There can be quite a few reasons why you might want to manually get hold of the firmware file even if the OEM is already rolling them out as Over The Air updates on a monthly basis. The most common use case scenario is for rooting purposes since you require the boot.img/init_boot.img file extracted from the firmware.
Apart from that, if your device is currently in a softbrick or bootloop state, then you might once again have to manually download the firmware and flash it either via Fastboot or using their dedicated tools. But in spite of a slew of benefits attached, many OEMs are reluctant to share their firmware files with the public, for reasons best known to them [maybe to save bandwidth?].
As of now, Pixel is the only developer-friendly OEM out there that tends to upload the firmware for all their devices, and that too not only the latest ones, but every build released to date right from the device’s inception! If we talk about OnePlus, then it used to share the firmware files but has since stopped this practice a couple of years back [the Nord CE’s update for August 2022 is the last one that is available on the official site].
Fortunately, we had the Oxygen Updater app at our disposal which used to directly connect to the OnePlus servers and download the latest available firmware. But why are we talking about this app in the past tense? Well, thanks to the restrictive measures put in place by OnePlus, you might no longer be able to use this app! Here’s everything you need to know about this uncalled constraint implemented by the OEM.
Table of Contents
OnePlus might have blocked firmware downloads from external sources!
A couple of days back, many users reported that they were unable to download the firmware via the Oxygen Updater app. Initially, it was attributed to issues with the app, as third-party apps not working along the expected lines is a common phenomenon. However, things quickly began to unfold as it became clear that there was much more to that than what meets the eye.
Users tried downloading firmware for numerous devices across various regions and every time the result was the same- failure! Initially, Global and Indian users faced the wrath but over the next few hours, the North American and Europe regions also suffered the same faith. Accessing any of these links gave out the 403 “Access Denied” error.
So by now, it was a complete meltdown! Since the app directly interacted with the OnePlus servers without acting as a middleman, everything was crystal clear- the OEM had placed a barrier preventing the app from interacting with their servers. And that was indeed the case.
OnePlus has locked downloading via HTTP from third-party sources! In other words, OnePlus has decided to block external downloads of all their OTA ZIPs/firmware from external sources. So this begs the all-important question: why did the OEM decide to do this all of a sudden? Let’s find out.
Why OnePlus Took This Drastic Approach
OnePlus hasn’t officially confirmed that they have implemented this restriction [and we don’t think that they are going to do so either], so everything for now is just a mere speculation. With that said, if a company can end up ditching one of the most popular OS skins in favor of a bloated one, then anything could be expected from them!
On a serious note though, the OEM also tends to carry out Closed Beta Testing for a limited set of users and those users have to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement that they wouldn’t share these files outside this closed group. However, this rule is hardly obeyed by the users and they end up sharing the file across Reddit, X, Telegram, and even in the YouTube comments section.
So the OEM might have taken this stringent action to stop this malpractice. Since they were not able to stop users from sharing CBT files, they would have taken this decision to block access to all the firmware. However, that doesn’t really add up or makes much sense either [but neither does any of the actions taken by the OEM in recent years]! So what’s next for us? Is this the end of the road?
Is there light at the end of the tunnel?
Well, for now, there is but we don’t know for how long it might last. This is because the developers of the Oxygen Updater app have found a workaround that will bypass the limitation set up by OnePlus and hence you can once again download the firmware using their app [check out their latest build on GitHub]. Here’s how they were able to mitigate this issue, as told by the devs themselves:
The workaround was to use the same HTTP User-Agent that the built-in system OTA screen uses. Luckily for us, it’s the Android’s platform-default User-Agent, so we didn’t have to do much work. We simply had to query the User-Agent from Android itself.
While this workaround is currently working, but it wouldn’t take long for the OEM to patch and nullify this tweak. So it’s only a matter of time until that happens [we aren’t being pessimistic here, the writing is clearly on the walls this time around]. Therefore, we will recommend you download the ROM and keep it as a backup while the app is up and running, because it isn’t going to last long.
Concluding Remarks: OnePlus Did It Yet Again!
There was literally no need for the OEM to implement these restrictions on the firmware downloads. And if these third-party apps really bother them, then why aren’t they themselves uploading the firmware on their official site, something that Google has been doing for ages? Instead of trying to protect their intellectual property, being a little bit user-centric would go a long way in making the company being appreciated by the users.
But since the set of users who yearn for these firmware files belong to a minority group [usually the tech enthusiasts], hence the OEM seems to have decided to ditch them for good [this practice is carried out by all the other OEMs out there as well, so we can’t really blame OnePlus on this]. All in all, we shouldn’t keep our hopes high and simply enjoy this journey till it lasts, however, short that might be.
So on that rather unfortunate note, we round off this post. What are your views on OnePlus blocking firmware downloads from external sources? Do you belong to the other side of the fence and are content with installing updates directly via OTA and this news isn’t going to bother you much? Or are you among the niche set of users for whom this could prove to be a major cause of concern if things don’t turn out as expected in the near future? Do let us know your valuable opinions in the comments section below.
