OnePlus 7 and 7T get their long-overdue Android 12 update, yet bugs remain to be fixed

Among the oldest OnePlus smartphones that have been promised Android 12, the OnePlus 7 and 7T are finally getting the update as we speak. Unfortunately, it looks like either OnePlus is seeding a beta version of the update, or it didn’t bother addressing some of the issues reported by those who tested the previous builds.

But let’s start with the good things. If you’re still running the OnePlus 7/7T as your daily driver, you’ll be getting a lot of improvements. This is a massive update and if you haven’t enrolled on the beta program to install the previous Android 12 builds, you’ll find there are a lot of changes coming to both phones.

The patch notes below (via XDA Developers) highlight some of the most important new features and improvements included in the update, but many didn’t fit in here, so you’ll probably find even more.

System

• Newly added Smart Battery Engine, a feature that prolongs your battery life based on smart algorithms and biomimetic self-restoration technology
• Redesigns app icons using new materials to give more depth and a greater sense of space and texture to the icons
• Revamps the page layout based on the principle of reducing visual noise and optimizes the presentation of text and color to make key information stand out
• Optimized desktop icons with improved textures, by using a design inspired by brand-new materials and uniting lights and layers
• Optimized spam block rules: Adds a rule for blocking MMS messages

Games

• Newly added the HyperBoost end-to-end frame rate stabilizer
• Newly added Voice effect preview to allow you to record your voice effect or check your voice effect in real time

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 access to OnePlus Scout in Shelf, allowing you to search multiple contents on your phone, including Apps, Settings, Media Data, etc

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

Accessibility

• Optimized categorization of functions by grouping them into vision, hearing, interactive actions, and general
• TalkBack supports more system apps including Photos, Phone, Mail, and Calendar

As mentioned earlier, the update is tagged as “stable build,” so it shouldn’t have any of the issues that previous beta builds had. However, many OnePlus 7/7T users who have already installed the update complain that the same bugs from the beta versions of the update are present in the stable build.

For starters, Always-On Display function is not working, but some users have found a solution. Apparently, updating the AOD app manually will fix this particular issue, but there are more that haven’t been addressed.

Other users noticed that when unlocking the phone or an app installed with your fingerprint will automatically increase brightness to maximum. On top of that, green tint appears when trying to manually adjust the brightness.

Keep in mind that the update is only rolling out to OnePlus 7/7T users who are on the latest OxygenOS 12 beta, so if you’re not enrolled in the program, you won’t be getting this yet.