Nothing today unveiled Nothing OS 5.0, the latest evolution of its Android experience. Nothing OS 5.0 is built on the principle of pure Android - it offers more control, personalisation and fun.
A Sharper, Refreshed Design
Nothing OS 5.0 introduces a redesigned home screen, available as an additional theme alongside the existing Nothing OS style. Widgets and the search bar use transparent details to add depth and layering, with similar treatment extended to apps such as Gallery for a softer, more consistent look across the system.
A new adaptive colour system draws from your wallpaper across the home screen. App icons receive subtle tints, widgets use adaptive colour alongside transparent details, and 1ร1 Quick Settings widgets use the wallpaperโs primary colour, updating whenever your wallpaper changes.
The status bar, Settings, Camera and Gallery have all been refreshed with updated icons, spacing and animations. The Gallery also has new sorting options and a redesigned album view to help people find photos faster.
The system now uses the Geist typeface, with revised text sizing, more consistent corner shapes, unified blur effects and iconography across the experience.
Make It Yours
Two new lock screen clock faces arrive with this release: Gooey, which uses bold, fluid shapes to make the time stand out, and Micrographics, a clean, hardware-inspired design that surfaces the date, time, weather and upcoming meetings at a glance. Clock face colours can now be customised to match a user's wallpaper.
Home screen editing has also been improved, allowing users to select and move multiple apps and widgets across the Home screen at once, rather than one at a time.
Nothing OS 5.0 introduces two new widgets: Collector, which lets users build a growing visual collection of favourite objects captured via Camera or Gallery and display it on their home screen and lock screen. The second widget, Away Time, tracks how long a person has stayed off their phone, their longest break and how their screen-free time changes across the week.
The Glyph Interface now has its own dedicated app, bringing its features, sounds, ringtones and schedules together in one place. A new Glyph Timer widget also lets you start a timer from your home screen, while the Glyph on the back displays the remaining time.
Faster and Smoother, Every Day
Nothing OS 5.0 improves touch response, background app retention and system resource management, helping prioritise the app in use and reduce interruptions when memory is under pressure. On-device intelligence learns which apps are used most and keeps them ready to launch, while overnight maintenance optimises memory to help sustain performance over time. System animations have been expanded and refined across apps, folders, widgets, multitasking and shortcuts.
Bluetooth controls have been redesigned in Quick Settings, making it easier to find, connect and disconnect nearby devices in fewer taps. The camera also keeps detected QR codes fixed on screen, making them easier to tap without rescanning.
Essential AI tools
Essential Voice is now faster and delivers cleaner, better-formatted transcriptions. It better understands when speech should become a list or remain a paragraph, reducing missed points and inconsistent formatting while preserving the original meaning. Real-time transcription now shows words as you speak and you can now also capture audio directly from the Ear (3) case with SuperMic.
Essential Space introduces Smart Collections, which organise scattered memories by recommending content for new and existing collections, and Model Context Protocol (MCP) support, which allows other AI tools to search and read selected Essential Space data. Using the Essential Key to capture content is now simpler and more consistent across the lock screen, home screen and apps.
Essential Apps Builder is now available as an app on your phone, letting you describe, build and deploy AI-powered apps directly from your device without coding, then use them straight from your home screen.
Built on Android 17
Nothing OS 5.0 is built on Android 17, introducing separate Notifications and Quick Settings panels. Swipe down from the left to open Notifications and from the right to open Quick Settings, making it quicker to reach the panel you need.
The update also introduces cross-platform Quick Share, allowing files to be shared with iPhone and Android devices via a simple QR code with no additional apps required.
New privacy enhancements now show when an app is using the camera, microphone or location, alongside clearer screen recording controls and updated location permission settings. Additional refinements include Noto 3D emojis, expanded Dark Theme support, separate Assistant volume control, higher-brightness HDR viewing and a redesigned Recents screen.
Availability
Nothing OS 5.0 Open Beta begins rolling out on Wednesday, 26 August 2026 at 3:30 PM IST, starting with Phone (3). More eligible devices will join soon. See the rollout timeline in the media kit for device-specific dates.
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