OnePlus OxygenOS 14 (Android 14) hands-on: Same difference

OnePlus is the most recent producer to serve up an early take a look at its Android 14 interface. OxygenOS 14 is now in public beta, and the primary construct is rolling out to customers enrolled in this system. Similar to what Samsung did with One UI 6, OnePlus is limiting who can set up OxygenOS 14: the beta is just accessible for the OnePlus 11, and in the meanwhile, it is aimed toward clients in India and North America, with no point out of when European OnePlus 11 homeowners can take part on the motion.OxygenOS had an attention-grabbing journey in recent times, and whereas it took some time for OnePlus to combine the ColorOS codebase, the OxygenOS 13 launch delivered stability and a good feature-set that is much like what you may discover on OPPO telephones. With OxygenOS 14, the established order is essentially unchanged; the interface seems and appears like ColorOS, and it is lacking noteworthy new options.That mentioned, here is every thing that is new in OxygenOS 14, and what you may look ahead to in subsequent beta builds.OxygenOS 14: Carbon Footprint AOD typeThis AOD is designed to spotlight consciousness about carbon emissions (Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)OnePlus all the time had the very best AOD kinds, going again to the introduction of the Insight AOD that was designed in collaboration with Parsons School of Design. The producer adopted that up with the Homeland AOD sequence that showcased the consequences of worldwide warming in real-time, and the most recent addition in OxygenOS 14 follows an analogous sample.(Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)The Carbon Footprint AOD is designed to spotlight the consequences of carbon emissions, and it has a nifty characteristic that permits you to monitor your personal — strolling 10,000 steps cuts down on emissions by as much as 1.74kg, and also you get a visible illustration of this on the lock display. (Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)Much just like the Homeland AOD, you get three distinct kinds to select from — globe, forest, and island lagoon — and it modifications dynamically based mostly in your step depend.OxygenOS 14: Ringtones and notification soundsRingtones web page on OxygenOS 14 subsequent to OxygenOS 13 (Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)Another new characteristic in OxygenOS 14 is the introduction of Aquamorphic ringtones and notification sounds. (Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)These ringtones and tones are extra playful than the usual OxygenOS sounds, which have been moved to the Classic part.(Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)There’s additionally a brief blurb for the Alert Slider that now sits on the high of the Sound & vibration menu. You can dismiss this, nevertheless it offers new OnePlus customers a fast walkthrough of the slider and its options.OxygenOS 14: Design and value changesNotification shade on OxygenOS 14 subsequent to OxygenOS 13 (Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)While a subset of the OxygenOS userbase has been clamoring for a return to the interface’s vanilla appear and feel, that ship has sailed. OxygenOS 14 retains the identical design aesthetic, and whereas OnePlus notes that the Aquamorphic Design has been tweaked with a extra “natural, gentle, and clearer color style for a more comfortable color experience,” I did not discover any modifications.OxygenOS 14 will get a search button on the backside of the house display (Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)Visually, OxygenOS 14 is an identical to OxygenOS 13, and all of the interface components, together with the notification pane, settings web page, inventory apps, are unchanged. The one change I seen is that the house display now has a persistent search bar simply above the tray, and this pulls up the worldwide search characteristic. Thankfully, you may disable the characteristic if you happen to’re like me and do not use world search in your OnePlus telephone.Smart solutions in OxygenOS 14 floor helpful data all through the day.  (Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)A brand new characteristic rolling out in OxygenOS 14 is Smart solutions, which surfaces real-time details about ride-hailing providers or meals supply within the lock display, notification shade, or the standing bar. Think of it because the OxygenOS model of Google’s At A Glance widget.A giant usability change is the power to set app languages on a per-app foundation, and that is now accessible within the Additional Settings sub-menu. Changing the setting right here will change the language of simply that app, with out affecting the system language. Other modifications embody a cloud sync choice that saves your Wi-Fi passwords within the cloud, however I do not fairly see the utility of such a characteristic.OxygenOS 14: Security and privateness modificationsLock display will get a brand new password authentication web page.  (Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)OxygenOS 14 contains modifications to app permissions that Google launched in Android 14, particularly the power to grant photograph and video permissions as an alternative of entry to all information on the system.Privacy and safety settings get a unified web page, and it has a cleaner look.  (Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)OnePlus continues to consolidate the assorted safety and privateness settings right into a unified change, and whereas a few of these modifications are reside in OxygenOS 13.1, OxygenOS 14 builds on that. Smart Lock has been renamed to Extend Unlock, and all of the privateness settings are actually in a single web page, making it straightforward to entry all of the settings.The safety dashboard has a refined design change, and it ditches the overt Material You influences and is in keeping with the remainder of the OxygenOS 14 aesthetic.OxygenOS 14: Lock displayYou can launch a QR code reader straight from the lock display now.  (Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)The lock display additionally will get a refined tweak, with the password enter switching to a extra Pixel-esque format. You get two new lock display controls: flashlight, and QR code. The latter pulls up Google Lens so you may scan a QR code with ease, and it is a helpful addition.You can arrange a persistent media participant on the lock display, supplying you with entry to music playback controls with out having to wake the gadget. This is not a brand new characteristic as reminiscent of it is also accessible on OxygenOS 13, however there’s now a toggle for it within the Home Screen & Lock Screen sub-menu within the settings, making it rather more seen. In OxygenOS 13, that is tucked away in AOD settings.OxygenOS 14: Much extra to return(Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)We’re simply getting began with OxygenOS 14, and OnePlus will introduce extra options over the approaching weeks and months. For now, it does not make a lot sense to put in OxygenOS 14 in your telephone — there are bugs within the UI, and no notable options. But that scenario will change with subsequent builds, and I’ll replace this put up as soon as as new beta builds change into accessible.