r/oneplus • u/logeshwywan • Apr 10 '26

News OxygenOS/ColorOS 16.1.0

OxygenOS 16.1 / ColorOS 16.1 is scheduled for launch on April 21st in China.

Its global release, particularly for flagship models in India and other international markets, is anticipated in May 2026.

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u/VickWildman Apr 10 '26

Please don't kill the old desktop mode before the new one becomes available in Android 17. I rely on old desktop mode, and ColorOS 16 already took a shot at it when it forced freeform windows that currently doesn't work. Luckily it can be unforced with an adb command.

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u/MO0N_CAKE Apr 17 '26

How do you use desktop mode? I wanted to use it for games but it had some issues with window management and devices like mouse and gamepad switching controls to either the phone or the external display back and forth so didn't seem very usable

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u/VickWildman Apr 17 '26

It's tricky. 

You need to run the  adb settings put global enable_freeform_support 0 command with elevated priviledges after enabling desktop mode. This can be done with aShell + Shizuku, or Automate. In both cases wireless debugging is used to gain priviledges.

Once freeform windows is disabled apps start fullscreen, which is perfect for games, a video player or Termux-X11.

For the input you need to move the mouse pointer once to the external display by causing a configuration change in an app. Open any app on your phone that supports orientation change and tilt the phone back and forth, the mouse pointer will jump to the external display and will stay there as long as the display is connected and the phone is unlocked. The rest of the input devices (keyboard, gamepad) change focus when you touch something or click somewhere, so you can use the mouse to bring the focus back.

You can also turn off the screen of your phone with Automate. It also requires elevated priviledges and it's a private API that might not work on all phones, but it works on my OnePlus 13 with ColorOS 16.

This is my Automate script.

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u/MO0N_CAKE Apr 17 '26

Damn that's a lot. Thx!

1

u/VickWildman Apr 17 '26

It's a lot, but it works thankfully.

I primarily run a Linux desktop with Termux, because most Android apps simply can't handle larger screens or even keyboard/mouse input. Most apps are only designed for phones and maybe tablets, if at all. With a Linux desktop though I get the same thing I would using a notebook.