[Update 6: API Live] Google and Apple announce the Contact Tracing API and Bluetooth spec to warn users of COVID-19

Update 6 (5/20/2020 @ 1:55 PM EST): Google and Apple’s Exposure Notification APIs are now available to public health agencies so they can implement contact tracing for COVID-19.

Update 5 (5/4/2020 @ 3:25 PM EST): Apple and Google have shared some screenshots of the Exposure Notification API and announce that location tracking will be prohibited.

Update 4 (4/29/2020 @ 2:30 PM EST): Apple and Google have released a beta version of their Exposure Notification API for public health agencies.

Update 3 (4/24/2020 @ 3:15 PM EST): Apple and Google are renaming the Contact Tracing API to “Exposure Notification,” adds more privacy protections.

Update 2 (4/24/2020 @ 11:30 AM EST): Apple and Google’s contact tracing API will go live next week and will include most Huawei devices.

Update 1 (4/13/2020 @ 5:51 PM EST): During a conference call with reporters, Google and Apple clarified some more details about how Contact Tracing will be rolled out for users.

Due to the ongoing threat posed by SARS-CoV-2, Google and Apple have teamed up to announce a new API and Bluetooth Low Energy specification called “Contact Tracing.” The idea behind contact tracing is to inform users if they’ve recently been in contact with someone who has been positively diagnosed with COVID-19. South Korea and Taiwan have successfully “flattened the curve,” as in they’ve limited the number of new cases to fall below the capacity of their healthcare systems, by implementing widespread testing and contact tracing. According to the Associated Press, several countries in Europe including the Czech Republic, the U.K., Germany, and Italy are developing their own contact tracing tools. Apple and Google hope to empower nations and medical organizations around the world with the ability to trace the spread of the novel coronavirus, but the two companies also recognize the potential privacy concerns with this pandemic containment method. That’s why the two companies have created the new API and Bluetooth spec “with user privacy and security central to the design.”

Google and Apple published blog posts and documents that outline their goals to roll out a new API and Bluetooth LE service. Due to urgent need, both companies are tackling this problem in two stages. First, in May, both companies will release an API that “[enables] interoperability between Android and iOS devices using apps from public health authorities.” These apps will be made available for users to download on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. On Android, the API will likely become available for apps through an update to Google Play Services. Second, in the next few months, both Google and Apple will add support for a new Bluetooth Low Energy service into Android and iOS. For iOS, this new BLE service will likely come via an OS update, while for Android, this service will likely be added as part of another update to Google Play Services. Google says that adding a Bluetooth LE Contact Tracing service “is a more robust solution than an API and would allow more individuals to participate, if they choose to opt in, as well as enable interaction with a broader ecosystem of apps and government health authorities.”

Once an app integrates the new API or the BLE specification has been integrated, Android and iOS users can receive notifications if they’ve recently been in contact with someone who has been diagnosed with COVID-19. Notably, the BLE solution will not require the user to have an application installed (presumably they just need Google Play Services), but if they choose to install one of the official apps, then the app can inform them on the next steps to take after they receive a notification. This will allow users to decide if they need to self-quarantine for 14 days or to seek testing and further medical intervention. Here is an example flow of what Google and Apple envision will be possible with this new Bluetooth LE service:

An overview of COVID-19 contact tracing using Bluetooth Low Energy. Source: Google/Apple.

Here is what Google says about how they designed the new Android Contact Tracing API to protect user privacy and security:

• Apps calling the API via the startContactTracing method are required to get user consent to start contact tracing. If this is the first time the API is being invoked, the user will be shown a dialog asking for permission to start tracing.
• In order to be whitelisted to use this API, apps “will be required to timestamp and cryptographically sign the set of keys before delivery to the server with the signature of an authorized medical authority.” In other words, unauthorized COVID-19 apps will not be allowed to use this API.
• If the user uninstalls the app, the stopContactTracing method “will be automatically invoked and the database and keys will be wiped from the device.”
• The user, after having confirmed a positive diagnosis of COVID-19, must grant explicit consent to upload 14 days of daily tracing keys. A dialog will be shown to the user if the app calls the startSharingDailyTracingKeys method.
• Users will be shown what date and for how long they were in contact with a potentially contagious person, down to increments of 5 minutes, but not who or where the contact occurred.

Here is how the new BLE Contact Detection Service will protect user privacy and security:

• The spec does not require the user’s location or any other personally identifiable information. Location-use is completely optional and is only done after the user provides explicit consent.
• Rolling Proximity Identifiers are changed every 15 minutes on average, which makes it “unlikely that user location can be tracked via Bluetooth over time.”
• Proximity identifiers retrieved from other devices “are processed exclusively on device.” This means that the “list of people you’ve been in contact with never leaves your phone.”
• It’s up to the user to decide if they want to contribute to contact tracing. Users who are diagnosed with COVID-19 must consent to sharing Diagnosis Keys with the server. There will be transparency about the user’s participation in contact tracing, and “people who test positive are not identified to other users, Google, or Apple.” In fact, this information “will only be used for contact tracing by public health authorities for COVID-19 pandemic management.”
• In case you’re wondering, the Content Detection Service should not significantly drain the battery of a device if the hardware and the OS support “Bluetooth controller duplicate filters and other [hardware] filters” to “account for large volumes of advertisers in public spaces.” Scanning is “opportunistic,” meaning it can occur within existing wake and scan window cycles, but will also occur at a minimum of every 5 minutes.

Because the new Contact Tracing specs are designed with user privacy and security in mind, it’s debatable how effective they’ll be at limiting the spread of COVID-19. According to The Verge, such opt-in, non-invasive contact tracing measures may have limited effectiveness. The issues boil down to a lack of widespread adoption by the population and a potentially large number of false-positive Bluetooth proximity events. Still, I hope this new initiative is successful. It’s rare to see Google and Apple collaborate on anything, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

Sources: Google Blog Post, Overview of COVID-19 Contact Tracing, Contact Tracing BLE Spec, Contact Tracing Cryptography Spec, Android Contact Tracing API Spec

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Update 1: More Details

In a conference call with reporters, Google and Apple clarified some points about the upcoming Contact Tracing API (rolling out in mid-May as part of “phase 1”) and BLE Contact Detection Service (rolling out later this year as part of “phase 2”). According to TechCrunch and Axios, both the Contact Tracing API and the BLE Contact Detection Service will be available on Android devices following updates to Google Play Services—so long as the Android smartphone is running Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Users will not need to manually update their devices or even update their OS since updates to Google Play Services happen silently in the background through the Google Play Store.

Although the introduction of BLE Contact Detection Service means that users won’t need to install an application to partake in contact tracing, Google says that users will still be prompted to download a relevant public health app if a positive contact event has been detected. This will help users determine the next steps they should take. Apple notes that while data, after being processed locally on-device, may be “relayed” to servers run by public health organizations around the world, there will not be a centralized data server. This will make it difficult for any government or other malicious actor to conduct surveillance. According to Axios, countries can run their own servers or use ones from Apple and Google. To prevent people from submitting false positive diagnoses, Apple and Google are working with public health organizations on a way to confirm diagnoses.

With the confirmation that Google will bring Contact Tracing to Android devices via updates to Google Play Services, what will happen to the millions of devices without Google Mobile Services? I’m referring, of course, to the millions of devices in China and the newer smartphone releases by Huawei and Honor. According to The Verge, Google “intends to publish a framework that those companies could use to replicate the secure, anonymous tracking system developed by Google and Apple.” Thus, it’s up to third-parties to decide whether they want to use that system. Google did not confirm if its Contact Tracing framework will be open-sourced, but they did say they will offer code audits to companies that want to adopt the system.

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Update 2: Initial Rollout, Huawei Involvement

Originally planned to go live in “mid-May,” it looks like Apple and Google’s Contact Tracing timeline has moved up. According to Thierry Breton, the European Commissioner for internal market, Phase 1 of the plan will go live on April 28th. This information was given to Mr. Breton by Apple CEO Tim Cook.

Phase 1 of Contact Tracing is all about APIs. These APIs will be used by developers who are working on behalf of public health agencies, not third-party applications. The APIs will be made available through an update to Google Play Services and most devices with Android 6.0+ and Bluetooth Low Energy can support Contact Tracing.

Of course, recent Huawei and Honor devices do not have Google Play Services, but many older devices still do. TechRadar confirms that these older devices, which do not include the Huawei Mate 30, P40, Honor V30, and others, will be included in the rollout. As for the other Huawei/Honor devices, the previous article update stated that Google “intends to publish a framework that those companies could use to replicate the secure, anonymous tracking system developed by Google and Apple.”

Source 1: Les Echos | Via: TechCrunch | Source 2: TechRadar

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Update 3: More Privacy Protections

Apple and Google are now referring to the Contact Tracing plan as “Exposure Notification,” which they say is a better description for the purpose of the tool. We also have some more information about how health authorities can fine-tune the API and the privacy protections that will be in place.

The API uses Bluetooth to detect if you’ve been in the vicinity of others who have tested positive, but that has the potential to be inaccurate (detecting people who weren’t close enough or behind a wall). The API will share the strength of the Bluetooth signal so health authorities can set their own threshold for what constitutes a “contact event.”

The API will share how many days have passed since an individual “contact event.” It will not share the precise length of time the two people were in contact. Rather, it will only share estimates of exposure time, from a minimum of 5 minutes to a maximum of 30 minutes, in increments of 5 minutes. Health authorities can use this information to alter their guidance to users based on how long ago the event was.

Bluetooth metadata will be encrypted to protect against it being used to track individuals in reverse identification attacks. This metadata includes signal strength and other information. The encryption algorithm is being changed to AES from HMAC that they were using before. AES encryption can be accelerated on many mobile devices, making the API more power-efficient.

Lastly, the keys used to trace potential contacts are now randomly generated rather than being derived every 24 hours from a “tracing key” that is permanently tied to a particular device. This gets rid of the chance that an attacker with direct access to a device can figure out how keys are generated from the tracing key, though that is very, very difficult to do already.

Source 1: Axios | Source 2: Bloomberg | Source 3: TechCrunch

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Update 4: Beta APIs Available

Apple and Google are rolling out their Exposure Notification APIs (formerly called “Contact Tracing”) in a private beta starting today. Google is releasing the beta update through Google Play Services, so they’ll work on any Android 6.0+ device with Bluetooth Low Energy. Public health agencies can begin using these APIs in Android Studio and start testing.

The stable version of the API is still planned to be released in the coming weeks. As the two companies have consistently reiterated, this API is not intended to be used by third-party developers. It’s for public health agencies, and when work has been completed by the developers of these agencies, you will download an app from them.

Source: Bloomberg

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Update 5: Screenshots, No Location Tracking

Apple and Google are continuing to release more information about the Exposure Notification API. First, the companies shared some guidelines that public health authorities will have to follow to have their contract tracing apps in the respective app stores. The apps are prohibited from collecting device location data, the API is limited to one app per country, and the data collected can’t be used for targeted advertising.

The API limit of one app per country is to reduce fragmentation, but Apple and Google will be flexible and work with governments in countries that may need multiple apps. For example, countries where contact tracing is done regionally or by states.

Apple and Google have also shared some mock-up screenshots of what Exposure Notification settings and apps should look like. The image above shows the new “COVID-19 Exposure Notifications” section in Google Play Services. This section shows whether it’s enabled and which apps are able to send exposure notifications. Users can launch the app from here and see how many “exposure checks” have been done in the last 14 days, delete random IDs, and turn off notifications.

Google also shared some sample screenshots (above) of what an app that uses the Exposure Notification API could look like. The source code for this app has been published on the company’s Github page if health agencies wish to use it to build apps.

Sources: VentureBeat, 9to5Google, 9to5Google

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Update 6: API Live

After several weeks of lead-up, Apple and Google are now releasing their Exposure Notification APIs for public health agencies to use. Google, specifically, is rolling out an update to Google Play Services that includes the new API. Developers from public health agencies can now use these APIs to implement contact tracing apps for COVID-19. Three US states have already announced projects in development using this API. 22 countries in total have received access to the API, but we don’t know which countries exactly.

Source: Google, The Verge

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Digital Wellbeing prepares to track your sleep, let you take Night Notes, and more

Google first unveiled Digital Wellbeing at Google I/O 2018 with a handful of tools to help users reduce their smartphone usage, but the company has steadily improved upon the app in the last 2 years by introducing loads of new features. In the latest beta update to version 1.0.312292882, Google is preparing to introduce major new features to help you get a better night’s sleep.

New “Daily Device Usage” toggle in “Manage Your Data”

The first feature that Google is introducing is already available for everyone on the latest beta release. If you open the settings menu in Digital Wellbeing, you’ll see a new “Manage your data” option that brings you to a new activity with a toggle for “daily device usage.” This option will let you decide if Digital Wellbeing should track your device unlocks, notifications received, and app usage. Disabling this option turns off usage access, so Digital Wellbeing can’t track your phone use anymore.

Currently, this toggle is the only one available in “Manage your data.” However, it will soon be joined by other options.

An APK teardown can often predict features that may arrive in a future update of an application, but it is possible that any of the features we mention here may not make it in a future release. This is because these features are currently unimplemented in the live build and may be pulled at any time by the developers in a future build.

Sleep Habit Tracking

The biggest new feature in the works is sleep habit tracking. We managed to surface a new activity that lets the user grant Digital Wellbeing and the Google Clock apps access to daily app usage, motion and light sensor data during your scheduled bedtimes, and time zone history. Granting these two apps access to that data will let both apps “show you a snapshot of your sleep habits.”

The strings from within the APK tell us what kind of insights Digital Wellbeing will be able to offer on sleep. In summary, Digital Wellbeing can tell you how long you spent in bed, how long you were on your phone while in bed (and how long you spent without it), and when your bedtime started and ended.

Digital Wellbeing Sleep Insights Strings

<string name="sleep_insights_footer_wake_up">%1$s • Wake up</string>
<string name="sleep_insights_footer_wake_up_desc">Bedtime ended at %1$s on %2$s</string>
<string name="sleep_insights_header_bedtime">%1$s • Bedtime</string>
<string name="sleep_insights_header_bedtime_desc">Bedtime started at %1$s on %2$s</string>
<string name="sleep_insights_more_apps">+%1$d</string>
<string name="sleep_insights_more_apps_ellipsis">…</string>
<string name="sleep_insights_on_your_phone">On your phone</string>
<string name="sleep_insights_on_your_phone_duration">&lt;primary>%1$s&lt;/primary> • %2$s</string>
<string name="sleep_insights_title_bedtime_activity">Recent bedtime activity</string>
<string name="sleep_insights_title_screen_time">Screen time during bedtime</string>
<string name="sleep_insights_total_time_in_bed">Time in bed</string>
<string name="sleep_insights_total_time_in_bed_desc">%1$s in bed</string>
<string name="sleep_insights_total_time_on_phone">Time on phone</string>
<string name="sleep_insights_total_time_without_usage">Without your phone</string>
<string name="sleep_insights_total_time_without_usage_desc">%1$s without your phone</string>
<string name="sleep_insights_usage_group_collapse_action_desc">collapse</string>
<string name="sleep_insights_usage_group_collapsed_desc">Apps used for %1$s, from %2$s to %3$s</string>
<string name="sleep_insights_usage_group_expand_action_desc">expand</string>
<string name="sleep_insights_usage_group_expanded_desc">Expanded list of apps used for %1$s, from %2$s to %3$s</string>
<string name="sleep_insights_usage_group_row_desc">%1$s for %2$s</string>
<string name="sleep_insights_usage_group_single_app_desc">%1$s used for %2$s from %3$s to %4$s</string>
<string name="sleep_insights_usage_range">%1$s - %2$s</string>
<string name="sleep_screen_education_notification_text">Bedtime mode turns off always-on display to help you sleep better. Tap to make changes.</string>
<string name="sleep_screen_education_notification_title">Screen stays dark at bedtime</string>

Once this feature goes live, there will be a new item in “manage your data” to control bedtime sensor data use:

<string name="manage_data_bedtime_sensor_data_subtitle">Includes motion and light detection during your scheduled bedtime</string>
<string name="manage_data_bedtime_sensor_data_title">Bedtime sensor data</string>

You’ll also be able to see what data is sent to the Clock app and also your scheduled bedtime history:

<string name="show_app_usage_and_sleep_api_result">Show Clock API result</string>
<string name="show_bedtimes">Show bedtime schedule history</string>
<string name="show_sleep_data">Show sleep data</string>
<string name="show_time_zones">Show time zone history</string>

Finally, if you turn off sleep habit tracking, all existing data that has been collected will be deleted:

<string name="turn_off_action">Turn off</string>
<string name="turn_off_sensor_data_dialog_message">Existing data will be deleted</string>
<string name="turn_off_sensor_data_dialog_title">Turn off access to sensor data?</string>
<string name="turn_off_time_zone_data_dialog_message">Existing data will be deleted</string>
<string name="turn_off_time_zone_data_dialog_title">Turn off access to time zone history?</string>

Night Notes

Another major new feature that’s in development alongside sleep habit tracking is “Night Notes” in Digital Wellbeing. This feature will let you quickly take a note before you head to bed or when you’re already in bed and just had an epiphany.

<string name="night_note_notification_reminder_text">"Anything on your mind? Offload your thoughts to Night Notes."</string>
<string name="night_note_notification_reminder_title">Bedtime mode starts at %s</string>

Once you wake up, Digital Wellbeing will show you a notification asking you if you want to see any notes you’ve taken during the night.

<string name="good_morning_notification_text">Tap to view your Night Notes.</string>
<string name="good_morning_notification_title">Good morning!</string>

I’m not entirely sure where the notes will be written to, but there’s a hint in Digital Wellbeing’s feature flags that it’ll launch the activity “com.google.android.compose.capture.CaptureActivity.” This activity doesn’t belong to Digital Wellbeing, the Google Clock app, or even Google Keep, so it could be part of a new app that Google is launching for this feature.

Cross-Profile Screen Time Use

Next, a feature that will please Work Profile users is the ability to see screen time use for work apps. Currently, you have to tap “switch to work profile” in Digital Wellbeing to see app usage statistics on apps in the work profile.

<string name="cross_profile_meta_data">See your screen time for work apps</string>

Data Sharing with other Apps

Finally, there’s a hint that Digital Wellbeing will share some of its data with other applications. We think this will probably be limited to Google applications, but there’s a chance that Google could open up some of Wellbeing’s data to third-party applications as part of an API.

<string name="data_sharing_with_other_apps">Other apps that use your data</string>

You can download the latest version of the Digital Wellbeing beta app from the Google Play Store now.

Digital Wellbeing (Free, Google Play) →

Thanks to PNF Software for providing us a license to use JEB Decompiler, a professional-grade reverse engineering tool for Android applications.

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Google Chat will soon let customers see conversations from Hangouts

It’s been a long and twisting road for Google Hangouts. Launched in 2013, the service was an instant favorite with Android users and the SMS integration won over even more users. Nowadays, the Hangouts brand is split into a “Classic” version for consumers and the G Suite version was renamed to Google Chat.

There is some good news for fans of the classic Hangouts service. Soon, G Suite users will be able to see Hangouts conversations in Google Chat as they happen. In addition, Google Chat users will be able to send messages to people outside of their domain. This puts all of your conversations in one place.

Why does this matter for someone who doesn’t use G Suite? Google recently opened up Google Meet, the company’s Zoom competitor, to everyone – no G Suite account required. It wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility for Google to do the same with Google Chat. This could be the first step in transitioning users away from classic Hangouts. Google has never given an end date for the consumer version of Hangouts, but it’s set to retire for G Suite users in June.

The entire situation with Hangouts has been incredibly confusing. The recent renaming of Hangouts Chat and Meet to simply Google Chat and Meet helped clear up some of that confusion. The “Hangouts” brand is now back to being for consumers only, but it’s only a matter of time before the service is completely retired. Google is all in on RCS in its Messages app and Google Chat and Meet seem to be primed to take over for the remnants of Hangouts.

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Source: Google

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This Guide Can Help You Preserve Your Finances During a Recession

With the Fed Chair predicting a prolonged recession and unemployment over 30 million, you would be forgiven for panicking a little. However, there are ways to protect yourself from a potential crisis on the horizon. The 9-Course Guide to Recession-Proofing Your Finances shows you how to save, invest, and budget your way to financial security. You can get the training now for just $31 at the XDA Developers Depot.

We often think of millionaires as folks who spend cash without a care. But it was Warren Buffet, the famous investor, who once wrote: “Don’t save what is left after spending; spend what is left after saving.”

If you would like to take better care of your money, this guide offers 38 hours of essential knowledge. Through concise video lessons, you discover how to reduce your spending, save for the future, and invest wisely. Along the way, you learn how to set and stick to a monthly budget, set up an Individual Retirement Account, invest in stocks, and handle debt.  

The courses are delivered by top business brains and financial experts. For instance, Chris Haroun is the best-selling business teacher on Udemy, and Robert Steele is a practicing Certified Public Accountant.

The training is worth $1,800 in total, but you can get this 9-part guide now for $31.

 

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More from the XDA Developers Depot

• Work-from-home accessories to keep you productive
• DIY projects to keep you entertained indoors
• New skills you can learn without leaving home

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[Update: Abandoned] Chrome OS could get macOS’ “hot corners” feature

Update (5/20/20 @ 9:35 AM ET): Google has abandoned work on bringing macOS-like corner shortcuts to Chrome OS.

The desktop functionality of Chrome OS has incrementally improved since its introduction as a web-focused operating system back in 2010. However, it’s undeniable that Windows and macOS still have more desktop-focused features as their philosophy has been different from the beginning. After Google revealed it was getting out of the tablet hardware business, the focus has turned back on competing with Windows and macOS on the desktop keyboard-and-mouse front. To that end, Google has been adding new features and conveniences to make Chrome OS a head-to-head competitor with the established giants. Now, Google may be about to add its own version of the “hot corners” feature.

This feature exists in macOS, lettings Mac users trigger different actions by moving their mouse cursor to a corner of the desktop screen. It also exists in the GNOME desktop environment (which is the default desktop environment for Ubuntu, and many other Linux distributions). Windows, on the other hand, doesn’t have such a feature. On the Mac, hot corners turns each of the four corners of a user’s display into actions. When a user moves their cursor to the top right corner, for example, the action that is assigned to the top right corner will be launched. They can access the Notification Center by moving their cursor to the top left corner, and access screensavers at the bottom right corner, for instance.

A new commit has been submitted to the Chromium Gerrit, which shows that Google may be preparing to add its own version of Hot Corners by adding a Chrome flag for the same. Its description states: “If enabled, the user can configure actions for corners of the display.” As of now, the commit is under review, and it hasn’t been merged yet. Right now, the commit doesn’t state any details about Google’s version of Hot Corners. However, the description makes it clear that it will function similarly to macOS’ and GNOME’s implementations of the feature. What kind of actions will be triggered is something that we don’t know yet.

This isn’t the first time Google has lifted features from other operating systems to make its own better. Chrome OS users now have the feature of a second virtual desktop, which is known as virtual desk. Apple’s Look Up feature was brought to Chrome OS in the form of the Google Assistant-powered Quick Answers.

If the commit is merged, Chrome OS users can expect to see the feature arrive as a flag in future Chrome OS versions, such as Chrome OS 82 or version 83.

Via: 9to5Google

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Update: Abandoned

Google was working on bringing a feature similar to macOS’ “hot corners” to Chrome OS. The feature in macOS allows users to configure actions to launch when moving the mouse to a corner of the screen. However, the “CornerShortcuts” project is being abandoned and the Chrome flag will be removed. RIP.

Source: Chromium Gerrit

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Samsung Galaxy Buds+ go on sale in a new Aura Blue color in the U.S.

At the Galaxy Unpacked event earlier this year, Samsung unveiled a new pair of truly wireless (TWS) earbuds alongside its flagship Galaxy S20 series. The new earbuds, called the Galaxy Buds+, were a minor upgrade over the original Galaxy Buds, featuring larger batteries in the earbuds as well as the charging case, support for multi-device connection, and a new dual driver system. Initially, the Galaxy Buds+ were released in three color variants — Cosmic Black, Cosmic Blue, and Black — but Samsung soon added a red color option to the lineup. Along with these four color options, Samsung also launched a special variant as part of the limited editing Samsung Galaxy Z Flip bundle designed by the American fashion designer, Thom Browne.

Late last month, we discovered yet another Deep Blue color variant of the Galaxy Buds+ in version 1.7.47-22 of the Samsung SmartThings app. But, at the time, we had no information about its release and we believed that the company would launch them alongside the Galaxy Note 20 series later this year in August. However, Samsung has now released the new Deep Blue color variant, officially called Aura Blue, in the U.S. and you can get it on Best Buy for $149.99 by following the link below. Do note that, other than the color, the new Aura Blue Galaxy Buds+ are exactly the same as previously launched variants.

Buy the Aura Blue Galaxy Buds+ from Best Buy ($149.99)

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OnePlus removed from McLaren’s partners page, hinting there won’t be another McLaren Edition

OnePlus has been doing special editions of its phones for a few years now. The OnePlus 5T was available in the Star Wars: The Last Jedi Edition, and the OnePlus 6 was available in a Marvel Avengers Edition. Both of these phones were available in limited quantities and in select regions only. The company expanded the scope of these special editions with the launch of the OnePlus 6T McLaren Edition. This variant not only came with a new and distinct CMF (color-material-finish), but it also bumped up the RAM to 10GB and the charging technology to Warp Charge 30. The McLaren Edition made a return with the OnePlus 7T Pro, once again bumping up the RAM and opting for the signature CMF. However, this run appears to have come to an end, as recent developments indicate that there may not be another McLaren edition in the works.

A keen-eyed Redditor noticed that OnePlus was no longer listed as a Formula 1 partner for McLaren for the 2020 F1 season. We checked through Wayback machine (internet archive) and can spot that OnePlus continued to remain listed until March 29, 2020, at least. So, it is safe to presume that the company was delisted as a partner within the last month or so.

What does this mean? This means that there is unlikely to be another McLaren Edition phone coming from OnePlus. The next McLaren iteration was expected to be on the presumed OnePlus 8T, but we can rule this out from happening based on how things stand right now.

That’s not to say that there won’t be a special edition for the OnePlus 8T series, at all. OnePlus could always collaborate with a new partner and market a different CMF with different features as a special edition. Some have taken this news to also mean that there won’t be a “T” version at all this year — we do not have any evidence of this statement being true or false, either way.

We’ve reached out to OnePlus for comment on this delisting. We’ll update our article when we get more information.

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