SultanXDA To Soon Cease Development For OnePlus Smartphones

SultanXDA is acclaimed for his work on OnePlus smartphones. The developer started working on OnePlus devices in 2014 after the One was launched and has since worked on every subsequent OnePlus device. Sultan's unofficial LineageOS builds are known for their extra features, stability, performance and incredible battery life.

For an example of Sultan's work, the OnePlus One's front camera supported video recording at a maximum of 720p (HD). Firstly, SultanXDA bumped up the maximum video resolution of the front camera to 1080p (Full HD) and then to 1440p (2K). It's noteworthy that Android Lollipop didn't have native support for recording 2K videos, and Sultan managed to add it to his Lollipop based CyanogenMod build for the One.

In a forum post on his LineageOS build for the OnePlus 3/3T, Sultan wrote that he won't be using OnePlus smartphones anymore and he will not be working on Oreo. It is unclear whether by "not be working on Oreo" Sultan was referring to all the OnePlus devices. But, clearly, Sultan won't be developing Oreo-based LineageOS for the 3 and 3T, and since the developer won't be using any OnePlus device in the future, it is unlikely that he will continue to support other OnePlus smartphones for long.

Here's the forum post made by SultanXDA.

I'm going to be on hiatus from mid June through the end of September (going on vacation + doing an intensive internship), and I'm not sure what I'll do after that. What I do know for sure though is that I won't be using OnePlus devices anymore (because they suck) and I'll be buying a Pixel 2 XL to use at least for the summer. I don't want to rely on a dysfunctional OnePlus camera during my vacation, hence why I'm getting a Pixel 2 XL. After September, I might just go into working on kernels instead of ROMs entirely, but I dunno ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I'll still update this ROM a couple more times, but ye have been warned: the end is near. This means I won't be working on Oreo :P

There are several reasons why Sultan terms the OnePlus 3/3T camera as "dysfunctional". OnePlus was contemplating releasing the camera blobs for the 3 and 3T, but it didn't go through with that. Because of the lack of the camera blobs, the quality of photos and videos on custom ROMs for the 3 and 3T has been subpar to that of OxygenOS. Several OnePlus 3/3T users claim that they have run into problems using third-party camera apps on Nougat- or Oreo-based OxygenOS. Apparently, OnePlus hasn't implemented the camera2api properly which the thirty party apps make use of. The Google Camera mod builds for the 3 and 3T are also not stable.

Source: XDA forums

Krittin Kalra

Krittin Kalra is a 20 year old Android freak. Striving for passions, chasing down his dreams and living a life without regrets is his sole mantra. A bit moody, he also does custom ROM reviews for AndroGuider. Currently pursuing his B.Tech, he aspires to follow his heart.