The OnePlus 6T has launched, and we've covered its overall experience in our full written review. In terms of software though, that only scratches the surface. 

Beneath the stock Android-looking exterior, OnePlus has added plenty of depth and enough to keep you intrigued over the coming weeks. Whether it be customising the look of the Screen Unlock animation, or choosing your own custom colour accent, or even altering the navigation mode, there's a lot to get to grips with. 

You'll find the key highlights in the video, but read on for a much more in-depth, extensive look at this phones tricks and features. It's worth noting, that since they both share very similar software, the OnePlus 6 will have most of these features in place too. If not now, in a future update. So sit tight, here are your OnePlus 6T and OnePlus 6 tips. 

 

OnePlus 6T/6 home screen tips

Choose a motion wallpaper - OnePlus has three animated wallpapers in its collection of preinstalled options in the Android Pie-flavoured software. Long press on the home screen, then choose "wallpaper" and scroll across until you see the three wallpapers with the small mountain icon surrounded by a ring of dots. Choose one of those, and now every time you unlock your phone the wallpaper will show a smooth, fluid animation before going still. 

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Change the Screen Unlock animation - When you unlock the OnePlus 6T using the in-display fingerprint sensor, a little animation appears around your finger or thumb until the phone is unlocked. This is preset to one called Cosmos, but you can change it. Head to Settings > Security & lock screen > Fingerprint, then type in your PIN and select "Fingerprint animation effect". Now choose from one of three different animations. 

Hide the notch: OnePlus 6 and 6T - as we're sure you already know - have a notch built into the top of their screens. If you don't like it and want to pretend it isn't there, you can make use of Oxygen OS' ability to camouflage it. Head to Settings > Display > Notch Display and then select "Hide the notch area". 

Double tap to lock the phone: Long-press on the home screen wallpaper and hit "Home settings", now activate "Double tap to lock". Now whenever you double tap an empty area of the home screen, you OnePlus 6T will lock. 

Create parallel apps: If you have both work and personal accounts for various social and messenger apps, it can be really frustrating to keep switching between them. With parallel apps you can clone Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp, Twitter and Instagram among others and have an app for each account. 

Go to Settings > Utilities > Parallel apps and choose which of the supported apps you want to duplicate. The parallel version will then be added to your app drawer, and indicated by a small orange badge. 

Change which apps show full screen: With the longer ratio display on both the 6 and 6T, some apps might not display correctly. To change that, head to Settings > Display > App display in full screen and choose which apps you want in Fullscreen mode or Default mode. 

Change number of app columns: Tap and hold on the home screen wallpaper and hit "Home settings" and then "Home screen layout". Now you can choose whether you want three, four or five columns of apps on the home screen. 

Change app icon size: In the same home screen layout menu you can choose between three different app icons sizes.  

Change app icon shape: Press and hold the home screen wallpaper and tap "Home settings" then "Icon pack". This lets you choose between three default options: OnePlus, Round and Square. You can also download custom app icon packs from the Play Store by tapping the "More" option. 

Customise individual icons: Press and hold any app icon and you'll see a new pop-up menu appear. Tap "edit" and you'll be able to change the app label/name as well as choose to have a different icon style for that single app. 

Switch off notification dots: In the same home screen settings menu, tap "Notification dots" and when you switch the toggle off, you'll no longer have dots appear on your app icons when there's a new notification waiting. 

Open app shortcuts: Some apps have a list of shortcuts that pop up on the home screen. Press and hold an app icon, and you'll get those pop-up options above the icon. These only appear on compatible apps. Some won't respond this way. 

Pin app shortcuts to home screen: When you have the app shortcuts showing, press and hold one that you want to pin to your screen, and drag it where you want it. Now you'll be able to perform that action just by tapping the shortcut that's permanently on your home screen.  

Add widgets to Shelf: Shelf is a custom screen that sits to the left of your main home screen. By default, it has a toolbox with function shortcuts, the weather, recent contacts and recent apps displayed, but you can add practically any other widget you want to it by tapping the floating action button in the bottom right corner, then choosing your desired widget.

Customise Shelf widgets: In the shelf, you can press and hold the top widget to change the text displayed, or choose to disable the weather information. Press and hold any of the other widgets, then drag them to reorganize, or press the red "X" to delete that particular card.

Disable Shelf: For whatever reason, you might just decide you don’t want the Shelf. To disable it, head to your regular home screen, then tap and hold the wallpaper. Choose "Home settings" then switch the "Shelf" toggle to the off position.

Swipe down for notifications: You can access your drop down notifications by swiping downwards anywhere on the home screen. This gesture is enabled by default. To disable, press and hold the home screen wallpaper, choose "Home Settings" and toggle the "Swipe Down" off. 

Change screen resolution: Head to Settings > Display > Display size, then move the slider along the bottom of the screen until the icons and text are the size that you want them to be. 

Change battery icon: With OxygenOS you can choose what battery information you want to see in the status bar. Go to Settings > Display > Status bar, then tap "Battery style" and choose which style battery icon you would like.

Show battery percentage: In the same menu as the previous tip, toggle the "show battery percentage" option on. 

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OnePlus 6T/6 buttons tips

Quick Launch - Using Quick Launch you can use your in-display fingerprint sensor to launch apps. Go to Settings > Utilities > Quick launch and toggle it on. Now tap on "Shortcuts settings" and you can add a number of app function shortcuts or just shortcuts to open the app. As examples, you could use it with Calendar to quickly add a new event, with calendar to take a selfie, or to create a new alarm or timer in the clock app, among many others. You can add up to six different app or function shortcuts. 

To actually use it, keep your thumb over the fingerprint sensor after the phone has unlocked. After about half a second, the Quick Launch UI will pop up and you can swipe across to the function/app you want to dive straight into. 

Use the power button to launch an assistant - If you want to, you can set the power button to launch a popular assistant, like Alexa or Google Assistant, when it's pressed for half a second. Go to Settings > Buttons & gestures and then toggle the "Quick activate the assistant app" switch on. 

Activate Android Pie-like home button gestures - With Android Pie, OnePlus has adopted a similar gesture-based navigation system to the Pixel phones. Using a single home button and back key. If it isn't already activated, go to Settings > Buttons & gestures > Navigation & gestures, and then choose the "Back, home" option. 

Using "Back, home" gestures - To use these gestures, a simple tap on the home button takes you home. Dragging it upwards launches the recent apps view for viewing your background apps. Dragging it right and left quickly switches you between the app you're in and another that's in your recents memory. 

Activate gestures-only navigation - In the same "Navigation & gestures" menu, you'll see an option called "Navigation gestures". If you switch this mode on, there are no virtual buttons on screen at all. You control your phone with a series of swipes. 

Using gestures-only navigation: Once activated you swipe up from the bottom centre edge of the screen to go home, swipe up from the bottom right edge to go back within an app, or swipe up from the bottom centre and hold your thumb/finger in the centre of the screen until the multitasking/recent apps view appears. 

Bring back the traditional Android navigation buttons - Again, in the same menu, choose the "Back, home, recents" option and you'll bring back the traditional three-button Android navigation system. 

Custom actions: In Oxygen OS you can assign secondary functions any of the onscreen buttons, whether you're using the Pixel-like gesture system or the traditional three-button method. Each button can have two secondary functions, launched by either a long-press or quick double-tap.

There are seven options in total, which include opening recent apps, launching search assistant, turning off the screen, opening the camera, voice search, opening the last used app, opening Shelf, opening and closing notification centre or opening and closing split screen. You’ll find the options in the same settings menu under the "Navigation bar customisation" option.

Swap recent/back order: By default - when using the traditional navigation mode - the left button is the back button, and the right button is the recent apps button. If you’re more accustomed to having them the other way around, you can switch those. Just toggle the “Swap buttons” option in the "Navigation bar customisation" menu.

Alert slider: The one other button on the OnePlus 6T is the three-position alert slider on the left edge. Sliding down is regular, show me all the notifications mode. In the middle is priority mode which restricts most apps from sending you notifications. The top position is total silence, which practically silences everything.

You can customise the Do Not Disturb option by heading to Settings > Buttons & gestures > Alert slider. Here you can allow alerts from certain contacts to get through.

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OnePlus 6T/6 display tips

Create a custom accent colour: For years, OnePlus has let you choose which colour to use as your main accent colour within the interface. Until Android Pie, however, you could only choose from a bunch of presets. Now you can make your own. 

Head to Settings > Display > Accent colour, and now choose the colour palette on the bottom right (the one with the paint palette icon on it). Now you'll be able to use the slider and gradient pad to choose the exact colour and shade you want. 

Enable Reading Mode: Swipe down the quick settings shade and you should see tile to enable Reading Mode. This turns the screen greyscale, slightly increases contrast and kills the blue light to mimic an e-reader type experience. So reading your Kindle app actually feels like reading a Kindle, sort of. 

Launch Reading Mode automatically: If you don't want to manually activate Reading Mode every time, you can choose to have specific apps launch it automatically. Go to Settings > Display > Reading Mode then add the apps you want to have in this mode every time you open them. 

Adjust colour temperature: How good the colours on screen look to an individual can often be a point of debate. A perfect balance to some is too cool (blue) or too warm (yellow) for others. Thankfully, OnePlus includes the option to manually adjust the colour temperature. Head to Settings > Display > Screen Calibration and you’ll find a colour balance slider if you select the "Custom color" option. Sliding right makes the screen warmer, sliding left makes it cooler.

Choose sRGB or DCI-P3:  In the same settings menu as the colour temperature customisation you'll find the option to choose from two additional colour profiles. These are sRGB and DCI-P3, both offering different colour accuracy for people who prefer those. 

Lift to wake: With the OnePlus 6 and 6T you can have the screen wake up just by lifting the phone. To activate this feature, go to Settings > Display > Ambient display then hit the "Pick up your phone to show" toggle.

Tap to wake: In the same menu as lift to wake, tap the "Tap the screen to show" option, and now when you touch your screen it'll light up the Ambient display clock/notifications. 

Wake when you get notifications: Again, in the same menu there's a toggle for "New Notifications". When activated, your screen will light up whenever you get a message or alert. 

Ambient display: You can also set your OnePlus to wake up whenever you receive a notification. Activating it is very simple. Just switch on the toggle in that same settings menu. Rather than have a fully active screen, ambient display mode is a black screen with white text/notifications.

Customise Ambient display: Similar to Samsung's Always On screen, you can change how the clock and notifications appear on your Ambient display. In the same settings menu (Display > Ambient display) choose "Clock style" and then you have four choices. Sadly, you can't change the red accent to a different colour, but you can choose between three digital clocks, and one analogue one. 

Night mode: As with most phones with the feature, night mode strips the blue tint from the screen, making it warmer, more yellow and easier on your eyes at night time. Just like the colour balance option, there’s a slider to adjust how deep you want the yellow tint to be.

Drop down the settings panel from the top and tap the "Night Mode" option. To customise it or schedule it, long press that same quick settings icon or go to Settings > Display > Night Mode.

Change font size: Halfway down the list of main display settings is the option to change the font size. Here you can choose between small, default, large and largest.

OnePlus 6T/6 security tips

Add or remove fingerprint data: Go to Settings > Security & lock screen, then choose "Fingerprint". Now "Add fingerprint" and go through the process of capturing your finger or thumb's data using the built-in fingerprint sensor that lives under the display panel. To remove a fingerprint, just tap the little bin/trashcan icon next to the fingerprint.  

Screen pinning: If you want to lock a particular app to the screen of your phone, you can do so by heading to Settings > Security & lock screen, then choosing the screen-pinning option. Switch on the toggle. If you've activated the navigation gestures, this option isn't available. 

To then lock any app to your screen, open the app then go to the recent apps screen using your preferred navigation method. Now tap the three dots alongside the name of the app, above its thumbnail card. Choose "pin" and it'll be locked to that app. To unpin, tap and hold the home and back buttons together. 

Lock apps: You can keep app data private by locking it behind a fingerprint unlock. Im the Utilities settings menu, choose "App Locker" then choose which apps you want to add. Now when you open these apps you'll be asked for your pattern, PIN or to unlock using your fingerprint. 

Hide notifications from locked apps: At the top of the App Locker menu you'll see a toggle to turn off notifications. Switch it on, and now no information from those apps will ever be shown on your lock screen. 

Add face data to Face Unlock: - If you didn't do it in your set up process, you can add your face data to the Face Unlock feature by heading into the Security & Lock Screen settings. Tap "add face data" and follow the instructions, pointing the front-facing camera at yourself. 

Remove face data: This is the same method as above. If you have face data saved, you'll see a "Remove face data" option. Tap it to remove your face data from memory. 

Swipe to unlock with face data: In the Face Unlock settings, tap the toggle next to "Auto unlock once the screen is on" to turn it off. Now when you want to use your face data to unlock the phone, it doesn't just unlock without you looking at it, just because you're in view of the camera. You have to swipe upwards to get into the phone. 

Assistive lighting for Face Unlock: The toggle on the next option activates a feature that will light up your phone's display when you're in a low light situation, so you can still unlock your phone. 

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OnePlus 6T camera tips 

Double tap power button to launch: By default, the OnePlus 6 camera can be launched by quickly double-tapping the power button on the right edge. If yours doesn’t have the feature switched on, or you want to switch it off, head to Settings > Buttons & gestures and then hit the toggle next to “Quickly turn on camera”.

Access camera settings: Unlike previous versions of software, the camera settings aren't constantly accessible from the main camera viewfinder. To open it, slide up the camera modes panel. Now tap the settings cog appears in the corner. 

Add manual HDR control: By default, HDR is on automatic mode, with the camera deciding for itself based on lighting/contrast conditions whether it should use it or not. If you'd like to control when it comes on for yourself, open the camera settings and toggle the "Manual HDR control" option on. Now when you open camera, there's an HDR option in the toolbar at the top of the screen.  

Enable auto Night Scene mode: Like some other modern Android phones, the OnePlus 6T can shoot bright night mode shots handheld. To use it, you need to select "Night" from the camera shooting modes. 

However, if you want the camera to decide for itself you can toggle the "Auto Night Scene Detection" option on, and it'll decide for itself, in regular Photo mode. 

Quick capture: You can choose to have the camera take a photo when you double click the power button. Open the camera app, then open the settings using the method above. Here you'll find a toggle that enables quick capture. 

"Shot on OnePlus" watermark: In the same settings menu tap "Shot on OnePlus Watermark". Here you can enable a feature that automatically applies the watermark, which you can also customise to include your name. The end result is a photo which has a "Shot on OnePlus by [Your name/handle]" in the bottom corner. 

Pro mode: Getting to Pro Mode is much easier than before. Open the camera and swipe up from the bottom of the screen to reveal the shooting options. Choose Pro Mode, now you can manually adjust a number of settings. 

Adjusting each of these settings is pretty easy. Once the manual mode has been selected, you just need to press on whichever setting you’d like to change, then you get a semicircle control on-screen. Adjust the ISO, shutter speed, or focus by rotating this onscreen “wheel” clockwise or anticlockwise.

Remove histogram: By default, the Pro mode has a histogram on screen. If you don't want it there because it's blocking your video, you go back into the camera settings and switch the Histogram toggle off. You can do the same for the horizontal reference line.

Shoot straight photos: When you launch Pro mode, you'll see a line in the middle of the screen, it turns green when your phone is level. To switch this off, go into the camera settings and turn off the "Horizontal reference line" toggle. 

Save custom preset: Still in Pro mode, you can save a specific preset by tapping the "C" in the toolbar, then tap either C1 or C2 and then adjust your settings and tap the save icon. It allows two presets in total. 

Portrait mode: To switch to the depth effect mode, swipe from right to left in the regular camera view. This launches Portrait mode and uses both cameras to create a bokeh/background blur effect behind your subject. 

Save regular photo in Portrait mode: If you want a copy of your Portrait mode photo without the depth effect added, head back into the camera settings and scroll down to the Portrait section. Toggle "save normal photo", and each time you take a depth effect shot, it'll save you a normal version as well. 

Portrait selfie: Simple - in Portrait mode flip the camera to the front camera, and you'll have a selfie with blurry background goodness. 

Add grid lines: Back in the camera settings, select "Grid" and then chose between a 3x3, 4x4 or Golden Ratio grid.  

Change image ratio: In the main camera view, in the toolbar, you'll see a "4:3" icon. Tap this and you can change the shooting ratio to either a 1:1 square or 16:9 widescreen shot. 

Save RAW photos: Launch Pro mode, then tap the little "RAW" icon in the main toolbar. 

View photos by location: Open up the default gallery app and tap the "Places" tab. Now you have a map with little photos dotted around. To view more localised collections, just pinch to zoom in. 

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OnePlus 6T other tips

Enable Wi-Fi calling: With more official carrier support than ever, OnePlus phones can now be used for making calls and texts over Wi-Fi, providing your carrier supports it and it's an option on your plan. Go to Settings > Wi-Fi & Internet > SIM & network and then tap on SIM 1 or SIM 2 (which ever you want to use the feature with). On the next screen, you'll see a toggle for Wi-Fi calling. Switch it on.  

Switch on Gaming Mode If you get annoyed by people bugging you on WhatsApp while you're trying to beat your best lap times in Real Racing 3, you'll be glad to know there's now a way to block notifications while you game. 

Drop down the notifications/settings shade, and swipe across, then tap on the Gaming Mode option. 

Customise and automate Gaming Do Not Disturb: To program this feature to come on automatically for specific games, long press the Gaming Do Not Disturb quick settings tile that you just tapped. In the next settings screen, you can add specific apps to trigger the feature, as well as toggle the option to have calls route directly through the loudspeaker. The other way to find it is heading to Settings > Utilities > Gaming Mode. 

Get simple text alerts when gaming: When Gaming Mode is switched on, you don't get any notifications by default. But you can change that. In the Gaming Mode settings, choose "How to show notifications" and then choose "text only". Choosing "Heads-up" enables the regular Android-style notifications that can be quite distracting. 

Dual SIM options: Just like the previous OnePlus phones there’s a dual SIM tray which means you can have two SIM cards in the phone at once. If you have a work and personal line, or have a SIM for two different carriers, it can be an invaluable feature, especially if you know one network in your area is better for data speeds than another.

Heading into Settings > Wi-Fi & Internet > SIM & network and you can choose which SIM is the preferred option for mobile data, calls or text messages. So if one SIM has a higher data allowance, you could set that as your main data SIM.

Reorder quick tiles: In Android N, Google introduced the ability to move around quick settings tiles in the dropdown settings panel, but OnePlus has had that feature in Oxygen OS for a little while now. Drop down the panel as usual, then tap the little pencil beneath the settings panel. Then you can reorder the tiles on the screen to suit your preferences.

OnePlus 6T quick gestures: Like many modern Android phones, you can enable a number of gestures for launching apps or functions. Go to Settings > Buttons & gestures > Quick gestures then you then activate the ability to flip the phone over on its face to mute a call, swipe with three fingers to take a screenshot, double tap to wake the phone or draw II  on the lock screen with two fingers to play or pause music. 

As well as that you can choose apps to launch by drawing an O, V, S, M or W on the lock screen. 

Take a long screenshot: When you're on a long page, you can capture all of it by taking a long screenshot. Press the volume down and power button together as usual, then you'll see a row of four actions on the bottom of the screen. There's a rectangle icon, press it, and it'll start taking a long screenshot of the page you're on. 

Markup screenshots: Once you've taken a screenshot, choose the pencil from the row of four actions. This takes you to an editing screen where you can adjust image properties, as well as being able to edit the image and draw/write on it. 

Easter egg: Last but not least, head to the preinstalled calculator and type in "1+=". See what happens.

Let us know what tips you find as you dive into your own brand new OnePlus 6T. Sound off in the comments, or catch us on social media.