[Updated] Demand for Google Feed (Discover) support in OnePlus Launcher by OnePlus 7/7T owners surges

New updates are being added at the bottom of this story…….

Original story (published on July 7, 2020) follows:

If you have used an Android phone with software that is close to stock Android, chances are that you have interacted with Google Feed, the company’s personalized experience that learns from your likes and habits to offer you timely and relevant results.

Many OEMs like Huawei (before the whole US trade ban), Motorola, Nokia and a few others, have incorporated Google Feed into their in-house launchers because, well, it is the best. Some outliers, however, insist on shipping their own rendition of this feature.

For a long time now, OnePlus devices come with the company’s ‘Shelf’ as the left-most screen on their launchers. This page tries to offer users quick shortcuts to perform tasks on their devices, widgets and a few more services whose usefulness might not exactly appeal to everyone.

Recently, OnePlus pushed out an update to the OnePlus Launcher. This update added support for Google Feed/Discover when you swipe right from the home screen. However, this feature is limited to the OnePlus 8 series of devices. Now, owners of OnePlus 7/7T series and older devices are not exactly thrilled by this move that effectively locks them out.

These users have turned to the company’s community forums and other social media outlets to pile pressure on OnePlus to roll out support for Google Feed to more OnePlus devices.

Source 1,2,3

Even as this unfolds, OnePlus remains non-committal. Instead, the company is asking users who want Google Feed on their devices to submit the feedback using the OnePlus Community App for the development team to take it into consideration.

So far, OnePlus has not confirmed whether the feature is coming to older devices or will be exclusive to OnePlus 8 series. OnePlus has always been an enthusiast brand, building features requested by users so it will be interesting to see how this one plays out.

It is also important to note that the T-Mobile variant of the OnePlus 7T already has Google Discover on its launcher. Could this be a sign that other variants of the OnePlus 7 will get this feature? We have to wait and see.

Update 1 (July 22)

OnePlus has released a new update for the OnePlus Launcher via the Google Play Store. It comes as v4.5.6 and is available to beta testers. The update adds a toggle for switching between the Discover Feed and OnePlus Shelf. Unfortunately, it appears to be a limited release according to 9to5Google.

NOTE: We have these and many more OnePlus stories in our dedicated OnePlus section.

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