mean it plans to finally use it for something, though, and the name itself could be an indicator.

The name has seemingly been derived by combining the chemical symbols behind HydrogenOS — the skin found on OnePlus phones in China before it was replaced with ColorOS — and OxygenOS. Of course, OnePlus’s Android 12 update already has quite a lot of ColorOS in it, and it’s being distributed on the OnePlus 9 with the old name. The company could decide this is worth a tweak when the OnePlus 10 series lands in the US, or the real “merger” could still be further out, or maybe this is a plan for some other future update. Or, it might be nothing, and OnePlus is just filing for the trademark again for some other entirely unrelated reason.

When OnePlus and Oppo initially announced their deeper integration in June 2021, Pete Lau promised that future OnePlus devices would continue to run OxygenOS. However, just a couple of months later, he announced the merger of OxygenOS with ColorOS and the development of a new unified operating system for devices from both companies — still Oxygen OS by name, but not much else. As a part of the merger, users were promised “the fast and smooth, burdenless experience of OxygenOS, and the stability and rich features of ColorOS.” It was also confirmed that despite the merger, OnePlus’s skin would retain its distinguished look compared to ColorOS.

The reality, however, has been the exact opposite. It’s not clear if the Android 12-based Oxygen OS 12 update constitutes the completion of this software merger (though it has a lot of ColorOS software inside it), but this new version was a buggy mess for the OnePlus 9 series. The skin looks very similar to Oppo’s ColorOS with some minor differences and does not offer the same kind of experience that OxygenOS was once known for. The initial release was so problematic that the company eventually took it down. It did release two new builds after that with plenty of bug fixes, but customer reports at venues like OnePlus’s forum indicate some problems that still need to be addressed. Here’s hoping the company manages to get its act together and offers a better experience.

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