OxygenOS 13 (F.16) comes to the stable track for 9 & 9 Pro

Full ZIP links are available, so you can update ASAP. Rollback instructions are towards the end.
Adhiraj S. Chauhan

EDIT

The 9 & 9 Pro were announced on 23rd March 2021, launching with OxygenOS 11 out-of-the-box. It received OxygenOS 12 stable on 6th December that same year. They were the second set of devices to get OxygenOS 13 Open Beta (right after 10 Pro got it), and so they're also the second to receive OOS13 on the stable track (10 Pro got it on 21st September 2022). The first OOS13 stable build carries the F.16 version number. Complete timeline for 9 & 9 Pro OxygenOS 13 builds:

With every new device receiving a major Android update, we always advise our users to be patient and not jump into it without thinking. Every "first build" — even stable — is usually quite buggy and is almost always met with general disappointment. For example, 9-series got the first stable OOS12 build on 6th December 2021, which was pulled shortly after rollout. All OOS12 devices have received many bugfix releases, but users are still complaining about bugs; few of them are major ones. For example, my 8T is on the latest release for it (C.36), but none of these issues are still fixed (other devices also have some of these bugs):

  • Android Auto shows a "searching for GPS" warning; makes it very difficult to navigate unfamiliar roads (e.g. on a trip)
  • Gmail notifications don't always get through, despite there being more than enough free space on the device
  • Double tapping on the lockscreen doesn't always turn screen off
  • USB choice dialog pops up every single time, even though I've already set a default
  • Going to the home/recents screen from an app that supports Material You's dynamic colour lags a lot, regardless of using gestures or buttons

We don't know if OOS13 has these bugs, but time will tell. Anyway, if you wish to update to F.16, you can do so via the app itself, since full ZIPs are available for all regions. Rollback instructions are at the end of this article.

OnePlus recently posted an OOS13 FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) to prepare users, you can go through it if you haven't already: https://community.oneplus.com/thread?id=1131425685828009991. There's an AMA (Ask Me Anything) as well: https://community.oneplus.com/thread?id=1156848409773604866.

Changelog for OOS13 F.16 (first stable)

  • Aquamorphic Design
    • Adds Aquamorphic Design theme colors for enhanced visual comfort
    • Applies the Aquamorphic Design philosophy to animations to make them natural and vivid
    • Adds Shadow-Reflective Clock, with shadow simulating the orientation of the sun and moon
    • Adds a Home screen world clock widget to show the time in different time zones
    • Upgrades to Quantum Animation Engine 4.0, with a new behavior recognition feature, which recognizes complex gestures and provides optimized interactions
    • Optimizes UI layers for clearer and neater visual experience
    • Applies real-world physical motions to animations to make them look more natural and intuitive
    • Optimizes the widget design to make information easier and quicker to find
    • Optimizes fonts for better readability
    • Optimizes system icons by using the latest color scheme to make the icons easier to recognize
    • Enriches and optimizes illustrations for features by incorporating multicultural and inclusive elements
  • Efficiency
    • Adds Meeting Assistant to enhance the meeting connecting and note-taking experience and introduces an option to make notifications more subtle and less distracting
    • Adds support for one-tap meeting joining and smart meeting minutes to improve work efficiency
    • Adds large folders to the Home screen. You can now open an app in an enlarged folder with just one tap and turn pages in the folder with a swipe
    • Adds a new type of Always-On Display that shows live information about music, ride-hailing, and food delivery. (Supports only some apps)
    • Adds support to double tap the power button to show your health code
    • Adds media playback control, and optimizes the Quick Settings experience
    • Adds smart event management and conflict reminders to help with your scheduling
    • Adds support for one-tap calendar sync to DingTalk and one-tap sync of email events
    • Adds support for event recognition. You can use screen recognition to recognize and sync the events on the current screen to Calendar with one tap
    • Adds more markup tools for screenshot editing
    • Adds support for adding widgets to the Home screen, making information display more personalized
    • Adds support for conversion of images in Photos to .doc, .ppt, and .xlsx formats
    • Upgrades Recorder. Search capabilities are enhanced and exporting images and text is supported
    • Optimizes Breeno Suggestions to make scenario-based suggestions for apps and services
  • Seamless interconnection
    • Upgrades to Multi-Screen Connect 2.0. You can answer or hang up calls on a connected PC and even switch a call between your phone and PC
    • Optimizes Multi-Screen Connect. You can open multiple mobile apps on a connected PC for efficient multitasking
    • Optimizes cross-device file transfer, with more file formats and device models supported
    • Optimizes Screencast, with cast content automatically adapting to the target screen
  • Personalization
    • Adds more Omoji materials to cover more scenarios. Omoji now supports to set the contacts avatars, fully expressing yourself with more customized avatars
    • Adds Insight Always-On Display, with more personalized Always-On Display settings available
    • Optimizes Portrait Silhouette Always-On Display, with more drawing tools and line colors available
  • Security & privacy
    • Adds an automatic pixelation feature for chat screenshots. The system can identify and automatically pixelate profile pictures and display names in a chat screenshot to protect your privacy
    • Adds smart permission suggestions to improve security
    • Adds a feature to prevent malicious attempts to lure users into installing apps, supporting smart blocking of malicious pop-ups and promotions
    • Adds regular clearing of clipboard data for privacy protection
    • Optimizes Private Safe. The Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) is used to encrypt all files for enhanced security of private files
    • Optimizes payment security
  • Health & Digital wellbeing
    • When in Kid Space, your browser app automatically switches to Kids mode to create a child-friendly space
    • Adds ambient light reminders in Kid Space
    • Adds Eye comfort in Kid Space to protect children's vision
    • Adds family health data in O Family. You can check the data to understand your family members' health status
    • Adds notifications when O Family detecting abnormal health data and human falling on the ground
  • Performance optimization
    • Adds Dynamic Computing Engine to improve the system speed, stability, battery life, and app experience
    • Upgrades to LinkBoost 4.0, which can detect and improve the network quality for faster download speeds, even in very slow network conditions
    • Optimizes the IEM ecosystem to include more apps
  • Gaming experience
    • Adds self-developed VRS technology, which dynamically adjusts the resolution to increase the performance while saving power so as to improve the gaming experience
    • Upgrades to HyperBoost GPA 4.0 to stabilize the frame rate and balance the performance and power consumption in key scenarios

You'll notice that this changelog is the exact same as Open Beta 1's. OnePlus tends to use the exact same changelog for the first major release, regardless of device or it being stable/beta.

Where can I install stable OxygenOS 13?

If you're currently on the stable track, you should have already received a notification from the app about the F.16 update. Please ensure you've selected either of the stable update methods in the app's settings, since the beta track doesn't receive updates separately from stable anymore (post Oppo-merger). Beta track is now meant only for the first few major Android builds, nothing more. Disable advanced mode as well, in case it's turned on for whatever reason. The stable track will continue to receive updates until the device is marked EOL (End-of-Life).

Once you're on the main screen of the app, simply download the update presented to you and follow the installation guide.

Can I rollback to OxygenOS 12?

Rolling back will completely wipe all your data, so please take a backup before proceeding.

Make sure you choose the correct rollback package for your device & region. We are providing these links purely for your convenience, as rolling back isn't natively supported by our app. After downloading the correct rollback package, move the file from the "Downloads" directory to the topmost directory of internal storage (the same directory that the "Downloads" folder is in). Also ensure it ends with ".zip".

Then, if you're on an EU/Indian build, open Settings -> About device -> Version and tap "Build number" 7 times. This will enable Android's built-in "developer mode" (you might have to enter your phone's PIN/password too). Once this is done, "Local install" will once again be visible in Settings -> About device -> Up to date -> top-right button. If you're on a global/NA build, you need to use this APK instead: https://oxygenos.oneplus.net/OnePlus_tools.apk. Find it in your app drawer after installing, it should be labelled “System update”.

Rollback packages

The following packages will rollback your device to OxygenOS 12 (C.62), and will wipe all your data.

Remember: these are rollback packages — they're not the packages you should download if you're looking to update to the latest stable version. For that, close this news article and ensure you've selected either of the "Stable" update methods in the app's settings.

If you have any questions or concerns, you can either join our Discord server, or email us at [email protected].