It’s safe to say that ColorOS 16 is the smoothest Android software skin around. And with ColorOS 17, things could continue on the positive path, as ColorOS’ Design Director has officially confirmed that the upcoming ColorOS update will focus on refining and polishing the existing elements. In response to a tipster’s post, the OPPO executive has also hinted that ColorOS 17 won’t be actively pursuing liquid glass design, unlike some competitors who are said to go all out on such aesthetics.
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ColorOS 17 to prioritise basic user experience over significant UI changes and redesigns
On June 9th, the popular tipster, Digital Chat Station (DCS), went on Weibo and posted that an upcoming Android skin will feature a brand new light field interaction design, AI adaptive colour picking, and glass visuals that could make the user interface 100 times better over its current iteration.
Quoting DCS’s Weibo post, Chen Xi, the Design Director of ColorOS, clarified that the details provided by the tipster don’t hold for ColorOS 17, as heavily speculated by the public after DCS’s post over the last few days. He further adds that a competitor is being quite aggressive in following up on liquid glass technology; however, ColorOS 17 will focus on refining the core experience instead.
That said, the upcoming ColorOS version won’t feature major design changes, which, in our opinion, is perfectly fine since ColorOS 16 already introduced a bunch of homescreen and lockscreen customisation options, revamped Photos and app drawer, tons of improvements to AI functions, and Live Space. Therefore, focusing on improving the core experience should result in faster performance, better efficiency, and greater system stability.
The bottom line
While ColorOS 17’s official announcement is still a couple of months away, OPPO is taking a mature, stable approach for their next OS version by likely prioritising smoothness, refinement, and foundational improvements rather than flashy new visuals. They are aware of competitors pushing heavy glass/liquid effects, but have chosen not to chase that aggressively this time, as indicated by ColorOS’ Design Director.
On the other hand, a recent leak by DCS pertaining to ColorOS 17 claimed that OPPO’s upcoming skin will incorporate glass and light effects in several parts of the UI, which could actually still hold since ColorOS 16 already follows a ‘Luminous Design’. This design approach is distinct from Apple’s Liquid Glass since it creates a sense of depth in the elements by featuring light and glowing visuals in menus, buttons, and interactions.
While ColorOS 17 should be rolled out by September in stable form for OPPO’s current generation of flagships, such as the Find X9, X9 Pro, X9s, and X9 Ultra, the OPPO Find X10 series should be the first batch of phones to debut with it.
