OnePlus 3 units in China reported to be filled with ads baked in system apps

The OnePlus 3 arrived with a splash and is receiving generally positive criticism through and through, with the exception of its questionable use of the 6 GB of RAM, and some battery life issues. However, it seems that it may be getting some extra flak in China.

The OnePlus 3, as we know it, comes with the so-called Oxygen OS — the company's own take on Android 6 Marshmallow. It's a fairly light re-skin, making it look and feel almost like stock Android, with some extra options on top. However, China-bound OnePlus handsets come with a slightly different software – Hydrogen OS, which carries some more features tailored for the market.

Unfortunately, as some Chinese users have reported, one of these features is a constant ad feed. Apparently, the dialler interface now has a “Live Services” feed, which is filled with banners for restaurants, transport services, movies, et cetera. It is also reported that the ad platform is outsourced, which could mean that OnePlus doesn't have a lot of control over what gets advertised.

Should this bother you if you live in the Western world? Well, mostly no, unless you are worried about precedents and trends bleeding in from the Eastern markets. But OnePlus has been rumored to be planning a merger of Oxygen OS and Hydrogen OS to create one unified system for all of its phones. If this happens, would it keep the “Live Services” tab internationally? We'll have to wait and see.

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