Android 11 is in preparation for OnePlus smartphones, and it looks like the company has plans to make some major changes to its software than usual. Now, OnePlus has released details about its Android 11 update that revealed Samsung’s One UI is a clear source of inspiration.
Launched in 2019, Samsung One UI was a complete reminder of the company’s hottest Android skin. The new design language did not solve all of Samsung’s software problems, but it felt more polished, and its choices to improve one-handed use were also highly praised at the time.
Now, OnePlus is taking a crack at a new design language, and, well, it’s a pretty obvious knockout of One UI in some areas. ITHome details what’s new, including an updated Weather app, always-on-display, a new one-handed mode, and more. Some improvements have also been made to the dark mode, and it turns out that there are some new wallpapers as well. Apparently, this update also uses a new ORM memory management system that, hopefully, will help OnePlus’ tendency to kill background apps as the company previously promised.
The people about at TechDroider divided some images that made the comparison as clear as day. As shown in the gallery below, OnePlus clearly uses larger titles and excessive amounts of empty space to push action buttons to the bottom of the display to make single-handed use easier. The change in design is clearly visible in the Settings app as well as the Messaging app. We may not see animations like other UI elements in these photos, but it’s clear that OnePlus is trying to clone some of Samsung’s success.
Remarkably, some of these images also show us some of the features of the always-on display on OnePlus smartphones. There are several different styles to choose from, and apparently users will have the option to place GIFs on their AOD, just like Samsung offers. There is also a “Human Shadows” feature that can convert an image to work better on the always-on display.
Personally, I have mixed feelings here. It’s amazing that OnePlus is pulling the one-handed optimizations of Samsung One UI, especially considering that OnePlus does not make one small phone, but the company’s experience does not feel nearly as polished as clean. That feels strange to say when you compare OnePlus to Samsung as well.
These changes have been technically only reflected so far for the Chinese HydrogenOS release, but it is very likely that similar choices will be made in OxygenOS for Western markets.
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