OnePlus says that these five new features are being added to OxygenOS
OnePlus, in an attempt to be more consumer-friendly than the competition, started what it calls IDEAS; the premise is that customers can submit to the company, ideas on how to improve the company's OxygenOS operating system. As the company says, "Good ideas can come from anywhere. That’s why we’re implementing a new way to listen to our Community – making it easier for ideas to get heard and possibly implemented. Let’s start with software and improve OxygenOS together!"
OnePlus will adopt five of the top twenty improvements for OxygenOS submitted by customers
Top ideas were posted on the OnePlus website where they were voted on by OnePlus users. Of the top 20 ideas, OnePlus decided that five will be added to OxygenOS in the near future and 15 will not be adopted. Those who submitted an idea that will be adopted receive a pair of OnePlus Bullets Wireless 2 earbuds.
The OnePlus 8 Pro is the manufacturer's latest flagship phone
Of the five features that are being added to OxygenOS, at the top of the list is an Always On Display. This idea received the most votes (2,100) and OnePlus says that it has considered such a feature in the past but found that it would consume too much battery life. However, the manufacturer didn't give up and this feature could be included in the OxygenOS open beta in August or September. The four other upcoming features, all of which are now listed in OnePlus' OxygenOS roadmap, include:
- Enable fingerprint lock for hidden pictures in gallery.
- Play sound when the battery is fully charged.
- Folders within the app drawer.
- Adding more essential features to Zen Mode.
With Zen Mode, which is also available as an app on the Google Play Store, the user selects a specific time at which the phone simply allows you to answer calls, make emergency calls, and use the camera. By default, when the mode is activated the phone will remain unusable (except for the aforementioned capabilities) for at least the default period of 20 minutes. Even turning the phone off and back on won't deactivate the feature.
The 15 ideas in the top 20 that OnePlus rejected isn't adopting include:
- Edge notification light.
- OnePlus Dex.
- Call recording.
- Google message for the stock SMS/RCS app.
- Study mode.
- API support for Gcam.
- Improve the adaptive brightness.
- Custom fingerprint animations.
- Real-time weather wallpaper.
- Real One Hand Mode.
- AMOLED dark (true black color in quick setting and volume panel).
- Boost capabilities of the alert slider.
- An option to set battery charging limit to 80%.
- Variable charging speed.
- Allow users to choose which stock apps to install during set-up.
We'd love to see some other manufacturers copy this. One that we can think of off the bat is Google. The company has made some baffling decisions when it comes to its Pixel handsets. You see, it isn't necessarily the idea that the company will actually adopt your suggestion that makes this exciting for consumers. It is the idea that the company is listening to what you have to say. And when you read the comments of OnePlus owners in the company's forum, you can see how grateful these consumers are to know that their voice is being heard.
OnePlus has some loyal fans that have been offering suggestions to the company for years. And as one company staff member wrote on the forum, "The IDEAS platform is not simply built for you, our Community, but also built for our OS product team and everyone inside OnePlus. It is significantly important to stay curious, open-minded and learn from the outside, for all of us. The true meaning of Co-creation is more than you ask us to do something and we do it, but more a process through which we learn from each other, enjoy a positive dialogue, appreciate the beauty of the product creation process, and deliver truly great products one after another. Cheers, to our endless journey."
Things that are NOT allowed: