#beta – Paranoid Android Sapphire available for the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro

Robert Haba
Robert Haba
4 min read
Paranoid
Trust this source on Google
Add trusted source

The first beta build of the Paranoid Android Sapphire ROM for the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro has just been released by the Paranoid Android team. For quite some time, an Alpha version of the Android 12 based ROM has been available for both phones. The new beta version, on the other hand, offers a more stable software experience.

The Paranoid Android Sapphire Beta is now available for the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro, as announced by XDA Recognized Developer arter97. Several device-specific enhancements are included in the latest build, including redesigned blobs, improved sleep mode, fingerprint scanner improvements, and a transition to arter97’s kernel. Repainter integration, improvements from ProtonAOSP, a burn-in protection feature for devices with OLED panels, the latest f2fs tools, and more have all been added to the Paranoid Android platform.

Paranoid Android Sapphire available for the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro

The beta release still has a few known faults. These include delayed mobile data activation after reboot, Wi-Fi not working after a few reboots, and less-than-ideal pocket recognition, which can wake up the smartphone or activate gestures by accident.

If you wish to try out the Paranoid Android Sapphire Beta on your OnePlus 9/Pro, head over to the forum mentioned below. It includes a download link for the ROM as well as step-by-step instructions for flashing it. Although the beta build can be flashed onto a current Sapphire Alpha system, the developer recommends “a clean flash.”

Download Paranoid Android Sapphire Beta for the OnePlus 9 / OnePlus 9 Pro

Full update changelog:

Here are some device-specific highlights:

  • Prebuilt blobs are revamped to fix various issues (audio, video, NFC, etc)
  • Sleep mode is changed to fix excessive idle battery drain
  • VRR implementation is now working, which will improve battery life a lot
  • Corner masks are now done properly
  • Fingerprint improvements
  • Kernel switched to a customized version of arter97 kernel

Here are platform-wise highlights:

  • Latest CAF tag merged
  • kdrag0n’s Repainter service integrated
  • Optimized bionic, memory routines (ported by xboxfanj)
  • Latest f2fs-tools
  • Few optimizations merged from kdrag0n’s ProtonAOSP
  • Burn-in protection feature added

Device issues

  • Mobile network will initialize a bit slowly after boot
  • Wi-Fi may not work on a few reboots. You may have to reboot multiple times for Wi-Fi to work
  • Pocket-detection is less than ideal, it may result in accidental wake-ups or ignored gestures
  • Bootanimation will pause for a split second. This is a known issue from the kernel


There are likely many other issues, these are just the most prominent to me. Don’t come into this with the expectation any issue you come across will be fixed in a timely manner.

Requirements


Make sure you are coming from any Android 11 based OxygenOS build, stable is recommended.

Downloads

You can always get our Alpha builds from ourTelegram Group or directly download them from here:
OnePlus 9 Pro – Beta 1
(Note, OP9 & Pro builds are no longer unified)

Note: Custom kernels are not supported unless the kernel says it supports AOSPA and GMS is included!

How to install

  1. Download the latest fastboot zip we released (hint: it has an -img appended to zip name)
  2. Reboot to bootloader.
  3. Wipe userdata with the command “fastboot -w”
  4. Flash the fastboot zip with “fastboot update aospa-*-image.zip”
  5. Reboot.

Changelog

  • Prebuilt blobs are revamped to fix various issues (audio, video, NFC, etc)
  • Sleep mode is changed to fix excessive idle battery drain
  • VRR implementation is now working, which will improve battery life a lot
  • Corner masks are now done properly
  • Fingerprint improvements
  • Kernel switched to a customized version of arter97 kernel

Here are platform-wise highlights:

  • Latest CAF tag merged
  • kdrag0n’s Repainter service integrated
  • Optimized bionic, memory routines (ported by xboxfanj)
  • Latest f2fs-tools
  • Few optimizations merged from kdrag0n’s ProtonAOSP
  • Burn-in protection feature added

Starting with Beta 1, you must clean flash due to recent commits related to userdata.

Important / Useful links
Paranoid Android Twitter
Paranoid Android Channel (Telegram)
Paranoid Android Community (Telegram)
Paranoid Android OnePlus 9 Family (Telegram

💎Best Android Device
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

4.9 / 5.0
Est. Price
$1,212.85$1,499.9919% OFF
Buy
👑A good choice
Apple iPhone 17 Pro

Apple iPhone 17 Pro

4.8 / 5.0
Est. Price
$1,012.97$1,099.008% OFF
Buy
DEAL!
Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra (2025)

Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra (2025)

5.0 / 5.0
Est. Price
$449.99$649.9931% OFF
Buy
Samsung Galaxy Watch 8

Samsung Galaxy Watch 8

4.9 / 5.0
Est. Price
$289.99$349.9917% OFF
Buy
Google Pixel Watch 4

Google Pixel Watch 4

4.8 / 5.0
Est. Price
396.00$499.9921% OFF
Buy
* As an Amazon Associate, Droid Tools earns from qualifying purchases. Learn more in our Affiliate Disclosure.
Founder · Editor-in-Chief
Robert Haba is the founder and editor-in-chief of Droid Tools. A lifelong gadget enthusiast with over a decade following the Android ecosystem, he built this publication to cut through the noise and give readers honest, real-world coverage of the tech they actually use.

Comments & Discussions

Join the conversation! We use Disqus to handle comments. Click the button below to load the comment section.

Keep Reading

When it comes to sheer feature breadth, Android generally has the upper hand. Split-screen multitasking, desktop PC mode via an external monitor, the ability to swap out the default launcher — these are things iPhones simply can’t do. Customization and openness have always been Android’s calling card. Even so, Apple has quietly built a set […]

6 Apple Features Android Still Hasn’t Matched – And Needs To
OSRobert HabaJune 22, 2026

A few hours before Huawei officially unveiled HarmonyOS 7.0 at HDC 2026, the company quietly dropped OpenHarmony 7.0 Beta 1 — a pre-release build that had first surfaced three weeks earlier and has now been formally released as a public testing framework for device makers and developers. OpenHarmony serves as the open-source foundation that device […]

Open Harmony
OSLuiza MosneaguJune 17, 2026

Huawei took the wraps off HarmonyOS 7 at its Huawei Developer Conference (HDC) on June 12, 2026. The new OS update spans smartphones, tablets, PCs, wearables, and IoT devices, with Yu Chengdong – Huawei’s Executive Director, Chairman of the Product Investment Review Committee, and Chairman of the Consumer Business Group – officially announcing the update […]

HarmonyOS 7
OSLuiza MosneaguJune 15, 2026