OnePlus Hydrogen OS Experience: On the Road from UI to UX

[[139903]]

Hydrogen OS is a customized Android system launched by OnePlus specifically for domestic users. Compared with the overseas version, Oxygen OS, which is close to the original and makes as few changes as possible, it is quite different in both visual design and functionality. It can be said that you can see a more obvious OnePlus imprint in Hydrogen OS, which has established its own brand style. After parting ways with Cyanogen and successfully passing the start-up period, this should be what Liu Zuohu wants to do most.

According to the official introduction at the press conference, "Material Design, localization, and artistry" are the core competitiveness of Hydrogen OS. Regarding this statement, at least on the point of Material Design, it caused a lot of controversy among users after its release. After experiencing it, the author must also admit that the actual MD flavor of Hydrogen OS is indeed not as strong as expected. But I don't mind this. OnePlus said that Hydrogen OS is a reinterpretation of Material Design after incorporating its philosophy, and for me, this is first of all a good-looking system, and then it does not conflict with many applications that are designed strictly in accordance with the MD concept. I personally think it is absolutely acceptable for a work that has just started to do this.

As for the artistry, at least at this stage, it feels to me like a label that exists for publicity. OnePlus spent a lot of time at the press conference to emphasize the artistic qualities of Hydrogen OS, but in my opinion, it is still a bit undercooked to talk about art based on the existing effects (such as Hydrogen Windows, colors, graphics systems, etc.). There is still room for improvement in some cutscenes, key effects, etc. Of course, this is not a criticism. It is understandable for companies to create selling points and topics. What I want to say is that I hope the development team will not be content with the status quo in this regard, and will soon bring more good products that can impress people at once, like the weather application that adjusts the animation angle based on gravity sensing.

At this point, we must talk about the Hydrogen Window function that OnePlus attaches great importance to (and I have waited until now to write this experience article for it). It is not only a very important part of the overall visual effect of Hydrogen OS, but also serves as a user life information center. Regarding the former, in addition to Luo Yonghao's "I don't want to see my wife and children's faces blocked by icons, so I only leave the lock screen for you to change", the way to play with custom wallpapers has added a more compromise option. In the Hydrogen Window on the upper half of the Hydrogen OS homepage (actually the area is slightly less than half), you can determine how the picture is displayed according to your needs. The position of the time and date can be changed. If you want to present the picture without obstruction, you can just remove them. In addition, the main color of the system can also be adjusted according to the color of the wallpaper, which can be said to be a step further on the basis of similar functions of Action Launcher. In the remaining space outside the Hydrogen Window, nine applications/folders can be placed, and there is no Dock bar. There will be more related discussions on this issue later.

As for the information center, the concept is actually somewhat similar to the previous YunOS Cloud Card system. OnePlus' original intention was to bring together life-related information, reminders, etc., but it does not have the ecosystem resources of Alibaba, so it is impossible to achieve a one-to-one linkage effect between different services. However, having said that, if Hydrogen Window can handle all the commonly used services, it is actually enough to satisfy most people. It's just that during the testing period, it can only display a few cards such as air tickets, train tickets, movie tickets, etc. based on the content of text messages. Taxi hailing, restaurant waiting, and even calendar events are not supported yet. There is still a long way to go. But anyway, this direction is good. Cloud Card seems to have been silent after its release. I hope Hydrogen Window can take a different path.

Hydrogen OS screenshots

Since it is mentioned that Hydrogen Window will work based on SMS, let's talk about my opinion on Hydrogen OS's transformation of SMS function. Liu Zuohu's view that "the SMS function now only has the function of checking service information" is very convincing. After experiencing the system, I can indeed feel its determination to change. For example, when deleting SMS in Hydrogen OS, after clicking the delete button, there is no step for you to confirm. I estimate that most people who made this design have inbox cleanliness or suffer from advertisements. The starting point is understandable, but perhaps more options for users to choose whether to confirm will be more acceptable?

In addition, since there are so many spam messages now (especially in China), I personally suggest adding a "one-click unsubscribe (reply TD / N)" button. Hydrogen OS needs to identify SMS to generate cards anyway (the speed needs to be improved), and finding ads to allow users to unsubscribe more quickly should not be that difficult to achieve technically, right?

As mentioned before, Hydrogen OS does not have a Dock bar. This can be said to be a "first" on Android phones, but the problem is that, at least at this stage, the user experience brought by the change is not very good. I have been using it until now, and to be honest, I have not really gotten used to the operation of pressing the Home button to switch back to the home page at every turn (of course, this may be because we have to change phones all the time in our industry, I don’t know if people who only use Hydrogen OS will be better). Although this may seem to be just an extra step, in many cases, it really makes people feel unnecessary.

After all, under normal circumstances, the Dock bar contains the most commonly used things. The probability of needing to use them when not on the home page is not as low as OnePlus said. I personally think that directly cutting off the Dock is a bit too much. But since OnePlus emphasized this change at the press conference, it should not be so easy to change. If this is the case, then the author has an idea, perhaps change the sliding direction of the pages outside the home page from left to right to up and down, so that at least the "distance" between each page and the home page can be shortened to only one sliding gesture. And a light swipe is often more convenient than pressing the Home button.

***By the way, in order to facilitate one-handed operation, the quick settings column of Hydrogen OS is brought up by swiping up from the bottom (you can also open the notification center by double-pressing the Home button). This is a design that takes user habits into consideration, but the problem is that when it comes to the lock screen, it will conflict with the unlock gesture of swiping up from the bottom. OnePlus' current practice is to directly disable the quick settings when locking, but I believe there must be many users who have this need, otherwise the development team should consider changing the unlocking action.

I wonder if everyone knows the difference between UI and UX. The former is User Interface, which mostly refers to the visual and interactive aspects; while the latter User Experience represents the comprehensive experience a product gives people. In layman's terms, it includes many other things besides UI.

Specifically speaking of Hydrogen OS, although the current degree of completion is still lacking, the UI it displays has already taken shape. But in terms of UX, it is not as amazing as it looks, but with OnePlus's attitude towards building products in the past, we have reason to believe that they will do better over time. Compared with the mediocre Oxygen OS, there is no doubt that Hydrogen OS can better reflect OnePlus' personality. The author even dares to make a bold guess here that the former is likely to be "hydrogenated" one day in the future (Water OS?).

As for the performance of system performance, power consumption, and heat generation, it would be unfair to judge it based on the current version. If you are interested, please wait until we get the OnePlus 2 and read the review.