14 DAY TRIAL // This summer, popular custom ROM marker Paranoid Android rolled out their 5.1 version, which naturally is based on Android 5.1 Lollipop for select Nexus devices including the Nexus 4, Nexus 5, Nexus 6, Nexus 7 (2012 and 2013) and Nexus 9.
But if you were eagerly anticipating an Android 6.0 Marshmallow-based Paranoid build, we have some bad news for you. Apparently, Paranoid Android is pretty much dead and awaiting burial.
After the Cyanogen / OnePlus partnership dissolved, the later was forced to find an alternate OS solution for its phones.
So, OnePlus hired a bunch of key members from Paranoid Android and put them to work on the new OxygenOS ROM which now runs on the OnePlus 2 smartphone and will probably come pre-installed on the upcoming OnePlus X mid-ranger.
With Paranoid Android losing its team members to other projects, it seems that there’s not much hope for the custom ROM. Especially according to team member Andre Saddler, who says in a post on Google+ that the ROM is in fact dead.
There's still a glimmer of hope
Android Authority reached out to Paranoid Android’s Project Lead, Matt Flaming, in an attempt to clarify the situation. Flaming didn’t have any official statement to give the press but he did mention that the remaining members of the team became engaged in other activities which prevent them from continuing working on this particular project.
Flaming abstains from saying that they are officially indeed “dead” and apparently he still harbors hope that 2016 will be a better year for the custom ROM developing team. Keeping a distance from the project might be helpful for some of the team’s developers, he argues, because they can realize how much they miss Paranoid Android.
Surely, it would be pretty sad to see Paranoid Android go down the drain, but as it happens, some of its heart and soul is already channeling its efforts into building OxygenOS for OnePlus, so the Paranoid Android vibe will go on to live through them.
Nonetheless, there still exists the possibility that the project will be revitalized at some point in the future, so we’d better keep our fingers crossed for that to happen.