OnePlus has officially taken the wraps off its next-generation Android skin, OxygenOS 16. Based on Android 16, this major update promises a significant visual overhaul, deeper personalisation, and a suite of intelligent, AI-powered tools designed to enhance user productivity. The official rollout is set to commence in November this year, kicking off with the upcoming flagship, the OnePlus 15, before expanding to a wider range of eligible devices in phases.
A Fresh Look and Deep Customisation
The core philosophy of the OxygenOS 16 redesign revolves around two distinct themes: ‘Breathe With You’ for aesthetic enhancements and ‘Thrive with Free Expression’ for functional customisation. A key visual change is the introduction of an iOS-inspired Gaussian blur effect, which creates a sophisticated “Liquid glass” appearance across the system interface, including the home screen, app drawer, and native applications.
Users will gain unprecedented control over their device's layout. The Quick Settings panel becomes fully customisable, allowing you to rearrange or expand tiles for quicker access. The home screen experience is also upgraded with a new 5×7 layout, resizable widgets, and expandable folders. A smart ‘Categories’ tab will automatically group your applications for better organisation. Furthermore, system-wide icon theming now extends consistently to areas like the recents menu and Settings app.
Enhanced Lock Screen and Live Alerts
Building on the success of Flux Themes from the previous version, OxygenOS 16 introduces Flux Themes 2.0. This gives users more freedom to personalise their lock screen by adjusting the clock's position, adding custom text, and even setting live photos or videos as dynamic wallpapers. The innovative Live Alerts feature now displays real-time notifications from apps like Google Maps in mini-widgets that cleverly wrap around the selfie camera cutout.
AI-Powered Productivity and Performance
Artificial Intelligence is at the heart of the OxygenOS 16 experience. A new, dedicated OnePlus AI section consolidates various smart features. The AI Writer Toolkit is a standout, capable of generating summaries, captions, mind maps, and charts on the fly. The built-in Recorder app gains powerful new abilities, including real-time transcription and automatic summary generation. Even the Camera app becomes more productive with built-in document scanning and quick PDF conversion capabilities.
Prioritising user privacy, OnePlus is introducing the Private Computing Cloud, which processes sensitive data securely on-device without relying on third-party servers. For performance, Parallel Processing 2.0 ensures smoother animations and transitions throughout the user interface. Integration with Google Gemini supercharges the Mind Space feature, enabling users to search through their stored notes and screenshots using simple, natural language queries.
With its blend of a refreshed design, intelligent AI tools, and robust performance upgrades, OxygenOS 16 is poised to be one of the most significant software updates for OnePlus users this year. The open beta is already available for some devices, offering an early glimpse into the future of the OnePlus software ecosystem.
