OnePlus entered the Android tablet segment with the OnePlus Pad and it offers the best-in-class specifications and features alongwith its large screen size, slim form factor, and fantastic design. The OnePlus Pad comes with all those OxygenOS 13.1 perks for tablets in addition to the Android 13 features and support for the magnetic keyboard and stylus. We have gathered a list of top OnePlus Pad tips, tricks, quick shortcuts, gestures, and useful features for you to make the most out of it. Here they are.
OnePlus Pad Tips, Tricks, Quick Shortcuts, and Useful Features
Well, since it has OxygenOS onboard, most things on the OnePlus Pad are identical to what you see on smartphones. The Android for tablets is slightly different like how the homescreen can be tilted to landscape view, the control center opens with notification shade, Settings is divided into two sections, and so on. The interface is largely customized and optimized for the tablet experience. If you are familiar with the OxygenOS 13 you might see similar software features on the tablet.
1) Make Use Of Split Screen
One of the most convenient features of a tablet is the split screen mode, if you are using a larger screen-sized tablet and doing multiple stuff simultaneously, a split screen mode can be beneficial. Rather than switching apps frequently, why not use in split screen?
There’s a simple gesture that lets you split the screen and use two apps side-by-side which can be very handy if you are multitasking on the Pad. For instance, you are chatting with your friends on WhatsApp, and at the same time, you are watching videos on YouTube.
To use the Split screen feature on the OnePlus Pad, swipe down from the top edge with two fingers on the screen to enter the Split screen mode and choose the app you want to use under split mode. You can adjust the slider to resize the apps.
You can also do it from the recent tasks menu. On the recent tasks screen, tap the split screen icon in the upper-right corner of an app window to enter split screen mode. Another way is to use the Smart Sidebar and drag an app out of the sidebar to open it in split-screen mode. The Smart Sidebar can be accessed by swiping from the top left edge of the screen.
The split screen can be turned On or Off from the Settings menu.
- Go to Settings -> Special features -> Split screen and set the slider as per your needs.
2) Advanced Multi-tasking Using Flexible Windows
You can also use the feature – Flexible windows just below the Split screen for floating windows similar to what you have seen on desktops. This enables you to put more than two apps on the screen.
To turn on this feature, go to the recent tasks menu and tap the three dots in the upper-right corner of an app window. Now tap on the Floating window to enable this feature. This is one of the highly suitable options for users who multitask with more than two apps.
3) Minimize Apps Using Quick Return
Go back to an app instantly on your OnePlus Pad using the Quick Return feature. The apps that you work on can be minimized in the corner of the screen in the form of a Floating window by dragging the bar.
Tap a tile to go back to the app in full screen or in a floating window. You can expand or collapse multiple tiles, drag them to change their position, drag them to the screen edge to hide, pin or unpin a tile, and release the tile to snap it to the screen edge.
This feature is turned on by default, it resides in Settings -> Special features -> Quick Return.
4) Use Three Fingers To Take Screenshots
Well, since it has OxygenOS onboard, most things on the OnePlus Pad are identical to what you see on smartphones. The Android for tablets is slightly different like how the homescreen can be tilted to landscape view, the control center opens with notification shade, Settings is divided into two sections, and so on. The interface is largely customized and optimized for the tablet experience.
Taking screenshots on smartphones is easy, you can easily reach out to the power and volume buttons, however, for tablets, it’s not as easy due to their larger size screens, why not use the gestures? OnePlus Pad also lets you take screenshots using a simple gesture we saw in several OnePlus smartphones.
You can take screenshots using your three fingers using a swipe gesture and it’s the easiest and by far the most convenient way for taking screenshots for tablets. By using the three-finger gesture, you will be able to take screenshots much easier without any hazzle.
To use this feature, simply swipe three fingers on the screen from top to bottom which quickly saves a screenshot and saves it in the gallery. This feature is turned on by default, however, you can disable or re-enable it from the Settings on the tab.
- Go to Settings -> Additional Settings -> Screenshot and check if the 3-finger swipe down slider is On or Off.
5) Take Only A Portion Of A Screenshot
Like the three-fingered screenshots, this trick can also be used to capture half or partial screenshots using a slightly different technique. Now you know the three-finger gesture trick, all you need to do is just hold on to the gesture until you get a resize window option.
There are two more gestures using the same three fingers, one is the partial screenshot and another is the scrolling screenshot. Both take a slightly different approach to these gestures. The harder way is capturing the full screenshot and then cropping it to your liking, but should I say no need to crop, just capture with this trick already in cropped form? What if you just want to capture a portion of the screenshot?
Unlike full screenshots, a partial screenshot or half screenshot gesture captures a portion of the screen and not fullscreen which helps you to skip the cropping process and saves you from the unnecessary full images.
Before starting off, turn on the partial screenshot gesture settings on your OnePlus Pad.
- Go to Settings -> Additional Settings -> Screenshot and check if the 3-finger touch and hold slider is On or Off. If Off, turn it On and try to take partial screenshots.
To take partial screenshots, tap and hold the three fingers on the screen for a second, and then swipe down on the screen. You are provided with a selection on the screen, choose the screen area to whatever you like, and take partial screenshots. Remember, you will have to hold the three fingers on the screen for a second and then swipe it down.
6) Take Scrolling Screenshots
Aside from these two different gestures that you can use to take screenshots, there’s one more three-finger gesture that lets you take scrolling screenshots on the OnePlus Pad.
A scrolling screenshot is a long screenshot that records the scrolling screen to capture a much larger image than what you see on the screen. Scrolling screenshots are useful if you are saving a long chat history, a description, a document, or some information over the internet.
To take scrolling screenshots, use the same gesture that you use to take screenshots, once you see the preview of the screenshot at the bottom, tap on the Scroll. Let it scroll automatically or use your fingers to swipe to the desired area and then tap Done.
7) Lock Individual Apps Using A Password
Securing your OnePlus Pad can be one crucial thing you should do, it can be either passcode or pattern lock, but securing the individual apps adds a layer of security on top. The OnePlus Pad can lock each app using a Privacy password. With the lock, nobody but only you can access the apps, it asks for a privacy password authentication.
To lock individual apps, follow these steps.
- Head to Settings -> Privacy and tap on the Privacy tab. Go to App Lock and turn on the slider, you will be asked to set up a privacy password. Choose the apps you want to lock using your fingerprints by using the slider.
That’s all you have to do, the apps will now be locked and secured using the password you have set. Now try to open a secured app and you will be asked for authentication.
8) View Wi-Fi Speed In Real-Time
The OnePlus Pad comes with several OxygenOS features, one of which is to view the Wi-Fi connection speed in real-time using its built-in feature. You can view the real-time internet speed in the status bar on the top. The real-time internet speed indicator shows you the current speed on the internet that you get on your Pad.
Why do you need a speed check? When you are running slow on Wi-Fi, this gives you an idea if you are on a slow connection or if there is anything in the background that’s hogging your Wi-Fi data. Use this feature to view download/upload speed or how fast is your streaming media in real-time.
How to enable Wi-Fi speed indicator on OnePlus Pad.
- Go to Settings -> Notifications & Status bar -> Status bar and under the Status bar icons section, tap on Real-time network speed to turn on the slider.
Now, check the status bar and notice the real-time speed indicator working while you surf the internet.
9) Stop Apps From Using Wi-Fi Data
You will find more things on the OnePlus Pad when you use it more often, one feature that allows you to control the Wi-Fi access for the apps that you’ve installed on the Pad.
You can stop any app from using your OnePlus Pad’s Wi-Fi network and completely block the internet access for the installed apps. There’s a kill switch for the internet connection on a per-app basis and you can use it to block the internet connectivity for the apps that use unnecessary data in the background.
To control the Wi-Fi access for the apps, here’s what you need to do.
- Go to Settings -> Apps -> Special app access -> Wi-Fi control.
From here, choose the apps that you want to stop or block the Wi-Fi access. Turn off the slider to disable the Wi-Fi for the specific app. Now check the app and see if it has internet access.
10) Make Use Of The Dark Mode
The OnePlus Pad offers a large 11.6-inch screen and it throws enough light in your eyes when in the dark, so it’s better to use a Dark mode to give relief to your eyes during the night and to prevent any eye strains. The Dark mode is among the most useful features in smartphones as well as tablets, the Dark mode lets you view the screen content in dark colors to ease off the eyes in darker environments.
To turn on the dark mode on your OnePlus Pad, go to Settings -> Display & brightness and choose the Dark mode theme option. You can also set a schedule to set the dark mode automatically as per your time or use the Sunset to Sunrise option.
Under the Dark mode settings, change the desired options – Enhanced, Medium, and Gentle to set the intensity of the darkness. You can also adjust the Dark mode with wallpaper, and icons, and reduce contrast in low-light conditions.
11) Smart Stylus Features (OnePlus Stylo)
The OnePlus Stylo, a stylus accessory for the OnePlus Pad offers handy features such as switching between the current tool and eraser, showing the color palette as well as taking screen-off notes when the screen is off or when the Always-On Display is on. You can find various stylus settings in Settings -> Additional Settings -> Stylus.
12) Touchpad Gestures (OnePlus Magnetic Keyboard)
The OnePlus Magnetic keyboard works similarly to the laptop keyboards and it also offers a touchpad that has a number of gestures for navigation and convenience.
You can use different three-finger swipe gestures such as switching between apps by swiping three fingers either left or right, tapping three fingers on the touchpad to go back to the previous page, three-finger swipe up and hold to view recent tasks, three-finger swipe up to go to the Home screen, as well as pinch four fingers on the touchpad to bring up a floating window, and pinch with two fingers to zoom in and zoom out.
These are some of the top OnePlus Pad tips and tricks that we have found. There are still more things you will be able to find such as hide apps from the homescreen, app cloner, screen recording, multi-screen connect, Wi-Fi sharing, change the screen size to large to small, double tap to wake, double tap to lock, customize icons, customize home screen, turn off individual app notifications, set default apps, turn on or off the auto-launch of apps, and many more. Once you spend some time on the device, you will get more of it.
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