OxygenOS has been my favourite Android skin so far since its initial introduction in 2015. It’s been more than 6 years now and I can’t get around with the fact that it will soon be gone. By the next iteration of Android, we might not see OxygenOS, well maybe the name might still survive, but the soul wouldn’t. As you can see in the new OxygenOS 12.
Today, we are going to compare the OxygenOS 12 on OnePlus 9 Pro with Oxygen OS 11 on the OnePlus 9R side by side. To give you a fair idea of what’s coming to all OnePlus phones, hopefully, a stable version by later this year.
Oxygen OS 12
- Re-design of System Settings
There’s a significant re-design of the system settings. You can see there is no longer a description of the menu, which would help understand the contents of the Menu.
Battery, Privacy, and Accessibility copy from ColorOS 12. But yes, you do get more options and thus allowing you more control at hand.
- 3 Types fo Dark Modes
There are now three types of Dark Modes styles you could choose from including Enhanced, Medium, and Gentle. Furthermore, OxygenOS 12 allows you to force dark modes on third-party apps, which are currently incompatible with Dark Mode. Noteworthy that you can also turn on the auto adjustment for wallpapers according to the dark mode style you select.
- Go to Split Screen mode using 3-Fingers Swipe-Up Gestures
This is quite a neat trick! Whenever you want to enter into a split-screen mode, just swipe up with 3-fingers and Voila! You’ll be entered into split-screen mode. Make sure that you are using this in the supported apps like WhatsApp, Instagram, etc. Right now I’m experiencing some issues since it’s still in Open Beta. Expect this to get fixed ASAP.
Also Read: Should You Buy OnePlus 9R?
- AOD Settings
This feature is also taken straight from ColorOS 12. As you can see additions of Canvas, Bitmoji, and Insight to the Always-On display settings. I really like this feature. I have earlier tried this first on OPPO Reno 6 Pro.
Much more organised, different types of brush strokes and you can even use erasers to remove unwanted strokes. It’s fun!
I don’t usually put my selfie images or any family members, but I would definitely enjoy using the BitMoji feature, which you’d know if you are a Bitmoji App user. They create these exciting sets of avatars based on a picture of your face.
- Zen Mode – It finally has its new icon of its own, previously it was only available in the Shelf Menu.
OnePlus has made a really good “Down Time” app called Zen Mode, but they made it easily inaccessible. This new change is quite welcoming for frequent Zen Mode users. You can now go to the Zen Mode from the App drawer and it gets a separate app icon, while in the OxygenOS 11 you get it as system settings or it was only available from the bottom of the Shelf.
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- New Gaming Mode
Same as ColorOS 12 – No longer a brightness lighter, Instagram, telegram or rewind and recording button. Touch Sensitivity and handedness. Monitor the FPS, CPU and GPU power. Game filters to remove darkness and have night vision effects. Voice Modulator, allows you to change the in-game voice. But I wasn’t able to get them working in BGMI or COD.
- New Files App
Same features, but FILE Dash got removed. Because you can use Nearby Share. There are new Recents Tabs, which is nice. Private Safe tool.
- Re-designed Notes App
How important is a note-taking app for you? Well, I know that it’s quite important in this data-driven era. And we even use the Note app as a To-do app. Looks like OnePlus and OPPO understood this as the new version of Notes also offers a To-do list creation.
There are separate tabs as you can see for To-do lists and Notes. You can further create separate notebooks like I did (School, Office, etc) and then manage your notes accordingly. It’s a wonderful feature. Notably, you can keep your notes private with password protection.
Now Create Doodles. If you are into doodles, this will be a great way to start taking notes. Or maybe create your next Instagram doodle on this Notes app.
Formatting is now available, which was completely missing on the Notes app so far. It took quite a long time for OnePlus to figure that out. Now I’m starting to see why OnePlus needed help regarding their Android skin. Glad to see some new elements being quite useful.
- App Drawer
Redesigned App Drawer will give you a ColorOS feel, and it will feel like OxygenOS 12 should have been renamed to ColorOS instead. There are no Categories or results related to web or in-app search support as seen when you type “Latest”. Further, notice how the Microphone icon has been removed. Yes, OnePlus has made it easier to find apps by their first letters as you can see a new Alphabet Scroll bar on the right.
- Work Mode and Life Mode
OnePlus exclusively introduced the Work-Life Balance mode on its Indian retail units, now it is being rolled out to a global audience. But wait…it’s now divided into two separate modes, which are available from the control panel above. This is quite convenient as there’s one less step required to turn on the desired mode. Convenience is the key!
- Scout – Now available globally.
This was also previously available for only Indian retail units of OnePlus. Scout is now available globally. It lets you find anything on your phone. It’s like a universal search which we have started to see on most Android phones. Obviously inspired by iOS. The Scout search allows you to even calculate, but not yet determine results like the definition of words or conversions from Centimeter to Feet, or the latest Dollar-Rupee conversion.
- New Unlock Animation:
There are three new fingerprint animations called Fireworks, Magic, and Wormhole.
Bonus: There are a couple of additions to the Home Settings layout like Icons, Layout, and Transition. And you could definitely see the visual overhaul here in these settings on both sides of the phone running Android 11 and Android 12 based OxygenOS.
