OxygenOS: tips and tricks for your OnePlus smartphone

Yes, OnePlus’ software reputation has suffered a bit lately. Updates to legacy models and the removal of OxygenOS 11 from Stock Android have been a concern for many, but OxygenOS 11 remains my favorite aspect of Android. I will list some tips and tricks, little-known or simply useful features, so that you too can become a true “power user” of OnePlus smartphone.

Summary:

Activate Insight AOD, OnePlus’ dedicated always-on display

Insight AOD is the most notable new feature of OxygenOS 11 which debuted on OnePlus 8T. It is a digital well-being always in sight. Specifically, Insight AOD displays a visual indicator in the form of a colored vertical bar that lets you know your usage and screen time. You have an unlock counter and the bar changes color depending on how much screen time you have.

I invite you to read my full guide on this feature linked below. Here I will focus on enabling this Insight AOD, which is quite contradictory. AOD information is a feature that OnePlus literally hides, but not for the right reasons.

Therefore, you must first enable the “Always on” option through the corresponding on-screen menu. This feature is called “Ambient Screen” in OxygenOS 11.

Here’s how to enable your AOD in OxygenOS 11:Settings > Display > Ambient display > Enabled

To enable your Insight AOD on OxygenOS 11: Make sure you have Ambient Display enabled, then go to Settings > Personalization >watch style > you choose” Vision”.

Dark mode schedule

The “killer feature” of 2019, dark mode, has so far been implemented in a more than complicated way on OnePlus smartphones. With OxygenOS 11 it is already better and you can also plan the dark mode.

You can set Dark Mode to turn on automatically after sunset, or you can just set your own wakeup area. To switch back to manual activation, simply tap the switch in Settings.

Replace OnePlus Shelf with notification window

Abandoned at first on the OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro and later revived, the OnePlus Shelf mode is an area that contains widgets and other shortcuts like a pedometer, a drawer for recently used apps, a toolbox with frequently used features, and a place for summary writing notes.

I personally never use it. And in the latest version of OxygenOS, OnePlus has mapped its bookshelf to the swipe-down gesture from the home screen. I’m embarrassed to admit how much this bothers me because it really, really, REALLY bothers me.

When I swipe down, the notification window appears. POINT! Fortunately, with OxygenOS 11, you can remap the swipe down gesture. Just long press on the home screen, go to settings and reassign the appropriate gesture.

Switch to Zen mode with more than one person

Zen mode is not new to OxygenOS. It prevents you from using your smartphone for a certain period of time. The phone stays on and you can still use some features, but overall it’s about making it as useless as possible.

OnePlus has also made a small change to the digital wellness zen mode, allowing you to create group sessions to time your digital detox phases. Simply create a group session and send the generated code to other participants, regardless of whether they have a OnePlus smartphone or not.

Activate HyperTouch mode

HyperTouch mode is an exclusive feature of OnePlus 9 Pro for now. With this option you can increase the touch sampling rate, that is, the number of touches that the smartphone screen registers per second.

By default, the OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro have 240 Hz. In HyperTouch mode, it increases to 360 Hz. Usually only gaming smartphones offer such high rates. This makes touch controls in a mobile game much more responsive, and more importantly, more precise.

The only thing you have to do is go to the display settings and activate the option.

Create a Canva Background Image

With Canva, you can draw an abstract design that takes the outline of one of your photos as a sketch. The feature is best suited for selfies and not landscape shots, as the AI ​​struggles to provide consistent results with subjects other than a human face.

I like this feature, but note that it replaces Insight AOD and forces you to have the same wallpaper on your home screen and lock screen.

Send a quick reply in landscape mode

I hate using my keyboard in landscape mode, it takes up too much screen space and the rest of the interface isn’t visible enough. OxygenOS offers a quick reply mode (when you press reply from a notification) that splits the messaging UI into two parts, the conversation on one side and the keyboard on the other.

you just have to make it from them settings go to the Utilities menu, to enable this feature.

Ergonomically, it’s not really more comfortable, especially if you have big fingers. But at least it’s more readable and saves you from having to open the app in question and having to exit the CoD game or Youtube video to do so. However, this feature only works with WhatsApp, at least for now.

Hide data with Hidden Space

With the “Hidden Space” feature, you can hide apps or isolate them from the smartphone’s “public” storage space. The hidden area is protected by a password. All the most sensitive applications can be stored there.

But I’ve also seen some fans of minimalism use the hidden space as a trash can for all the “unimportant” apps to keep the app drawer clean and tidy. Each one as they want, as the saying goes.

To enable and access the hidden panel, swipe up to reveal the app drawer, then swipe right. You can then add the apps of your choice. To remove an app from the hidden panel, just long press on it.

Do a quick app search

With OxygenOS 11, OnePlus boasted that it had optimized the interface for one-handed operation. So when you swipe up to open the app drawer, you’ll be surprised to find that the app search bar is at the top of the screen. What about optimizing for one-handed use if I have to do thumb yoga to find an app?

Therefore, OnePlus has provided a shortcut for the search bar. If you swipe up, just stop on the way and hold. You will then go directly to the search bar to enter the query on the automatically displayed keyboard.

Create parallel applications

We’re not talking app pairs here like with OneUI. The parallel apps feature is intended for the niche of users who use multiple SIM cards or if you have multiple accounts of the same app and want to access them at the same time.

Yes sup. For example, if you want to use two instances of WhatsApp, Signal or Telegram with two different numbers, the parallel apps feature is very useful.

To enable them, simply go to the Utilities menu from Settings. Attention, if you delete a parallel instance, the data associated with it will also be deleted.

Using keyboard shortcuts and gestures on the lock screen

Off-screen gestures aren’t new to Android anymore, but OnePlus’s are great. The ability to associate actions with a theme may seem silly, but I swear it has its uses in some special cases.

If I, p. For example, when I fall asleep listening to music at night, I prefer to draw “>” and “<" to change tracks or draw two "II" lines to pause instead of turning on my screen and my retinas searching for the player from burning on my lock screen.

You also have alphabetic gestures and you can associate the drawing of a letter with specific actions or the launch of applications. I find this particular option less useful, especially if you’re already using the fast startup feature, which I’ll discuss below.

Create app shortcuts and actions with Quick Launch

With Quick Launch you can create shortcuts to applications or actions through the unlock button.

With a long press of the unlock button from the lock screen, you can directly launch an app like Twitter or an action like “Set a reminder” or “Send an email”. After long pressing, a wheel with apps and actions appears, which you can easily scroll through.

The Quick Start option is located in the Utilities menu under Settings” available.

Lock apps with App Locker

OnePlus offers a protection system for its apps by default: you can make sure that a passcode is required to open the apps. This can e.g. For example, it can be useful for parents who want to prevent their children from accessing certain applications.

to go Settings > Utilities > Encrypt apps and enter the Applications ayou want to block. Note that in this same menu you can also choose to hide the content of notifications from selected applications.

Once unlocked, the lock turns back on as soon as you lock the screen.

That’s it for this list of not necessarily all the hidden OxygenOS tips and tricks. If you are a OnePlus user and know of other useful little-known features that I haven’t mentioned, feel free to share your tips in the comments.