OnePlus is updating its stock SMS app with a series of new AI-driven features that, based on recent reports, will deliver a far superior user experience.
Driven by a partnership between OnePlus and AI-messaging company Gashup, the new features center mostly around organizing information contained in select text messages. But the update will also make reading and accessing information easier, to begin with.
Far from being limited to OnePlus’s latest smartphones, the company also plans to release the update across effectively its entire lineup.
That means that the OnePlus 7, OnePlus 7 Pro, and likely the OnePlus 7T will all see the new features. But devices like the OnePlus 6 or OnePlus 6T will almost certainly receive the update too. Even “older” OnePlus smartphones will likely receive the update, according to Gashup.
OnePlus SMS app AI delivers serious organization benefits
The biggest change with the incoming update arguably stems from the organizational features that are being added. Those work similarly to how an email client does. Namely, the OPPO SMS app will now sort emails into grouped categories based on the content contained in the message. Specifically, as of the first iteration, categories include “Personal,” “Transactional,” and “Promotional.”
Those categories will be placed at the top of the SMS app, acting as folders that are fairly self-explanatory. Transactional messages, for instance, will be those that contain transaction information or details. Text confirmations for package deliveries, bank transactions, or purchases will appear there.
But the update doesn’t stop with simply making messages easier to find for users. The partnership utilizes Gupshup’s solutions to put that information in an easier-to-read format.
Ordinarily, receiving a text message with a bank transaction, for example, simply shows everything spelled out in a few lines. The formatting of those details, where there is formatting, typically isn’t easy on the eyes. With the update, that information will be logically parceled out onto a card-style UI by Gashup’s AI.
Gashup’s software accomplishes that by analyzing messages and filling cards out from pre-created templates. Among those, Gashup has templates for courier updates, billing, entertainment messages, and more. So movie ticket bookings, train boarding passes, and upcoming bill reminders will appear in a better format for reading at a glance.
Gashup also adds buttons where links are present. So the entire experience will be modernized, compared to the somewhat stark layout and user experience.
The U.S. market will get this but when?
For now, OnePlus has only rolled the new AI-driven SMS app features in India. The timeframe for the rollout in Europe and other regions has not been detailed at all. The features won’t be coming to the U.S. any time soon either. Neither OnePlus or Gashup appear to have provided a reason for that. But the decision could feasibly stem from the fact that OnePlus isn’t as big in the U.S. while India remains one of the fastest-growing mobile markets in the world.
As a result, OnePlus doesn’t plan to release the update in the U.S. until “a later date.” The vagueness of that statement seems to indicate that the U.S. will be waiting for quite some time.