OxygenOS 15: 7 New Features OnePlus Should Bring Next

OxygenOS has become a controversial Android skin in recent years after OnePlus decided to merge the codebase of the skin with ColorOS. The OS has come a long way since then, and while it sure feels like OnePlus robbed the old “feeling” from the OS, we cannot deny that it’s still a very decent-looking Android skin. OxygenOS 14 based on Android 14 brought all sorts of features but still missed out on a few things. So, here’s my wishlist for OxygenOS 15 and the features I want to see on the upcoming version of OnePlus’ mobile OS.

1. Improved Media Player

I recently moved from a Pixel to a OnePlus and one of the things that seemed like an instant downgrade to me was the media player on OxygenOS. Sure, it gets the job done but is not good enough compared to the one in Pixel UI. Pixel’s media player has gone through several changes but the current version looks the best. It feels funky yet modern with Android’s signature material squiggly lines and the glass effect when playing or pausing the music.

I’m not saying OnePlus needs to copy the same pixel-by-pixel but the current player is in dire need of an update and feels unattached from the UI in both quick settings and on the lock screen. One way OnePlus could improve it in quick settings is by moving the tiles in place of the current media player, shrinking the brightness slider, and moving the media player to below the slider.

Excuse my poor editing skills but the above image is how I imagine OnePlus’ next media player design should be (I couldn’t add the playback buttons but you get the gist). The media player should show the thumbnail with the like and dislike buttons. This will save an extra tap. It can have a seek bar that users can use to skip to different parts right away.

2. Customizable Alert Slider

Alert slider has remained one of OnePlus’ signature features. However, its functionality has more or less remained the same. Alert slider is a convenient way to switch sound profiles but I’m sure many people don’t use it much and would like to remap it to different functions.

Hence, OnePlus should bring a feature that would allow users to map the alert slider to. The ability to switch between Normal/High-performance mode for games, DND and Ring mode, would be one of the features in my OxygenOS 15 wishlist.

3. Lockscreen Widgets

It’s high time Android manufacturers brought lockscreen widgets to their devices. I added this feature to my Android 15 wishlist. And if there’s one manufacturer that can quickly bring the feature to Android devices, it has to be OnePlus.

It’s hard to imagine what the result may look like since only Nothing does lockscreen widgets on Android. “Do we bring quick-setting tiles on the lockscreen or only the existing widgets?” are one of the questions they should ask themselves. I would like the first iteration of this feature to be plain and simple. Just bring the existing widgets and keep adding new lockscreen widgets in future updates.

4. Revamp Quick Settings

The Quick Settings panel on OxygenOS has to be one of the most average, uninspiring panels I’ve seen so far. It brings elements from the likes of Realme UI and ColorOS and tries to blend them, which doesn’t look very good, and hence is in need of a major revamp.

The Aquamorphic design is nice but the gray tinge that appears on top as you pull down the quick settings panel makes it look bland. OnePlus should instead embrace the wallpaper’s color, tone down the blur, and make the gray a tad bit lighter. Besides, they need to figure out how the icons appear and how to arrange them better because the current setup is average at best. It requires more fiddling around to get to something which defeats the purpose of “Quick” settings.

5. Pixel-like Now Playing feature

If there’s one thing I miss the most after switching from a Pixel to OnePlus, it’s Now Playing. With OnePlus going big on AI, we can expect to receive many features in the coming months, and I would love OnePlus to add a Now playing-like feature.

For those unaware, Now playing detects the music playing in your surroundings and shows the name of the song on AOD or in Notifications. While the feature may not seem like a big deal, my reliance and habit of quickly looking at my Pixel’s AoD when an unknown song is playing isn’t something that will go away soon.

6. Desktop Mode

Samsung has DeX and recent reports suggest Google is planning to add a desktop mode to Pixels thanks to the phones getting USB-3.1 Type-C ports. The ability to use your phone as a desktop replacement hasn’t picked up pace yet, but with more companies hopping on the train, OnePlus needs to start working on a desktop mode before the competitors gain more traction.

7. AI Features

Almost all major manufacturers are banking on making their UIs feature-rich by bringing lots of AI features, and while OnePlus has already announced AI features are coming to OxygenOS, there are three specific features I want them to add to OxygenOS.

The first is a video boost feature like Pixels but instead of sending it to a server for the boost, develop it so that the processing happens on-device. The output doesn’t have to be incredible but the flagship Snapdragon SoCs on flagship OnePlus devices are capable enough to bring significant difference in video quality. It doesn’t have to be instant, and I’d have no problem if the feature takes time to boost a video.

The second missing feature is AI-generated wallpapers. Last but not least, give us a generative fill feature for images. Google announced it recently, and I would love to see the same come to OnePlus devices at the earliest.

Some of the honorable mentions are a Bluetooth widget that shows you the battery percentage of all your connected devices and a punch-hole progress bar to reflect, say a file’s download progress.

Do you have a wishlist for features you would like to see in the upcoming OxygenOS 15 update? Let us know in the comments below.