Best OnePlus 6T Tips & Tricks

Not only is the OnePlus 6T one of the best Android phones you can buy, it’s also one of the most versatile. Android is generally so but thanks to the Oxygen OS software the company designs and uses it’s a great phone to customise to exactly how you like it.

But sometimes it’s tough to know all of the possible tricks to changing the settings, appearance and feel of the OnePlus 6T unless you know where to look.

We’re sure that if you’re reading this you probably know a few already and have or are thinking of buying a OnePlus 6T. Good choice! We think it’s one of the best phones around. 

Check out the video above for a how to of our favourite tips and tricks for the OnePlus 6T, but read on for a list of these and a few more to get the most out of your new phone.

These aren’t all the things you can do to customise your phone, but they are our favourites.

Best OnePlus 6T tips & tricks

Dark Mode

If you want to change the overall appearance of system menus to be dark (and therefore save a bit of battery life as OLED screens use less power to display blacks) then the 6T is one of the few phones to allow this.

Settings > Display > Theme > Dark

Dark keyboard

You may want to pair dark mode with a dark themed keyboard too. The 6T comes with Google’s Gboard as the default, so it’s easy to do.

Settings > System > Languages & input > Virtual keyboard > Gboard > Theme > Pick a black theme

Accent colours

You can pick the accent colours of icons in menus and the notification shade to your taste. You can pick from eleven presets or even pick your own from the full possible colour palette.

System > Display > Accent colour

Ambient display

The 6T doesn’t have an always on display but does have a sort-of version of one in its ambient display. You can turn it on, off and customise it.

Settings > Display Ambient display

Navigation buttons

You have three options when it comes to navigation of Android on the 6T. You can pick from the traditional Android Back, Home, Recents setup, Android Pie’s Back, Home design or OnePlus’ own gesture-based system.

Settings > Navigation bar & gestures

Gaming mode

If you play a lot of games on your 6T and want to customise things like notifications, brightness and call management for less interrupted experience, there’s a granular gaming mode with tons of options.

System > Utilities > Gaming mode

Notch

It may be small but the OnePlus 6T still has a notch. If you want to ‘hide’ it then you can do so by blacking out the status bar, creating the illusion of no notch.

Settings > Notch display > Hide the notch area

Display calibration

Should you want to tweak the appearance of the display’s colours and calibration there are tons of options in the settings, including a fully custom mode.

Settings > Display > Screen calibration

Status bar

The status bar shows icons depending on the state of your phone and the various settings you have on. But you can hide certain icons permanently if you want. This is useful for hiding icons like NFC if it’s a setting you’ll always have on and don’t need to be permanently reminded.

Settings > Display > Status bar > Icon manager

Quick gestures

OnePlus has built a lot of clever quick gestures into the display of the 6T. Our favourites are turning on the flashlight without turning the screen on and using a three-finger swipe to take a screenshot. Some are with the screen off, some on – check them out.

Settings > Button & gestures > Quick gestures

Quick launch

Using the in-screen fingerprint sensor to launch specific actions or apps is a cool touch. Unlock the phone with your thumbprint and keep your thumb on the screen to then swipe to the action you want.

Settings > Utilities > Quick launch

Reading mode

Reading mode grayscales the display completely to an attractive, non-blinding palette that’s idea for use in the Kindle app or other apps like new sites that are text heavy. You pick which apps it’ll automatically kick in for.

Settings > Display > Reading mode

Parallel apps

If you want to be signed into two accounts on some services at the same time it’s possible with Parallel apps. There’s support for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and more and even two WhatsApp or WeChat apps if you are using two SIMs in the dual SIM slot simultaneously.

App locker

If you want to lock an app so it needs you to use your PIN or fingerprint to open it then you can lock it with App locker.

Settings > Utilities > App locker

Fingerprint sensor animation

A minor one, but a fun one. An animation comes up on the display briefly when you use the in-screen fingerprint sensor. There are three to pick from.

Settings > Security & lock screen > Fingerprint > Enter your PIN > Fingerprint animation effect

Customise alert slider

The 6T is one of the few phones apart from iPhones to have an alert slider. It’s got three positions: Silent, Vibration and Ring. If you want to customise exactly the settings of each one, here’s how.

Settings > Buttons & gestures > Alert slider

Double tap to lock

Double tap to wake the screen is on by default, so how about how to set double tap to lock? This works by tapping anywhere on a black part of the home screen.

Long press on home screen > Home settings > Double tap to lock

Full screen apps

In our experience we haven’t had any issues, but if you have an app that won’t display properly on the 6T, you can change it to display in default mode. This is often a problem if the notch is covering part of the app or button within an app.

Settings > Display > App display in full screen

App icon shape

To change the shape of app icons.

Long press on the home screen > Home settings > Icon pack > Pick shape

App icon size

To change the size of app icons.

Long press on the home screen > Home settings > Home screen layout > Icon size

Edit Shelf

OnePlus’ Shelf is a right swipe away from your home screen but you might want to edit it. Change the writing at the top, order of widgets or add widgets by swiping to Shelf and pressing and holding the widget you want to change, or tapping the + icon at the bottom right of the screen.

Turn off Shelf completely

Enough said.

Settings > Home settings > Shelf > Toggle on/off

Swipe down for notifications

If you want to reach the notification shade with one hand it’s useful to turn on this setting which will pull down the shade if you swipe down anywhere on the home screen.

Settings > Home settings > Swipe down > Toggle on/off