OnePlus 6T to Ship With a ‘Whole New UI’, ‘Advanced’ Do Not Disturb Mode

OnePlus 6T India launch and global launch are set for the same day later this month, on October 30. The upcoming flagship smartphone from OnePlus is a mid-year update and will likely see minimal upgrades in terms of design elements and internals, except a few minor updates in the form of an optical in-display fingerprint sensor, waterdrop-style display notch, and maybe a couple of other things. OnePlus executives have now confirmed that a “whole new UI” is coming to the OnePlus 6T, alongside an advanced Do Not Disturb mode, and redesigned navigation gestures. The company has also confirmed that it is bringing software enhancements for the OnePlus 6T camera.

"Our focus is always on providing a fast and smooth experience,” OnePlus said in a forum post attributing quotes to Szymon Kopec, Product Manager, OnePlus and User Experience Lead Crayon Hsieh. "We’ve got this specialised ‘FSE’ team, where ‘FSE’ stands for ‘Fast, Smooth, and Efficient’. Their goal is to make the most out of our hardware. You can expect to see a couple of features that make the user experience smoother, like an advanced Do not Disturb mode and new Navigation Gestures."

In classic OnePlus tradition, information around its upcoming flagship smartphone is getting clearer as the launch date gets closer. “We’ve got a whole new UI coming up that you will have to experience for yourself to really understand. Our goal was to express the OnePlus design language in our UI, making this the most distinct and intuitive version of OxygenOS yet,” the post added. “We’ve also put a lot of work into improving the camera behind the scenes, so you can expect to take even better pictures.”

OnePlus 6T will also get certain improved navigational gestures. For instance, users will now be able to change to the most-recently used apps with a quick flick from the bottom of the screen towards the right. Another action added to gestures on OxygenOS is activating Google Assistant by holding the power button for 0.5 seconds. “Every swipe was tested over 1000 times to ensure the motion felt natural,” the post said.

Apart from that, making use of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845 SoC, OnePlus is introducing an AI-based algorithm to allow the OnePlus 6T to learn when you sleep, helping it minimise background usage, and reduce power consumption accordingly, the company representative said.

On his views on Android Pie’s Digital Wellbeing functionality, the forum post says, “we've always developed our software with user experience in mind, which often means designing software in a way that ensures completing a single action takes as little time as possible. There are multiple examples of this, off-screen gestures, and QuickPay being two of the most notable. We're striving to reduce the amount of taps required to perform a single interaction or action. We strongly believe in a balanced approach to software design, which includes balancing smartphone usage.”

To recall, OnePlus 6T pre-bookings on Amazon.in have already begun with a booking amount of Rs. 1,000 payable immediately. Pre-booking users are entitled to free USB Type-C wired earphones and an Amazon Pay cashback of Rs. 500. The OnePlus 6T is confirmed to sport a 3,700mAh battery with the company’s Dash Charge technology.