OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro owners can finally update to OxygenOS 12 this week, but it might not be for everyone just yet.
OnePlus says that the update is rolling out slowly over the next few days and that it includes a few new features. However, this update is a slight departure from the OxygenOS users are comfortable with and is a clone of Oppo’s ColorOS. It’s not terrible, but in my experience so far, a few issues still need to be ironed out.
Some of the hot new features include the Android 12 privacy features, new work/life balance modes and more. Sadly, Google’s Material You colour matching tech is missing from this version of Android 12, so your widgets won’t match your background. If you want to read more of my thoughts on the OS update, you can check out my impressions here. To sum it up, I’m a little annoyed that OnePlus put so much effort into creating a distinct software design and brand identity last year, only to replace most of it with ColorOS now.
I guess it’s futile to resist the update if you’re a OnePlus 9 owner, but hopefully, over the next 12-months the company is able to smooth out this operating system transition. If you have a OnePlus 8 series or older device I wouldn’t hold out a lot of hope for this update coming to your phone any time soon. OnePlus has been very slow to update older phones lately and this Oppo transition won’t help matters.
If you want to read more about OxygenOS 12 or see what bugs users are reporting, OnePlus has also posted an FAQ page on the new update.
The full list of new features from OnePlus is below:
System
-
- Optimized desktop icons with improved textures by using a design inspired by brand-new materials and uniting lights and layers
Dark mode
-
- Dark mode now supports three adjustable levels, bringing a more personalized and comfortable user experience
Shelf
-
- New additional style options for Cards, making data contents more visual and easier to read
- Newly added Earphone Control Card with Bluetooth earphone one-click adjustment
- Newly added access to OnePlus Scout in Shelf, allowing you to search multiple contents on your phone, including Apps, Settings, Media Data, etc
- Newly added OnePlus Watch Card in Shelf, to easily glance at your health stats
Work-Life Balance
-
- Work-Life Balance feature is now available to all users, allowing you to effortlessly switch between Work and Life mode via quick settings
- WLB 2.0 now supports automatic Work/Life mode switching, based on specific locations, Wi-Fi network, and time, also bringing customized App notification profiles according to the personalization
Gallery
-
- Gallery now allows you to switch between different layouts with a two-finger pinch gesture, intelligently recognizing the best-quality pictures, and cropping the thumbnail based on the content, making the gallery layout more pleasing
Canvas AOD
-
- Canvas AOD brings you new diverse styles of lines and colors, for a more personalized lock screen experience with inspiring visuals
- Newly added multiple brushes and strokes and support for color adjustment
- Optimized software algorithm and improved face recognition to better identify the features and skin color of different figures
Source: OnePlus
