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Publicity stunts just like the Nothing Chats drama aren’t a assured success each single time, however I nonetheless really feel like Nothing’s and Carl Pei’s shenanigans shouldn’t stand in the way in which of their — surprisingly — glorious merchandise. I’ve been a fan of the Ear 1 and Ear 2 for a few years and I lastly managed to get my arms on the Nothing Cellphone 2 ($559 at Amazon). I didn’t count on to be as impressed by the telephone and Nothing OS as I’m, nor did I count on Nothing OS 2.5 to push issues even additional. However the newest software program actually takes Nothing’s expertise to a different degree. Listed here are my favourite Nothing OS 2.5 options.

How can I get Nothing OS 2.5?

Nothing OS 2.5 builds on every thing we’ve seen with Nothing OS 2.0 and Android 14, nevertheless it’s nonetheless presently in beta. Nothing is testing it publicly on the Cellphone 2. You possibly can be part of the beta by following the steps under or on Nothing’s neighborhood discussion board:

1. Guarantee you’ve got the newest steady Nothing OS operating in your telephone.
2. Obtain this APK offered by Nothing and set up it.
3. Go to Settings > System > Replace to Beta model
4. Faucet Test for brand spanking new model and comply with the steps to obtain and set up the beta firmware.

Nothing OS 2.5 provides a brand new hidden app shelf to the left of your app drawer. Simply swipe proper and also you’ll reveal the brand new hidden area the place you possibly can tuck away apps you not often use, these you wish to obfuscate from individuals who may seize your telephone, or, in my case, apps with unthemed icons.

I’m a monochrome theme convert and I simply don’t wish to see colourful icons spoiling the greyscale aesthetic I’ve received going with the telephone. So I’ve determined to cover the unthemed app icons away from view. It helps that these aren’t apps I exploit day by day.

So the Cellphone 2 doesn’t have an additional button to behave just like the iPhone 15’s Motion Button, however Nothing did the closest factor by permitting you to customise the double-tap gesture on the facility button. By default, most Android telephones allow you to open the digital camera with this shortcut, and that was the case on the Cellphone 2. Now you possibly can simply assign it to any app in your telephone, the Glyph timer, torch, QR code scanner, allow Do Not Disturb, or mute your telephone.

I preserve hopping between totally different choices, however I feel I’ve lastly settled on the video digital camera. Since I really like taking random movies, this protects me from opening the digital camera after which switching to the video mode earlier than beginning to shoot.

I feel the Glyph lights on the again of the Cellphone 2 might be way more helpful than they presently are. Integrations with third-party apps aren’t simple, although, so we get just a few cool use circumstances from time to time. Nothing OS 2.5 brings two cool enhancements. Glyph timers are a lot simpler to make use of now and assist timer presets, whereas Glyph progress has added Google Calendar compatibility.

The latter is helpful once I’m approaching conferences or occasions. The Nothing Cellphone 2 lights up about 5 minutes earlier than to remind me that I must prepare. Sufficient leeway to leap into the lavatory, fill my water bottle, or pause my present process at a logical juncture level.

A correct greyscale theme made its approach to Android 14’s Materials homescreen customizations and, by extension, to Nothing OS 2.5. Now, once I wish to take the monochrome strategy to the max, I can go to the house display screen choices and decide the primary greyscale choice below Fundamental colours.

This turns your entire interface into correct greyscale, with none hints of blue’ish, inexperienced’ish, yellow’ish, or some other shade shades. The notification drop-down follows go well with, and so does each app that has adopted Materials You colours just like the Google Calculator, Calendar, Pictures, Contacts, Maintain, and extra.

Granted, this isn’t an aesthetic I need day by day, however once I do, I’d moderately have one thing uniform, and this new theme shade suits Nothing OS 2.5 and the Nothing icon pack to perfection.

Talking of the Nothing aesthetic, the brand new wallpaper glass filter is kind of cool. It lets me emulate the look of a few of Nothing’s default wallpapers with my very own photographs. Simply decide a wallpaper (my favourite app and the one I received all these wallpapers from is Backdrops) and faucet the glowing button on the underside and ta-da! Glass impact. It may well flip some common wallpapers intro intriguing designs, like peering by glass at a lovely scene.

Nothing made an attention-grabbing addition in OS 2.5: A regional settings menu helps you to decide the default temperature and first day of the week. As somebody who units their telephone to US English, however makes use of metric models and considers Monday the primary day of the week, this protects me from digging into random app settings to alter the defaults. It’s not suitable with all third-party apps, although.

It’s additionally simpler to identify Nothing’s personal themed widgets amongst all the opposite widgets out there so as to add. A brand new Pictures widget is obtainable too. And lock display screen widget choices have been expanded with a QR code scanner and Do Not Disturb — two options I personally use lots and instantly assigned to my very own lock display screen.

Quantity controls for ringing and notifications are separate now too. Plus, there’s a brand new gesture that captures screenshots whenever you swipe down with three fingers, whereas the screenshot editor itself has seen enhancements. Amongst them is a pixelated impact that lets me draw on prime of any private information earlier than sharing the screenshot.

Different minor additions embody a brand new again gesture arrow design, solid-color wallpapers, and a brand new Glyph animation for NFC.

Nothing OS is slowly turning into a modern and highly effective Android pores and skin, with all the simplicity of inventory Android and a few neat extras that elevate the expertise. I’m beginning to respect its quirky design language and affinity for dot-matrix fonts and icons; they appear significantly better in particular person than in screenshots and pictures. Plus, they tie effectively along with the Cellphone 2’s {hardware} design.

I’d nonetheless like to see extra customization and options to take advantage of the Glyphs, however after placing software program on the backseat for a yr with the Cellphone 1, Nothing is lastly giving software program the main focus it deserves. Nothing OS 2 was an excellent step ahead; 2.5 is even higher.