Oxygen OS crowned the most preferred OS, OnePlus says there’s more to come

If you have gone through the latest CMR study, you are bound to stumble upon a hots of interesting findings. The report talks about consumer preferences when it comes to smartphone mobile operating systems. The study explores various aspects of what goes into making consumers choose a smartphone. Almost 55 percent of the participants agreed that the smartphone OS is key to the overall consumer experience and delight.

While the research details several aspects of a decision-making process for consumers, it also lists the top mobile operating systems that are preferred by consumers. The OS that tops the list is OnePlus’ Oxygen OS, followed by Apple’s iOS. In fact, the study states that Oxygen OS leads with 74 percent customer satisfaction while iOS follows with a share of 72 percent. This isn’t surprising, given that Oxygen OS has evolved on the basis of customer feedback over the years.

We found this as an opportunity to talk to OnePlus about Oxygen OS and what are its plans for future versions. BGR.in talked to Sam Twist, Senior Product Manager, OnePlus, and asked some of the questions that many of you OnePlus fans have wanted answers to.

Question: Oxygen OS is built on customer feedback and it must be rewarding for OnePlus to see OOS being crowned the most preferred smartphone OS, right?

We are not only gratified but extremely humbled to be recognized as the most preferred OS for smartphones. Ever since our inception in 2015, we have focused our efforts to create a burdenless software experience that has been and will continue to be at the core of product development at OnePlus. Through the evolution of OxygenOS, we have introduced a plethora of features that the community find both engaging and intuitive while keeping the interaction light and minimal. Features such as Zen Mode, Work-Life Balance, and OnePlus Scout are curated to help users interact with their devices in a more perceptive and unruffled manner while maintaining the clean Android experience.

In terms of developing OxygenOS11, our community has been very helpful by vocalizing their needs and expectations from us and providing us with insightful feedback every step of the way. Every feature on the OxygenOS was created through community feedback and multiple rounds of testing in both Open and Closed Beta phases.

The community has also co-created features with our teams, and an appropriate representation of this is Always On Display. This feature has been eagerly awaited and requested by the community. We collaborated with Parson’s School of Design, drawing insights from the best in the business to create the most supreme version of Always-On Display for OxygenOS11. We have also co-created with a community member who won the project manager contest on forums to bring considerable improvements to Dark Mode. In addition to utilizing more dark gray hues to make the interface cleaner, the update also supports Dark Mode scheduling and can be accessed from the Quick Settings menu itself, by pulling down the notification shade.

When it comes to their current MobileOS, consumers face many different challenges, ranging from issues, such as unwanted ads, apps running in background, battery drainage, or lack of storage. #CMRInsights pic.twitter.com/sxVglN1Axk

— Prabhu Ram (@prabhu_ram) November 18, 2020

Overall, it’s been a one-team effort by OnePlus and our loyal community to develop a one-of-a-kind software experience, and we are eternally grateful for all their support.

Question: Lag-free & smooth: How does OnePlus continue to deliver on these two Parameters year-after-year?

In keeping with our promise of a burdenless experience, OnePlus invests heavily in research, conceptualization, and in-house development of smooth, unique, and customizable offerings for its community. Be it through the dedicated OneLab or our various other R&D centres, our representatives collaborate globally to identify key trends and deliver on them.

With the introduction of features such as the Always-On Display, repositioned touch controls for one-handed usage, or the development of Oxygen OS11 itself, we have curated a fast, lightweight, and dynamic catering where form meets function by optimizing on the stock Android experience. Having developed a cleaner and more intuitive user interface, we are one of the first smartphone brands to implement the cutting-edge Android 11 operating system. As a result, the software is the real charm of the device by being fluid, next-level smooth, and delivering that ultra-fast performance that personifies the Never Settle spirit of the brand.

Question: Will the OxygenOS experience give birth to more affordable OnePlus smartphones in India? What about the Nord N10 and N100?

With an expanding product portfolio, we aim to connect with a variety of users through new product lines and a wider range of price points. As an evolving company, the development of OxygenOS has taken place through constant research, testing, and feedback from our vast user community in India. And as one of our biggest markets, it is an essential sounding board as we work towards delivering more region-specific features and offerings in creating an unparalleled experience for the OnePlus fan base. We are constantly working towards connecting with the user on a fundamental level to learn their growing needs and preferences so as to ultimately, deliver on the same.

Question: As the CMR report indicates, update rollout is still a big issue in India, especially when most Indian users lack reliable and high-speed Wi-Fi. What is OnePlus doing to ensure a seamless and easy OTA update rollout for your customers who have to make do with mobile data only?

OnePlus is among the few brands to have switched to the seamless OTA updates before Android 11, which makes sure the user can keep using their devices while the update is being installed. While post the introduction of Android 11, all brands have to adhere to the guidelines by Google, we at OnePlus knew the importance of keeping the experience on our devices burdenless and made the choice to shift much earlier.

To keep the experience uniformly fluid for even our legacy devices, we offer software updates for 2 years and security updates for 3 years. Soon, a OnePlus 6 device would also have Android 11 and that is an essential part of our community’s appreciation of the brand.

Question: Security is a key criterion these days for the Indian smartphone consumer. What is OnePlus doing on this front, especially with the frequent reports of malware hits on the Android platform?

At OnePlus, security is one of the main focuses while we optimize our software. Information related to fingerprint unlock, face unlock, OnePlus Scout, and so on, are all stored on the Qualcomm chip remotely and the company has no access to the information. Further, all the OnePlus cloud info is stored on Amazon Web Services in India, adding to the assured safety of all our users’ data.

Question: What’s next for OxygenOS? Will we get to see a dedicated app store in the future? What about ecosystem integration? When is OnePlus Pay coming? Will ads be a thing on OxygenOS in the future?

Many OnePlus features are currently being piloted in India. For instance, the Work-Life Balance 2.0 and OnePlus Sports have been initiated by the India R&D center and will be released in the coming quarter.

As a growing company, we are consistently exploring opportunities in innovation and giving out users a software experience that is fast, smooth, and most importantly burdenless. At OnePlus, we are committed to providing our users an experience that is intuitive and optimized to get the most out of our products. As for advertisements on OxygenOS, we will continue to have a bloat-free software experience on all OnePlus devices across categories and segments.

We always look to address the ever-changing needs of our consumers and our aim for the future is to create an ecosystem that is not only seamless and premium, but also curates an experience that is meaningful. For instance, AOD has been available in the market for some time, however, the OnePlus AODs go beyond just the one function and provide users purposeful interaction with their devices.

We first announced OnePlus Pay, OnePlus’ NFC based digital wallet and mobile payments solution, in September 2019. As with all our features, OnePlus Pay is also being subjected to several rounds of testing to ensure OnePlus’ promise of a fast and smooth experience. This is another feature that is being developed entirely out of India.