This week, Oppo opened up beta signups for the first public beta of Oppo Color OS 13. This new version is based on Android 13. However, as the UK-based fans were left out of the list of places that can sign in, I needed to find a way to get in as I really wanted to see it.
I currently subscript to a premium VPN provider that lets me pick a country to show up as. Looking at the list of countries that could signup for the beta I opted to virtually travel to France with the VPN. So, I picked the French endpoint and connected. Then following the instructions I found that I could register for the beta. That was the first part of the puzzle completed, but they were only going to pick 1000 people, so I still did not know if I would get in.
Thankfully when I woke up this morning, I found the beta was ready and waiting to be installed.
Screenshots of some of the changes
Here are a couple of screenshots that show how the phone now looks after the upgrade has been completed.
First Impressions
Once booted up for the first time, I was quickly drawn to the new notification and quick access menu as shown in the images above. The first two quick access icons are larger and provide more information than is normally provided. The media/now playing option also provides information about the current playing media and controls to play, pause, etc.
Finally in the notification/quick menu is an option to see what applications are active in the background with a quick option to stop them.
Quick Testing
I have run through various application testing and so far, everything I have tested is working
- Halifax Banking App
- Youtube
- Facebook Messenger
- EE Wifi Calling
- SMS
- Google Photos
- Google Drive
- Spark (Email client)
- Chrome
I’ve not listed everything I have tested, but I will update if I find an app that crashes. Reach out on Twitter @TalkTechDOTInfo if you would like me to test anything (Free).
Final Thoughts
I have spent most of the day looking over the changes. From the outset, the notification shade is different and looks a little nicer with the first two buttons coming up as larger highlighted buttons.
I have not been able to take a picture of it, but the Always On Screen has some nice changes too, with a lot more customization options now showing up.
I have also gone out and taken some pictures to test that the camera’s all still work and I have not yet found an issue.
