OnePlus executive broaches subject of mysterious new HDR streaming solution with OEM's fans

OnePlus ia an OEM that has often been celebrated for its markedly light custom Android skin. This interface, known as Oxygen OS (OOS), keeps bloatware (e.g. pre-installed apps that may not be useful to every customer) to a minimum. However, this approach to ROM development also has its drawbacks: OnePlus flagships have a history of compromising on features such as the full gambit of Widevine certification, various levels of which are necessary for streaming video content at higher quality settings.

Carl Pei, the company's co-founder, has posted a thread on OnePlus' official worldwide community website asking fans to vote on a new proposal that may help address this issue. It involves placing app stubs into future versions of OOS for apps that support HDR streaming. These stubs lead to the Play Store install pages for these apps. Pei asserted that this would help "unleash the full potential of our future smartphone hardware [by] offer[ing] our users a higher quality streaming experience".

However, the executive also said that he could not offer more detail on the subject at present. This prospect seems advantageous to those considering a OnePlus for their next smartphone. On the other hand, if this initiative is adopted, it could increase the risk that OOS becomes more bloated, and thus less speed-oriented, over time.

In addition, it may not be possible to uninstall these stubs once they are a part of OOS. Furthermore, if these stubs point to content that is protected by measures such as DRM, they may compromise the firm's current reputation for being relatively developer-friendly (which encompasses properties such as easy bootloader unlocking). Alternatively, access to the certifications necessary for this putative new HDR support may disappear when bootloaders are unlocked.

Currently, this slgihtly ambigous new prospect from OnePlus is up for a poll, which can be accessed via a Google Form linked to the thread. It is not clear how its outcome will affect the possible new avenue of streaming quality on OnePlus phones.

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