Ryan Haines / Android Authority
When you think of a OnePlus phone, what do you think of? Well, you probably think of its red charging cable, its black sandstone finish, and, for a while, its Hasselblad-tuned camera setup. One thing you also probably thought of for a long, long time was its iconic alert slider — a three-stop switch to go from ring to silent without ever unlocking your phone.
Then, that alert slider disappeared. No, not on the OnePlus 15 (yet), but on the OnePlus 10T. The change made exactly nobody happy, so OnePlus brought its slider back. Now, though, it’s gone again, this time from the OnePlus 15, making it a much more noticeable problem. In its place sits the Plus Key, a multifunctional button with a new AI-powered journal at its disposal, and I don’t like it one bit.
Here’s why I think OnePlus messed up by copying both Apple and Nothing on the way to its newest feature.
Copying Apple’s design has never been the move
Ryan Haines / Android Authority
You and I both know the classic bit — sure, you can copy my homework, just don’t make it obvious. Well, OnePlus tried that with Apple, but it forgot about the obvious part. And yes, I know it’s been a few years since Apple actually traded its mute switch for the Action Button, but the internet has a long, long memory. So, I haven’t forgotten, and neither should you.
Honestly, the level to which OnePlus has copied Apple with its Plus Key is beyond what I could have ever imagined. I’ll skip the obvious bits like size and positioning — there are only so many places to put a button — but it’s the overall interaction that baffles me. Apple has a distinct interface for switching between its Action Button features, and OnePlus has simply copied it.
Seriously, it’s all there: the opening animation that shows the side of the phone, the rainbow of colors that cycles through as you switch functions, and even the functions themselves. The thing is, though, I think OnePlus missed the part where nobody I know actually uses the Action Button for anything more than a mute toggle — it’s an overthought solution in search of a problem.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the first example of someone copying the iPhone only to find out that there’s a worm inside the Apple. Samsung did it just a few months ago with the Galaxy S25 Edge, which grossly overestimated how much people would like the shortcomings of the iPhone Air. It learned very quickly that change isn’t always for the better and has already scrapped plans for its next Edge device, which makes me hope that there’s still time for OnePlus to pull an about-face.
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