OnePlus 9 series starts getting stable Android 12 update

Ben Schoon | Dec 6 2021 - 3:30 pm PT

Android 12 has been available on Google Pixel phones for nearly two months now, and even Samsung has pushed a stable update to five of its high-end devices. Now, OnePlus is joining the fray with a stable update to Android 12 heading to some OnePlus 9 series owners.

Rolling out to some users today, Android 12 for the OnePlus 9 series delivers OxygenOS 12, the latest version of the brand’s skin which is built in closer collaboration with Oppo. The update’s rollout was spotted by some folks on Telegram who captured download links for the OTA in India. XDA is hosting those downloads. The full changelog follows:

System

Optimized desktop icons with improved textures, by using a design inspired by brand-new materials and uniting lights and layers

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 Earphone Control Card with Bluetooth earphone one-click adjustment

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

Newly added OnePlus Watch Card in Shelf, to easily glance at your health stats

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

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

With the update rolling out to some users already, it’s only a matter of time before the update goes fully official. We’ll update this post when OnePlus makes a full announcement.

This update to OxygenOS is clearly inspired more heavily by Oppo’s ColorOS, with a default launcher that works more like what you’d find on an Oppo-branded smartphone, with other tweaks throughout the system that follow the same pattern. Our Damien Wilde covered the similarities back in October.

That doesn’t mean, however, that OnePlus isn’t delivering anything new in this update. More control over dark mode has been added with “Gentle,” “Medium,” and “Enhanced” modes that apply to the system and select apps. OnePlus also introduced a feature called “Inventive wallpapers” which can create an abstract design out of your images. Other changes include more control over OnePlus Shelf, the “Private Safe,” a new Notes app, Zen Mode updates, and a “Recent Tasks Manager” to manage apps that can be “locked” into memory.