Nothing is now rolling out Nothing OS 3.0 open beta for Nothing Phone (2a) Plus as it promised a couple of months back. Earlier this week, the company also made the same available for the CMF Phone 1, its cheapest smartphone offering under its sub-brand. Here’s everything the update brings.
“We are pleased to share that Phone (2a) Plus users will be able to access the Open Beta starting from today, Thursday December 12th,” said Nothing in a Community post. The full changelog Nothing OS 3.0 Open Beta for Nothing Phone (2a) Plus is as follows:
Shared Widgets
- Use widgets to link up with friends and family. See another person’s widgets displayed on your home screen and interact with each other through reactions. A new way to stay connected.
Lock screen
- New lock screen customisation page. Access by long-pressing the lock screen or via the Customisation page.
- Upgraded clock faces. Choose your favourite style.
- Expanded widget space, allowing you to place more widgets on your lock screen.
Smart Drawer
- Added AI-powered Smart Drawer feature to automatically categorise your apps into folders. For better organisation and easy access.
- For ultimate convenience, you can PIN your favourite apps to the top of the App drawer. No scrolling required.
Quick Settings
- Reconsidered Quick Settings design with an optimised editing experience.
- Enhanced widget library design.
- Updated visuals in Settings including better Network & Internet and Bluetooth options.
Camera improvements
- Faster camera launch speed under the Camera Widget.
- Reduced HDR scene processing time.
- Smoothened user interface after countdown photos
- Improved zoom slider display.
Enhanced pop-up view
- Movable pop-up view for cleaner and more productive multi-tasking.
- Easily resize the pop-up view by dragging the bottom corners.
- Pin the pop-up view on the screen EDGE for quick access.
- View information without leaving your current app. Simply swipe down on incoming notifications to enter the pop-up view. Enable via Settings > System > Pop-up view.
Other improvements
- AI-powered selection and prioritisation of your frequently used apps, keeping them at your fingertips for a more efficient experience
- Added support for auto-archive function to automatically free up storage space without removing apps or data from your device.
- Partial screen sharing for more efficient and secure screen recording. Record just an app window rather than the entire screen.
- Updated setup wizard to version 3.0 for the smoothest introduction to Nothing OS.
- Enabled predictive back animations for apps that have opted in.
- New fingerprint animation with signature dot matrix styling.
- New charging animation with signature dot matrix styling.
How to Install?
- Ensure you have installed NOS version 2.6, build number should be PacmanPro-U2.6-240924-2223 or PacmanPro-U2.6-241125-2243
- Download the following APK and install it from your downloads.
- Navigate to Settings > System > Update to Beta version.
- Tap “Check for new version” and follow the steps to get started If you can’t find the new version yet, it means the version is not online yet.
Now, the only smartphone left in the brand’s portfolio to receive Android 15 is Nothing Phone (1), which is also supposed to receive the beta sometime later this month.
