OnePlus finally rolled out Android 7.0 Nougat update for its OnePlus 3 and the 3T last week. Apart from all the basic features that Android Nougat brings in, some of them are still OnePlus specific. It’s been some time since using the latest Android 7.0 on our OnPlus 3, so here are the top features you are likely to miss on your OnePlus 3 or 3T running Android 7.0 Nougat. Note that the list includes both Nougat specific and OnePlus specific features. Also, all of these features are common to OnePlus 3T as well.
If you are still in line to get the OTA update for Android 7.0 Nougat, here is our guide on how to install the update manually to your device.
Display Size
If you have ever wondered that what’s the point of having a big 5.5-inch display when it can’t take the advantage of being so big, then the new Nougat update on the OnePlus 3 solves most of this problem. If set in default, the OnePlus launcher won’t let you add more than 4 icons in the row on either home screen or the App drawer, which can be annoying sometimes. For this, head on to the phone Settings > Display > Display Size > choose Small or Minimum if you want to fit in more content or choose Large or Larger if you want the other way. For more advanced settings, you can go to Developer Options > Smallest Width to change the dpi settings.
App Locker
Although this feature had been there in the community builds for quite some time now and it was even on OxygenOS 3.5.4 running on the OnePlus 3T, but still this is a new addition. As the name implies, App Lock feature basically lets you encrypt your apps individually and you can unlock it with your fingerprints. However, once unlocked the app remains unlocked until you lock your device. Nevertheless, it comes really handy if you are tired of unlocking your smartphone every now and then.
Aggressive Doze and Hibernation
Well, while ‘Doze’ itself helps us extract a little more juice from the device, Aggressive Doze takes it to the next level. Aggressive Doze and Hibernation force the background apps to go into hibernation which prevents unnecessary wake-locks which in turn prevent unexpected battery drain.
Audio Tuner
This is a built-in equalizer which was long due on the OnePlus 3. Though third party music players come with their own equalizer but a built-in Audio Tuner is always better in any case. Apart from usual presets and manual controls over the sound, Audio Tuner also asks you to choose your ‘Earphones Type’ and if you happen to have any of the OnePlus’s earphones such as Silver Bullet, Silver Bullet V2, Gold Bullet etc, then it will further enhance the audio output coming out of the headsets. Note, this only works when a pair of headsets are plugged in.
Alert Slider
Android 7.0 Nougat with OxygenOS 4.0 brings in some much-needed customizations to the Alert Slider as well. Go to Settings > Alert Slider and you can customize what to silent in Do not Disturb mode, enable vibration when silent, a separate toggle for media volume etc.
Multi-Window and Multi-tasking
You must have expected this one. Multi-Window is one of the most prominent features of Android Nougat and it works perfectly on the OnePlus 3. Multi-window basically lets you use two apps at the same time by the splitting the screen in two. To use this feature, go to Recent Apps menu and hold the app you want to use and drag it up till you enter the split screen menu. Now choose the second app you want to use from the recent menu appearing on one of the screens.
That’s not all. If you don’t like the split screen functionality and want to access the full screen instead and still wants to multi-task, Double-tap on Recents Menu button to quickly shuffle between last two apps.
Notifications
This is another feature from Android Nougat and not specific to OnePlus 3. From quick settings toggle to how the notifications appear, everything has been changed with Android Nougat. One swipe from the top brings in some quick toggles which can be customized as well and the second swipe brings in the entire quick settings menu. Moreover, notifications are now bundled making it for easy spotting. Further, you can do a two-finger-swipe to expand each notification individually and reply it thereafter without even opening the app.
Apart from this, OxygenOS 4.0 is even more snappy. You get the same set of customizations for Buttons, Gestures, Status Bar icons as it was on previous versions.