By Kavita Mistry 
In an unexpected turn, Android OSes have started feeling exciting again. For the past couple of years, most Android updates have been iterative; however, this year, all major Android skins, including ColorOS 16, Vivo’s new Origin OS 6, and OnePlus Oxygen OS 16, have significantly improved with a lot of helpful changes.
OnePlus has officially announced Oxygen OS 16 based on Android 16 and will be available from this fall, starting in November. You can check the full eligibility list and update timeline from our OxygenOS 16 update tracker.
I have been using Oxygen OS 16 for a while now, and have found a few hidden features that can be really useful. If you have already updated to Oxygen OS 16 or want to know these changes, here are the 16 best hidden features on OnePlus’ latest Oxygen OS 16.
16 Best Oxygen OS 16 features
Download Online Videos Without Extension Tools
Both ColorOS 16 and Oxygen OS 16 now come with a built-in video downloader option that lets you download videos from across social media apps, including WhatsApp Status downloader and Instagram video downloader.
You can directly go to the downloader, browse the videos, and start downloading the videos using the download icon; however, the download icon only appears when the video starts playing.
Not just that, you can also copy the link and visit the website, and start downloading. It works really well for most of the sites. It is a nice and handy way to simply download videos without copy-pasting text between different tools.
How to download videos using the Videos app on OnePlus phones:
- Open the video app and go to the Downloads tab. If you don’t see this, relaunch the app or update it using the Google Play Store.
- Once you are done, you should be able to see the new Downloads tab. Once there, select the app you want to download videos from. It will redirect you to the external browser, sign in with your account, and start playing the video. A new download icon will appear, and from the, re you can download the videos.
- If you want to download a video from a URL, open the app and enter the URL in the search bar, then start playing the video again, and you will be able to download the video and save it locally on your device.
Connect Your OnePlus Phone to Your PC
If you are like me, who uses an Android phone with a Mac, then Oxygen OS 16 brings big changes to how you share content between devices. Finally, without depending on external tools to share files and clipboard content, you can directly connect your OnePlus phone to Windows or Mac and start sharing files and syncing clipboard content between the devices.
That means you also don’t need to go through multiple steps to copy-paste text between devices using external tools. This is very useful, especially bringing support for the Apple ecosystem.
How to share files between the OnePlus and the PC:
- Install the O+ Connect app on your Mac or Windows. In this case, I am using a Mac.
- Once downloaded, follow the on-screen instructions and set up your device.
- Now, click on the Connect or scan the QR code from the phone you want to connect.
- Once done, click on Allow on your Mac, and that’s it, your device will be successfully connected to the app. You can simply browse files, transfer files between devices, and the clipboard content automatically syncs between the devices. You can connect multiple devices.
- To share files, select the file you want to share and click on the Share icon. Now, from the Share menu, select iPhone or PC, and you will see the MacBook option in the menu. Tap on it, and that’s it; the files will be automatically shared to your PC.
Add Quick Actions to the App
Remember Android quick actions that appear when you long-press on the app. In Oxygen OS 16, OnePlus makes it easy to access those actions. You can resize the app and add quick actions related to the app.
For instance, you can resize the WhatsApp app and add two of your favorite or most frequently visited chats. Now, you can simply visit the specific chats without needing to open WhatsApp first. Quick actions support for the majority of apps; however, at the time of writing this post, a few apps still don’t support it.
How to resize app icons and add quick actions:
- To resize the app, long-press on the app and drag from the corner. If the app supports it, you will see a plus icon; tap on it and add Quick Actions.
Hide Sensitive Notifications When Others Are Looking at Your Screen
You can hide sensitive notifications when someone else is looking at your smartphone. This is very useful, especially if you are in public and don’t want others to see your sensitive information like photos, OTPs, or personal details.
However, it uses your front camera to know if someone else is looking at your smartphone. The best part is instead of scanning your face all the time, it only activates when you receive a notification, to be more precise, once you receive the notification your phone uses your front camera to view if someone else is looking at your phone and once it is confirmed it displays the notification if no one is looking and hides it if anyone else is looking at your phone.
How to hide Sensitive Notifications when others are looking at your Phone:
- Go to Settings on your OnePlus Phone.
- Scroll down and tap on Notifications and Quick Settings.
- Scroll down and tap on More Settings.
- Now tap on Smart Notifications Hiding and enable the toggle. If it’s your first time, you need to enroll your Face ID. Once done, notifications will be automatically hidden.
Add Quick Actions to the Lock Screen
Another handy feature in Oxygen OS 16 is the ability to edit and add quick actions to the lock screen. For instance, instead of the camera or even the Gemini icon, you can replace it with a torch or any quick action based on your preference. So you don’t need to unlock your smartphone every time. To do this:
How to edit and add Quick Actions on the lock screen:
- Go to Settings and then Home, and Lock Screen settings.
- Scroll down and tap on Lock Screen settings.
- From here, tap on Lock Screen Shortcuts.
- And from here, tap on quick icons in the bottom left or right corner and select your desired shortcut. Currently, it only supports limited icons.
Change Wallpaper Automatically
If you have a habit of changing wallpaper or want your phone to feel fresh, you can use the new carousel wallpaper. Now you can add up to 50 wallpapers, even your custom wallpaper collections, which you can also download from our wallpaper drops, and change them automatically.
You can also set recommended wallpaper; however, I wouldn’t recommend it since it currently only supports nature and lifestyle, and most wallpapers have lower resolution and don’t look good in most cases.
How to change wallpaper automatically:
- Go to Settings and Home Screen, and Lock settings.
- From here, tap on the Wallpaper option.
- Now tap on Carousel Wallpapers and select the mode.
- And select Only show customized wallpapers.
- Now, to add wallpapers, click on the Add button and add wallpapers.
Customize Control Center
Another major change in Oxygen OS 16 is that the control center is now split into two panels, one for notifications and the other for quick actions. Now, similar to quick access, you can change the quick action tiles.
Currently, you can add/resize up to 6 tiles, which you can use to add most frequently used actions. For instance, my quick action setup includes media players, brightness and volume toggles, a QR code scanner, and a screen recorder. You can add your own quick tiles based on your preference. To edit:
How to customize Control Center:
- Swipe down and go to Control Center.
- Click on the Edit icon at the top.
- Now select the tile and resize it.
- To add a new tile, click on the plus icon in the top left corner and add new quick settings.
Enable Different Modes
Oxygen OS 16 now offers different modes with just a toggle. For instance, it now comes with a new outdoor mode that enhances your internet connection, location accuracy, sound, and increases screen time to 5 minutes or more.
Not just that, it also comes with kid mode, bedtime mode, high-performance mode, and much more. However, the majority of these modes are not customizable, so there is no way to add your own parameters, and you need to rely on the default option your phone offers; however, it is useful and quick to turn on all these options with a single click. Most of these modes can be accessed from the quick settings; however, hidden by default. Here is how to enable.
How to access different modes:
- Open the control panel and find the mode you are looking for.
- To find more hidden modes, click on the Edit icon. Tap on the plus icon in the top left corner of the screen and add new modes to the control panel to quickly access them.
- You can also go to Settings, then Accessibility and Convenience settings, and scroll down to access all modes.
Lock White Balance When Recording Videos
If you record video often, you might have faced white balance issues while recording videos. Now in Oxygen OS 16, OnePlus has added handy lock white balance lock settings in the camera to maintain consistent colors throughout the video without white balance shifts.
How to lock white balance when recording videos:
- Open the Camera app.
- Click on the horizontal menu in the top right corner and select Settings.
- From here, scroll down and under the Video section, select and turn on the option that says Lock White Balance.
Apply New Dark Icons
Dark icons are my new personal favourite. I loved them on iOS, and now with Oxygen OS 16, OnePlus brings them to Android, and they look really good on AMOLED screens. In addition to dark, now you can also apply third-party app icons from different themes and launchers by default, change icon shape, and much more. To change:
How to apply new dark mode icons on your OnePlus smartphone:
- Go to Home Screen and long-press until Home Screen options appear.
- From the options, select Wallpaper and Style.
- From here, swipe left and tap on the Icons and select the option that says Auto Dark Icons. From here, you can also adjust the size of the icon, select different icon packs, and more.
Automatically Enter Power Saving at a Specific Custom Level
In general, every phone enters power saving mode when it reaches 20 percent, but in Oxygen OS 16, you can change this and set your own custom level. This can be super handy, especially if you want to preserve more battery.
You can set this level up to a max of 45 percent, depending on your need, or leave it turned off by default, which switches to power saving settings when it reaches 20 percent automatically.
How to automatically enter power saving mode at a specific level:
- Go to Settings on your OnePlus smartphone, scroll down, and tap on Battery settings.
- From here, scroll down and select Power Saving settings.
- From here, enable the option that says Automatically enter power saving mode. And once you enable it in your toggle apps, from here you can select the battery level at which you want your device to enter the power saving mode, you can set it up to a maximum of 45%.
Translate Calls In Realtime
While Oxygen OS 16 also includes other AI features like AI writing tools and much more, one AI feature that can be very useful is the AI call translation, which translates the other person’s and your voice to the other person in real time.
It works really well when the voice is clear; however, it takes time to translate, which overall brings some latency in the conversations. You can just translate the text or even ask AI to read aloud when translating the text.
How to enable AI call translation:
- Open the Phone app on your phone.
- Tap on the menu in the top right corner and select Settings.
- From here, tap on the option that says AI Call Assistant.
- And tap on the option that says Translate Call.
- From here, enable the Translate Call option and select translation modes, voice package, and more.
- To translate calls in real time during the call, tap on the AI assistance and from here select Translate Call, and your call will be automatically translated in real time as you speak. From there, you can select the voice of the speaker and your own voice to translate it to the other person.
Video editing app
Oxygen OS 16 adds full-fledged photo/video editing capabilities in the Photos app, including the ability to add text, animations, trim clips, add music and much more. At first glance, it looks very similar to the CapCut video editing app for Android, with a similar interface and features.
So if you do video editing and rely on third-party apps, you can try the built-in video editor, which has the potential to replace third-party video editing apps.
How to access a full-fledged video editing app from the Photos app:
- Open the Photos app on your phone and tap on any video.
- Click on the Edit icon, and now you will be redirected to the full video editing features. From here, you can edit the video from all the different options
Generate AI Captions for Any Video
When VLC announced local AI captions, I was really excited; however, it is not widely available yet, but Android 16 now comes with AI captions that are automatically generated based on the screen content.
#VLC can now create subtitles for videos locally using #AI! Great addition to this nifty software! #CES2025 pic.twitter.com/XM8dxAXT8x
— TechPP (@techpp) January 10, 2025
Not just that, you can also translate them into other languages. For instance, in the best OnePlus Oxygen OS 6 features below, I have shown how you can use it to generate captions for the Chinese language; likewise, you can use it for any supported languages and get real-time AI captions.
How to generate AI captions for any video playing on your device:
- Open the Translate app on your OnePlus phone.
- Scroll down and tap on Live Captions.
- And from here, you can select the languages you want to generate live captions. From there, you can also translate the voice in real time as the video plays.
Lock Screen Customization
If you love customization OnePlus lock screen is yours, from Flux themes to clock and adding text, you can add much more. In addition to this, OnePlus also adds new wallpapers, now supports live photos as wallpapers, and much more.
How to customize the lock screen on your OnePlus phone:
- Go to Settings and tap on Home Screen & Lock Screen settings.
- From there, you can customize both your Home Screen & Lock Screen settings, to specifically customize scroll down and tap on Lock Screen. From here, you can select the wallpaper, icons, add widgets, and much more.
Finally, Change These Few Settings for a Better Experience
Oxygen OS 16 brings plenty of small changes to OnePlus smartphones, not just these settings; there are a number of other settings you can change for a better experience. I have included all of them in a separate post.
Link: Got a OnePlus Phone? Change These 20+ Settings for a Better Experience
Final Thoughts: Which hidden feature will you try first?
So those are the 16 best Oxygen OS 16 hidden features you should use. From downloading social media videos and sharing content between devices, to hiding sensitive notifications when others are looking at your screen. I have also offered a step-by-step tutorial on how to enable it. You can follow the same steps to reset these settings. I hope you find this guide helpful. Let me know which features you like the most.