How to Customize the Always On Display on Your OnePlus Phone
Reading Time: 4 minutesMost Android phones now offer an Always On Display feature, and OnePlus has one of the best. Here’s how to set up and customize it.
Despite being late to the game with its introduction of Always On Display, OnePlus now has one of the best implementations in any smartphone UI. First launched in OxygenOS 11, the Always On Display mode now has oodles of depth in terms of customization and styles.
OnePlus has gone even deeper with its Always On Display designs in OxygenOS 12 and 13. If you have updated your phone to newer builds, here’s what you need to know about everything OnePlus has to offer with the different AOD styles and options.
What Is an Always on Display and How Do I Enable It?
Being able to quickly glance over your phone’s display for the time or notifications without ever having to wake it up is a convenience made possible thanks to the Always On Display feature. Most major smartphone OEMs provide this functionality, some in more decorative and customizable ways than others.
Since the AOD mode only lights up the required pixels, it has less impact on battery life than you would expect, assuming your phone has an AMOLED display, of course. Certain Android skins make good use of this feature, and OxygenOS is one that gives you a generous bucket of styles to mess around with.
To enable the Always On Display on your OnePlus phone:
- Open the Settings app and navigate to Wallpapers & Style.
- From the grid of varying UI items that you can customize, tap on Always-On Display.
- Finally, tap on the Always-On Display toggle to turn the feature on.
Here is also where you can customize the AOD style to suit your needs. OxygenOS 13 also brings music playback controls and delivery tracking information, both of which can be enabled under the Contextual Info tab.
Other general options you can tweak include a time range to schedule the Always On Display around, selecting which info gets displayed, and whether new notifications show up on the AOD or not.
How to Customize the Always On Display
There are seven unique kinds of Always On Display styles and a total of 11 that you can choose between. Each of these styles has a certain degree of customization to it, so just make sure you spend a little time tweaking things just right.
1. Traditional Clock AOD
Sometimes simplicity is all you need to get a point across, which is exactly what the default AOD styles in OxygenOS do. With big and bold text for a digital clock or thick and well-defined hands for the analog clock options, this Always On Display style always looks classy. There’s a good selection of styles that use discrete fonts and design layouts that you can choose between.
2. Bitmoji AOD
Introduced with the release of OxygenOS 11, the Bitmoji AOD has to be one of the more unique approaches in this rather industry-defined standard of static time and notification elements. If you take great pride in customizing your Bitmoji avatar on Snapchat and styling it with fancy threads, OxygenOS lets you put it front and center on your phone’s display.
You will have to link your Bitmoji account in the Always On Display options for this to work and any changes made to your avatar should reflect forthwith on your AOD. What makes this feature even more distinct is the adaptive nature of your Bitmoji.
You’ll see over a dozen different stickers of your avatar performing various activities. Try playing music on your phone and see your Bitmoji avatar vibing the next time you lock your device!
3. Canvas AOD
Canvas AOD was also something that OnePlus bundled in the initial release of its Always On Display functionality in OxygenOS. Since then, the feature has been updated to support even more styles and better edge detection.
The Canvas AOD works especially well with human subjects, such as portraits or selfies with good lighting. Once applied, you can choose from a handful of outline and color options. This will automatically set the original, unedited image as your regular wallpaper, so the transition looks even more satisfying.
4. Custom Patterns
This one’s easily the most playful of the bunch. You can choose from a handful of shapes, brush styles, and colors to draw your own pattern. The best part—it animates exactly the way you draw while creating it.
The patterns are generated symmetrically, and you don’t need to be particularly good at art to make something that looks great on your Always On Display. There are two other similar AOD styles that let you type anything with a background image of your choice and leave that to be showcased while your phone sits idle.
5. Insight AOD
Fusing the ever-growing need for digital well-being tools like the new Focus Mode on Android into useful user interface elements, the Insight AOD is another Always On Display style you can apply on your OnePlus phone. The display style comprises a vertical bar that changes color and adds gaps reflecting your screen time habits throughout the day.
You’ll also find a handy unlock counter below the time bar that can help you keep your phone addiction in check. Insight AOD is an extremely well-thought-out and beautifully crafted ambient display alternative.
6. Omoji AOD
Omoji is OnePlus’ in-house Animoji rip-off, allowing users to create an avatar that looks just like them. You can create an Omoji in OxygenOS 13 using the long list of customizable styles and set it as your phone’s Always On Display.
The applied Omoji can then play one out of three preset short animations every time your phone kicks in its Always On Display. This, right alongside the custom patterns and Canvas AOD is a differentiating style only found on OnePlus and Oppo phones.
7. Home AOD
Home AOD brings both a scenic view of nature and an environmental social message to your phone’s ambient display. If you are on OxygenOS 13, you get to select either a fierce polar bear, an adorable penguin, or a curious fish to be your new companion buddy while your phone is locked.
Explore Everything OxygenOS 13 Has to Offer
OnePlus has managed to strike a great balance between both functionality and design with its recent developments in the Always On Display features. With such a wide range of AOD styles including traditional clock faces, to more artistic alternatives, there is something in store for everyone.
This isn’t the only area of improvement that OnePlus devices have seen in the recent past. If you’ve received the OxygenOS 13 update on your phone, there’s a lot more to discover and enjoy with the refreshed interface.
Reference: https://www.makeuseof.com/customize-always-on-display-oneplus/