If you’ve been following the custom ROM scene for years, then you’ve probably heard of Dirty Unicorns before. The custom Android-based OS has had one of the longest runs in Android’s history, and it consistently offered one of the most feature-packed and unique experiences you can get from a custom ROM. Sadly, the end has come.
The Dirty Unicorns team announced on Twitter that it’s shutting down its servers permanently. Dirty Unicorns cites a “shift in life responsibilities” with its core members as part of the reason it’s shutting down, also noting that the struggles brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic took their toll.
They say that all good things must come to an end. I wish that was not the case here.
As of tomorrow, we will be shutting down our servers permanently. No, this is not a cry for donations or a really early april fools prank. We have decided to shut down our doors.
— Dirty Unic
rns (@_DirtyUnicorns_) March 15, 2021
Now, this isn’t the first time we’ve heard of Dirty Unicorns shutting down. The developers actually announced similar news back in March of 2019, but that turned out to just be an early April Fools prank. This time, however, the announcement isn’t a prank, as confirmed to us by a team member.
If you aren’t familiar with Dirty Unicorns, its history goes back to the days of Android Ice Cream Sandwich. It began as a fork of AOKP, a then-popular custom ROM. Its development team focused on creating loads of unique features and customization options but has more recently focused on making popular Pixel-specific features, such as Active Edge, available for AOSP-based ROMs.
There was a long period of time where DU shied away from the XDA forums over some differences in opinion, but we’ve all let bygones be bygones and welcomed their return to our forums. While its return to form has been short-lived, we’re still saddened to hear that the custom ROM team is disbanding. On the bright side, the team said its GitHub repositories will remain public and can be used as a reference for other projects down the road. While signing off, the Dirty Unicorns team thanked its now-former maintainers as well as the many who contributed to the custom ROM over the years.
If you’ve contributed to or used the ROM in the past, please tell us about your experiences!
The post The Dirty Unicorns team says goodbye to custom ROM development appeared first on xda-developers.
source https://www.xda-developers.com/dirty-unicorns-says-goodbye-to-custom-rom-development/