OnePlus 8, 8T owners can try Android 12 with the OxygenOS 12 open beta
Cue Spongebob narrator: Three months later...
What you need to know- OnePlus has announced the OxygenOS 12 Open Beta for the OnePlus 8 series.
- The beta is also available for the OnePlus 8T and includes enhancements like improved Dark Mode, Canvas AOD, and more.
- OnePlus 8 and 8T owners can download the necessary files now to take part in the beta.
Three months after launching the OxygenOS 12 (Android 12) closed beta for the OnePlus 8 series, OnePlus has finally announced that the open beta is now available.
The OxygenOS 12 closed beta was limited to some OnePlus forum members, but if you were unable to join the closed beta, now's your chance to try out OxygenOS 12 on your OnePlus 8 series phone before the stable version rolls out.
As far as what you can expect in this version, it's largely similar to what we got on the OnePlus 9 series, with features such as an enhanced Dark Mode, improvements to the Gallery app, new options to the Shelf, and more. Of course, since this is a beta, you can expect there to be some bugs that will hopefully be ironed out before OnePlus rolls out stable Android 12 to its best Android phones from 2020.
The following is the full changelog for the OxygenOS 12 open beta:
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 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
In order to participate in the beta, you'll need to download the appropriate zip file for your device, which you can find on the OnePlus forum post. A separate post is also available for the OnePlus 8T for owners that want to give Android 12 a go.
The beta comes as OnePlus gears up for the global OnePlus 10 Pro launch as well as OxygenOS 13, which has caused some confusion about the direction the company is going with its software amid plans to unify the OxygenOS codebase with that of ColorOS from OPPO.
For now, OnePlus hasn't indicated when stable OxygenOS 12 will be available for the OnePlus 8 series phones.
Photography firstOnePlus 9 Pro
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The power of Hasselblad
The OnePlus 9 Pro has impressive imaging chops thanks to a collaboration with Hasselblad to improve the color science of the cameras. Ultrawide angle shots are also the most impressive you'll find on a phone, with little to no distortion.