5 OnePlus features hidden in OxygenOS

For many users, OxygenOS is one of the highest-rated Android-based operating systems. It runs smoothly, has a clean interface, and overall feels lighter and snappier. Sure, it doesn’t have all the features you’ll find on Samsung’s One UI and Google’s Pixel UI, especially in terms of customization, but it offers a solid set of tools and settings for casual users to work with.

A popular OnePlus feature that users love is multitasking. It supports 90:10 aspect ratio, so you can have one app almost full screen while keeping the other app within reach. Shelf is also a very useful tool. With Shelf, you won’t have to fill your home screen with your favorite widgets. You can simply add them to Shelf, access them by swiping down from the top of the screen, and then hide them again.

Beyond these well-known OnePlus features, there are a few other underrated tools hidden in OxygenOS that you might not know about yet. Here are five.

Apps and folders on Android’s home screen have always been quite static. They usually only have one shape and size, so no matter how you arrange them, everything ends up looking the same. If you’re looking for a more dynamic design, OxygenOS (at least the OxygenOS 16 version) offers an underrated solution: resizing apps and folders.

On the home screen of your OnePlus phone, simply add the apps you want to quickly access and create your folders. To resize a folder, hold it and press the holding handle that appears in the corner. Drag it up, down, left, or right to turn it into a small circle/square the size of a regular app icon, a vertical or horizontal pill, or a standard large square. If you opt for the large square, you can change the appearance of the applications contained in the folder. Long press the folder again to open the folder menu and select one of the small box icons at the top. The first option sets all apps to the same size, the second makes the first three apps larger and the rest smaller, and the third keeps the app significantly larger.

To resize apps, long-press the app and drag the holding handle. You can reshape it into a vertical or horizontal pill or a large square. When resizing individual app icons, OxygenOS also lets you convert the single app into a folder containing its app shortcuts. For example, you can have a folder with Instagram and shortcuts to the Instagram camera, the notifications page and the New Post screen. To set this up, hold down the resized app and tap the plus sign next to the app icon. Next, choose the shortcut you want to add.

Finding specific settings on your OnePlus phone isn’t exactly the easiest task. Most of the time, you have to enter the exact name of the setting for it to appear in search results. If you don’t, you’ll usually end up wasting valuable time browsing menus. Fortunately, OxygenOS, especially the new OxygenOS 16, addresses this drawback by integrating AI into the Settings search bar. It’s one of the most convenient ways your smartphone uses AI, making it faster to find the settings you need, when you need them.

To use this hidden OnePlus feature, simply go to the Settings app and describe what the setting you’re looking for does. For example, if you want to enable motion signals, try typing “motion sickness” and tap Find more with AI search. The phone then retrieves all relevant parameters for your search query. The top three results are displayed first, but you can also go to All Results to check all relevant settings. Then just tap on the desired setting and you will be taken to this page.

If AI Search isn’t already enabled, simply go to Settings, tap AI, and select AI Search under More AI Features. Open AI Search again and enable it. You can also choose where you want to use AI Search beyond the Settings app, such as in Files, Notes, and Google Calendar.

The buttons on your OnePlus phone work properly to control the device with your locked screen. But there’s actually an even faster way to perform actions on your phone, and all you have to do is draw on the screen. Called Screen-off Gestures, this under-the-radar feature in OxygenOS lets you use gestures to do things like unlock the phone, open apps, and control music.

One of these turn off screen gestures is to double tap to turn the screen on/off, which you may already know. The rest of the supported gestures are designed for opening apps and controlling music. For example, you can draw an O to launch the camera and a V to turn the flashlight on/off. Gestures like an inverted V, M, and W also work. By default, inverted V opens Calculator, M opens Gemini, and W opens Recorder. But you are free to change the apps opened by these three gestures or set them as gesture to unlock the phone or call someone.

For music control, off-screen gestures include swiping down with two fingers to pause or play the current song. Then you can draw a less than symbol to go to the previous song or a greater than symbol to go to the next song. Here’s how to enable screen off gestures on your OnePlus:

1. In the Settings app, go to Accessibility & Convenience.
2. Tap Gestures & Movements.
3. Under Gestures, select Off-screen gestures.
4. Enable screen off gestures.
5. Enable the options you want to use.

Now try locking your phone and performing one of the gestures you enabled. Most apps will launch immediately, but some, like Gemini, may require you to unlock the device first.

The first thing many do after purchasing an Android phone is enable dark mode. After all, it’s one of the best phone settings to use to keep your eyes healthy. The problem is that the OnePlus’ dark mode may seem too dark for some people, thus ruining the entire user experience. In this case, you can adjust the screen darkness using a hidden OnePlus feature in Settings.

Yes, OnePlus lets you dim dark mode to your liking. There are three darkness levels to choose from: enhanced, medium and soft. Enhanced is the default option, which appears black. Medium brightens certain elements, while Gentle makes the screen appear a soft gray rather than pitch black. Follow these steps to find this lesser-known OnePlus setting:

1. Launch the Settings app.
2. Open Display & Brightness.
3. Tap Dark Mode to enable it.
4. Select dark mode settings.
5. Under Style, choose your preferred darkness level.

In the dark mode settings, you can also find an option to dim the wallpaper with dark mode. If you have certain apps without a built-in dark mode toggle, there is a setting for that too. On the Dark Mode settings page, tap “Dark mode for third-party apps” and choose the apps you want to use dark mode on. This feature is currently in beta mode, so it may not work on all apps.

You probably won’t use your OnePlus phone near a water source very often, but when you do, there’s a good chance some droplets will end up inside, especially through the speakers. The good news is that you won’t need to visit a service center to get this problem fixed. OxygenOS comes with its own Speaker Cleaner tool for this purpose. What it does is produce sound loud enough to vibrate your phone and possibly expel liquid and dust from the speaker holes. This is very practical, not only in the event of an accident, but also when using your device for underwater photography or simply for regular maintenance.

To access Speaker Cleaner on your OnePlus phone, open the Phone Manager app. In the Tools section, click More and scroll down to Accessibility and Convenience. You can then select Speaker Cleaner. For even quicker access, you can add the Speaker Cleaner tool to your Quick Settings panel. Go to the Quick Settings panel and tap the pen icon at the top to edit the panel. Tap more and look for the Speaker Cleaner tile.

Once the tool opens, simply press Start and hold your device upright. You can choose to set the volume to the highest level for optimal results. Some users have also reported that the Speaker Cleaner function works best when done multiple times. One noted that they had to activate the function about ten times to drain the liquid from the speakers.