How to Enable Reading Mode on the OnePlus 5 and OnePlus 5T

Reading Mode on the OnePlus 5 and OnePlus 5T makes it easier to read on your device for an extended period of time and this is how you set it up.

OnePlus is like Motorola in that they start with an AOSP version of Android and then sprinkle in some additional features. The company has expanded its feature set within OxygenOS over the last few years and it’s made the OEM skin quite useful. Most of the OxygenOS features on the OnePlus 5 are carried over from the OnePlus 3/3T, but there are a few new ones that have been added. One of these new features is what OnePlus is calling Reading Mode.

Some people prefer reading from a physical book while others enjoy using an eReader like the Amazon Kindle. We typically carry around our smartphones all day but there are not that many who actively read books with them.

Some applications try to reduce this eye strain by using certain colors and dimming the brightness, but OnePlus is taking a different approach. They wanted to incorporate a Reading Mode in the OnePlus 5 at a system less instead of an app level.

This is great for those applications which just don’t integrate such a feature, and it does so in a way that has made a lot of their customers happy. So let me show you how Reading Mode works on the OnePlus 5 and OnePlus 5T.

OnePlus 5 Reading Mode

1. Launch the Settings application
2. Scroll down to the Device section
3. Tap on the Display option
4. Tap on the Reading Mode option
5. Manually enable Reading Mode by tapping the toggle at the bottom (optional)
6. Tap the Add Apps for Reading Mode option
7. Browse the application list and select all applications you want to use it with
8. Tap the Back button once you have selected all the apps you want
9. Then tap the Home button and launch an application to test the feature

Explanation

So as mentioned, OnePlus wanted to integrate this feature directly into the OxygenOS software and it’s tucked away in the Settings application. So go ahead and launch that application and then scroll down to the Device section (which should be the second section in the list). From here, tap on the Display option and then go ahead and tap on the Reading Mode option. Now, you have the ability to manually enable or disable Reading Mode on the OnePlus 5 by simply tapping the toggle at the bottom.

This is just a blanket on and off switch though and isn’t the most ideal way to use the feature. Sure, it’s there if you want it, but there’s a better way of using it (in my opinion). If you look right above the Turn on Reading Mode option then you’ll see a way to add specific applications to the Reading Mode list. Go ahead and tap on that Add Apps for Reading Mode option and you’ll be given a list of all the applications you have installed on your OnePlus 5 or OnePlus 5T.

There will be a check box next to each of them and it’s from here that you can manually select any number of them (by just tapping on it). Go through here and tap on all of the applications that you want to use this OnePlus 5 Reading Mode feature with. What we’re doing here is telling the OnePlus 5 or OnePlus 5T to enable Reading Mode each and every time one of these applications are open. So go ahead and add the apps to the list and then tap the Back button before tapping the Home button.

You can then go through your Home Screen or App Drawer to find an application you just added. I suggest launching it right now just so you can see how the feature works (which is what I do in the video above). In my example, I just added the Solid Explorer application to the Reading Mode section and then launched it. You can see the screen gradually tuning out the color once the application has been launched. This is only temporary though as the color comes back once you leave the application.