Update 1 (08/06/2020 @ 01:27 AM ET): OnePlus has shared some Always-On Display designs on Weibo, confirming that the feature is indeed on its way. Scroll to the bottom for more information. The article as published on July 29, 2020, is preserved below.
Earlier this year, OnePlus finally committed to bring an always-on display feature to OxygenOS. Now, with the stable release of Android 11 coming in September for Pixel phones, OnePlus is teasing that they will introduce an AOD feature in the company's OxygenOS 11 update.
OnePlus founder and CEO Pete Lau teased the feature with a cheeky Tweet, which you can view below.
While Lau doesn’t explicitly say AOD is coming to OxygenOS 11, it’s hard not to make that conclusion considering OnePlus already committed to bringing the feature to its devices. In fact, it has been one of the community’s most-requested features for months now. Back in March, OnePlus officially added the feature to its software roadmap after overcoming initial power consumption tests. “We are working on fine-tuning AOD to make sure it is perfectly optimized,†said Gary C., an OxygenOS operations staff member.
OnePlus said it has entertained the idea of an AOD feature for a while, but it was apprehensive to release anything official due to power consumption issues. The company explained that AOD “could roughly consume about 350-500 mAh of the batter, which means you might get one or two hours deducted from your daily usage.â€
Even still, OnePlus said that people deserve the option if they want it, and considering many popular Android devices already offer an always-on display feature, the company no doubt wanted to bring further feature parity to its devices.
Lau doesn’t provide an exact release date for the always-on display option, but with Android 11 set to drop on September 8, we could see the feature be available shortly after. Last year, OnePlus released an OxygenOS 10 stable update in September, so if history is anything to go by, OxygenOS 11 will begin rolling out in a matter of weeks.
Update: OnePlus confirms its Android 11 update will finally bring the highly-requested Always on Display feature
Pete Lau has shared a post on Weibo that confirms that the Android 11 update will finally bring back the Always-On Display feature to OnePlus smartphones. The attached video shows off a few design iterations before settling on a design. We reckon there might be a few options for users when the feature gets implemented, though there could be some slight design differences between OxygenOS 11 and HydrogenOS 11.
Source: Weibo