Forum Discussion
T-Mobile retroactively removes status updates related to software updates
The company T-mobile has removed the page for tracking Android 12 Development for the OnePlus 7T Pro
I made my purchase decision with the promise that T-mobile would be able to handle updating the phone to the software that the manufacturer has already finished working on.
A year later, and they've taken down the page for the OnePlus 7T Pro, seemingly throwing in the towel on this project and those customers.
Remember, never buy a product based on future promise, because even if T-mobile promises on a website that this phone will get Android 12, they'll just 404 that page when satisfying their customers is inconvenient compared to making money.
Hey folks,
I’d like to level set on how things work and acknowledge the feedback being provided for improvement has been received.
Let’s start with software updates
What is the basic design principle for Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs)?
When OEMs build a device they do so with a specific chipset and network configuration in mind. This simplifies the production model and delivers consistency in test results. When devices are picked up by carriers most carriers implement different variants. This is because the hardware in the devices and the networks they communicate with are almost always different than the OEM preferred/designed configuration.
How is software changed from the OEM design for a carrier?
Carriers test the software before launch knowing it was designed for a different chipset and network. Carriers do that to preserve customers experience. When a misconfiguration is identified the carriers have the opportunity to agregar code to the deployment package. It doesn't modify OEM base code or security updates. It adds to it. You can think of them like translator or optimizer services between the network, hardware, and software. The carrier will also take the time to evaluate it's own apps performance against the software to make sure proprietary applications function properly.
Why does this matter if T-Mobile doesn’t change the OS?
This is done to ensure that the experience on the device and our network meet our expectations for customers. Carriers want the best network experience for their customers. Making sure every network interaction from devices is one ingredient that can be leveraged to improve those reliability tests that everyone touts.
Now about that web content
Occasionally your steps are wrong in your content. What gives?
Completely mapped out software is hundreds of screens with thousands of words, fields, buttons, sliders, etc. I know. My team has written it for a decade. It's a lot. Testing being performed for usability does not always catch changes made by the OEM. To complicate matters menus can be different from device to device within the same OEMs portfolio which makes tracking changes very complex. When devices go through multiple updates each year sometimes things get missed. We end up on social media. It's embarrassing. We fix it as quickly as possible. Sorry everyone. We mean well.
Why’d a specific piece of content go away?
Content has a lifecycle. It's created shortly ahead of it's need. It's deployed at launch. It serves its purpose. When it's no longer necessary it's retired. When content exceeds it's usefulness we intentionally retire it.
Why would you retire anything?
For a few reasons. Most people find things with search tools, but some still use navigation. The more content you have the more search results you have, or the longer it takes to navigate to specific content. If left unchecked search engines may start serving the wrong content because the search terms and relevance are so similar that it can't understand the difference or the wrong content overtakes the appropriate content as the preferred search result. Conversely, the navigation directory gets so large people can't find the one page they need in the sea of content. This adds complexity to your website which eventually causes findability issues.
But I still needed that…
Yep! We heard you. We're going to go find out why we didn't have what you needed through the end of it's life and find the solution. It looks like some content was retired early and other content was overwritten for some reason. Hopefully the fix will be simple.
Thank you for the feedback
We appreciate you taking the time to help us improve our processes and content. We don't do things maliciously.
You're wrong. T-mobile makes the updates for the T-mobile Variant, that's why there is a dedicated page for development.
The bootloader for the T-mobile Variant is custom and has to be circumvented to make the phone a true "unlocked" version.
You don't know what you're talking about and very unhelpful, reported.
Hey all.
Gracias @gramps28 for supplying that link for the Android update tracker. I did confirm with our teams that OnePlus is still developing the update for the 7T Pro 5G. There is no launch date for the update and it may be after the Android 13 update starts rolling out so that is why the page was removed at this time.
A few things that I did want to clarify on the update process.
- T-Mobile and other carriers provide requirements to the OEMs that are taken into account during development. The manufacturers build the update and then we test it out before allowing it to be launched to our customers. We can reject an update if it does not meet our standards for quality.
- Starting development on an OS or update does not guarantee that it will be released. There are a ton of factors that can cause the decision to be made not to proceed with testing or deployment and that decision is usually made by the manufacturer unless the carrier tests the final product and say it is not to our standards.
@HeavenM that's a great answer and the correct one, ultimately T-mobile has the final say, and they took down the page. I appreciate the official further communication on the issue that development is in progress.
That decision is usually made by the OEM I agree but the McClaren edition is a very peculiar Variant. I'm hopeful it's maybe delayed a month or two from the 8T's most recent upgrade but I won't hold my breath.
But thank you for the answer to why the page was removed, it would be best if that was communicated better than the page being removed, because the obvious conclusion isn't that the page is removed, but that development has halted.
Here is the page that used to work
https://www.t-mobile.com/support/devices/software-updates/oneplus-7t-pro-update-to-android-12
This page no longer works. The page for the OnePlus 8T+ was also updated but remains live and updated from Development to Testing.
https://www.t-mobile.com/support/devices/software-updates/oneplus-8t-plus-update-to-android-12
So hopefully it's a mistake, but I doubt it. Looks like they've given up after promising development.
lol not even close sport..you should go join OnePlus Beta testing...you’ll get a better idea of who actually handles all of it..
the carrier sends what all they want included in their variants..they dont do the actual updates..same goes for what all carrier specific stuff needs to be added in..
different manufacturer but they all do it exactly the same
^^^ theres your start to finish when it comes to the updates.. specifically 7 though 10 since you brought it up ;-)
@syaoran i know you enjoy these type of questions lol
It's not a question, it's a matter of fact that the Android 12 Operating System is available for the OnePlus 8T+ Unlocked models verses the T-mobile models which received a later rollout. The same was to be expected of the OnePlus 7T Pro 5G but T-mobile promised development and seemingly rescinded.
That's why the T-mobile website is available, to show that the T-mobile Variant is still in development.
There are many articles online about flashing the OnePlus 7T Pro specifically because the T-mobile Variant ships with software unlike the Unlocked model, not linking those since it's not advised due to security issues.
I don't care about your article because you fail to address this works different on OnePlus phones.
Again, be quiet, you have no idea what you're talking about and your number of replies isn't making you smarter. Reported again, stop replying.
The 7 series and 7T series of devices are EOL (End of Life). No more major OS updates for those devices after Android 12, which is still a mess. As a member of the 7 Pro FUT program, there hasn't been any major improvement to the beta and these devices are the lowest priority. As a FUT member for the 8 Pro, 8T and 8T+ 5G, and 9. Those programs have mostly started for 13 with the 8T/8T+ 5G starting around late September, if not later. That teams focus currently is the mess of the 10/10 Pro from Android 12 being a mess and then you have the code merger between OnePlus and OPPO further adding to that mess. That code merger will be abandoned for Android 13, returning to the Oxygen OS look and feel.
Right, thanks for all the replies but frankly I'm not buying it when it comes to the coding job being a mess or whatever. Why did T-mobile promise development, when the OEM is clearly still working on Android 12. It's specifically T-Mobile giving up when the idea was they could be trusted with handling updates. They cannot as they will retroactively remove status pages and have their tiny army come out and defend T-mobile like they owe you anything.
They abandoned this software update and don't care about their customer, and I've shown the proof as far as the complete removal of a software update page. It's a dirty move that isn't a sign of good faith, but bad intention to sell phones on the premise of software updates, but to rescind the offer later on. This isn't a question and it isn't open for debate. T-mobile, not oneplus, not android, is responsible.
All of you acting it's my fault that T-mobile made this page specifically for this web development and me noticing and being upset when it's removed without warning. I need those security updates, I don't care about your opinion of Android 12 and it shouldn't be more important that the clear deception. Reported because it would be easy to read that this post was for Android 12 but again, you just wanted to reply, not actually be helpful.
Contracts are made well before the devices are ordered by the carrier. T-Mobile has no control over the update schedule and only contributes their third party developed bloat and updated carrier aggregation and modem tuning settings to OnePlus to be included. T-Mobile and OEM's can't really predict what is going to happen to OS updates and how they impact a device that is 3 years old. You can be biter about it all you want. If your device gets Android 12, you're going to wish y ou stuck with Android 11.
