OnePlus Nord receives second Open Beta, with critical fixes in tow

The update brings the latest security patches, critical bug fixes for issues like failure to set alarms, messaging apps receiving delayed notifications.

OnePlus Nord is still on  the stable Android 10 release, while the much cheaper Samsung Galaxy M31 received its Android 11 upgrade last week.  (HT Tech)

While manufacturers like Samsung continue to dominate the field with their Android 11 upgrade rollout months ahead of schedule, OnePlus is still plodding along with its beta testing for its upper mid-range Nord, with the company releasing the second OxygenOS 11 beta on Monday.

The update brings in a large number of fixes, and arrives nearly a month after OnePlus began rolling out the first OxygenOS beta based on Android 11 at the end of December. The most important fix in the changelog is the note “Fixed the small probability issue that alarm clocks can not be set”.

You definitely don't want to be using beta quality software on your ‘daily driver’ devices, or phones that you use for work.  (Oneplus Forums)

You definitely don't want to be using beta quality software on your ‘daily driver’ devices, or phones that you use for work.  (Oneplus Forums)

Similarly, it seems like OnePlus is still struggling with its background app management, with the latest Open Beta promising better optimisation “to receive more timely messages.” In addition, the update also includes non critical visual fixes to the lockscreen, calculator, camera histogram display, battery icons and Messenger bubbles.

The update weighs in at 205 MB and is titled “Nord_R_OBT_O2_210114”. Users who have switched to the Open Beta update ring can simply use the OTA updater to install the second OxygenOS 11 Open Beta on top of the first one. However, if you want to come back to the stable Android 10 version if you encounter any bugs, you will need to back up your data and perform a factory reset. XDA also reports that the update brings the January security patches for the device.

It's surprising to see OnePlus still working on the OxygenOS 11 update for the Nord when only last week, Samsung began rolling out the OneUI3.0 update for the budget Galaxy M31 based on Android 11. Considering that Samsung is supposed to have a much “heavier” software layer (or skin) compared to OnePlus which was once considered “close to Google stock software” - OnePlus is clearly playing catch-up here.