OxygenOS in 2024 is nowhere near the OxygenOS that OnePlus featured in its devices a few years ago. In most budget-friendly devices, it is quite difficult to point out the differences among Realme UI, ColorOS, and OxygenOS due to the similarities, mainly in terms of ads. Anyway, OnePlus might have acknowledged the feedback from its community, and with the upcoming OxygenOS 15, things are looking good for OnePlus users. Well, while the OxygenOS 15 update’s stable version is not yet released, a beta release has been pushed to certain devices. Anyway, if you are a OnePlus user and are wondering about the new features of OxygenOS 15 and its differences from OxygenOS 14, consider reading this as we have shared all the details we know about the same.
One of the major aspects that differentiated OnePlus from other phones is its UI and customization features. Well, in the OxygenOS 15 update, design has been given priority. While this is not a complete overhaul, significant changes are made to make sure that this new update based on Android 15 stands out. That said, here’s everything you need to know about the same.
Also read: YouTube pause & forward button not going away while watching video: How to fix it
OxygenOS 15 vs OxygenOS 14: What are new features & differences?
Design changes
Coming to new features in OxygenOS 15, obviously, it is design. OnePlus has gone above and beyond to make changes to various app icons, which include the following apps:
- Calculator
- Clock
- Photos
- Settings
- Recorder
- Weather
While these have received overhauls, they don’t feature different color schemes for light/dark mode and are also not animated. But as usual, you can use custom icon packs to further personalize your experience.
Notifications and Quick Settings
The Notifications and Quick Settings menus have been updated and now users can have two separate pages for both or integrate all in one, similar to the likes of iOS or other UIs like Hello UI from Motorola. The design scheme is similar to the one in Hello UI and looks pretty neat. You can even customize them further to match the ones in OxygenOS 14.
Home and Lockscreen customization
It seems like OnePlus has put in extra effort to bring additional customization features with the new OS update. For both your home screen and lock screen wallpapers, you can select a style filter that offers a bunch of effects and the default wallpaper library has also been updated to house more than before. New live wallpapers have been introduced, with some featuring HDR support as well. You can customize the clock on your lock screen, along with the AOD.
Blur effects
In the Advanced Visual Effects option that can be accessed via Settings, you can find the Advanced Visual Effects setting toggle, which, when turned on, applies a blur effect to various notification backgrounds, quick settings, home screen folders, and more.
New Charging Animation
A new charging animation has been introduced and the animation varies based on the charger in use. Similarly, a new fingerprint animation named Halo has been included.
System Applications
While we did mention that most system applications like Calculator, Camera, and Photos received new icons, these didn’t receive any significant changes within them. However, the Settings application has been updated with a new Two-Tone color theme, menu rearrangement, new icons, etc. And, apart from this, a new Phone Manager application has been introduced, but this seems to be a big downgrade.
Animations
Now, this is where OxygenOS 15 really shines. In the new Android 15-based OS update, animations are handled using something called Parallel Processing. Instead of the usual serial processing of animations used in OxygenOS 14 and OS of other brands, this claimed industry-first technology allows animations to run parallel to each other. This simply means that two animations can run simultaneously, instead of killing the former to trigger the latter. The benefit? Well, smooth animation, no stutters, and highly responsive.
Extra features
New AI features have been introduced in the Photos app. Options like AI Detail Boost, AI Eraser, AI Unblur, and AI Reflection Eraser have made their way to provide further AI-specific customizations to a clicked photo. Next up is related to the size of the OS. Compared to the current OxygenOS 14, the upcoming update will take up 20% less storage, but this is only true for the OnePlus 12 and upcoming devices. The Smart Suggestions feature (Live Alerts) has now changed to the iOS-style dynamic island.
The Open Canvas feature has been introduced, allowing its users to further customize the way they split two apps. A new Shrink feature is also included that allows the shrinking of one app while enlarging the other. A new Share with iPhone feature has been introduced, along with new Theft Protection systems that use gyroscope input to detect potential theft.
Well, while these features might make it look like OxygenOS 15 is something very original, it really isn’t. There are no exclusive features to focus on. The thin line that separates ColorOS and OxygenOS is now even thinner. Anyway, for OnePlus fans, at least there is something new to experience. That said, we hope that you find this article informative. You can visit Android Gram for more such interesting pieces on a daily basis. So, consider following us.
