[Rolling now] [EXCLUSIVE] Zen mode different time selection & OnePlus 7 Pro August security patch coming soon

New updates are being added at the bottom of this story…….

During the official unveiling of the OnePlus 7 series, the company also highlighted the software enhancements. A new branch of OxygenOS – 9.5 – was spawned for the new candidates in the product portfolio.

A handful of community requested features, such as a revamped gaming mode as well as a native Screen recorder app finally came to existence in this new version of OxygenOS.

Notice the ‘Zen Mode’ thingy? That was a funny surprise from the Shenzhen based OEM. It is nothing but a special system app that, upon invoking, literally makes your phone a paperweight.

Most of the ‘smart’ features become inaccessible, so that you are ‘forced’ to enjoy the normal life for a while (phew!).

The concept became a surprise hit. OnePlus fans eventually found a way to install the app on older OnePlus phones, despite the assurance from the company to backport it for them.

Both OnePlus 5/5T and 6/6T eventually got the (weird) feature via OTA, and turned out the APK (package name: com.oneplus.brickmode, surprise me!) is exactly the same as the one present in OnePlus 7 series. Users are asking about the removal of the hard-coded 20 minute timer, and it is happening!

Thanks to a tipster, we now know that OnePlus is planning to introduce user selectable timing values – all the way from 20 to 60 minutes (1 hour). As you can see from the screenshot, the new version of the app now has a drop down menu on the main screen to select the timing.

The version number of the app has also been bumped from 1.2.0 to 1.3.0. Our tipster sent us the updated APK, which we uploaded to APK Mirror – it should be available for download on this address (Google Drive mirror). Oh, the update also enables the app icon of Zen Mode.

Last (but not least), the tipster also confirmed that the August security patches had been merged with OxygenOS – for OnePlus 7 Pro to be precise. The T-Mobile variant of OnePlus 7 Pro starts getting July patch since earlier today, while the regular model is still on June 2019 level.

While OEMs always get advanced access to security patches from Google, the current scenario ignites some questions. Will the unlocked OnePlus 7 Pro directly get August security patch up next? Or is an intermediate OTA coming with July patches?

Enough fuel for thoughts, so start speculating! Don’t forget to test the new Zen Mode and share your thoughts by commenting below.

OnePlus set a new record by providing August security patch (OxygenOS 9.5.11) to OnePlus 7 Pro from the night of July 31. Read on to know more.

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