Earlier this year, Nothing CEO Carl Pei started teasing the new software version—Nothing OS 3.0—saying it was redesigned with user feedback in mind. Now, the first Nothing OS 3.0 beta update is finally here. I’ve been testing it out on our Nothing Phone 2a, and here are some cool tips, tricks, and hidden features you should definitely check out.
We already covered Nothing OS 2.5 features previously, so I’m not going to talk about existing features like AI wallpapers, Glyph progress, the call recording widget, or app lock. This is purely what’s new in Nothing OS 3.0.
Here’s when the Nothing OS 3.0 open beta will be available and for which devices:
- Nothing Phone (2a): Available now
- Nothing Phone (2): November 2024
- Nothing Phone (1): December 2024
- Nothing Phone (2a) Plus: December 2024
- CMF Phone 1: December 2024
Table of Contents
1. New Lock Screen Customization
The Nothing OS 3.0 is as big of an update as iOS 16 was when it came out, and it adds Samsung and iPhone-like lock screen customization to your Nothing phone.
You can now customize the clock and widget styles or even remove the clock entirely from the lock screen. Simply long-press anywhere on the lock screen and tap Customize Lock Screen. Unlock the device using your fingerprint. You can now:
- Switch between different lock screen clocks; there are 5 new clock styles with different fonts and designs.
- Add widgets to the widget tray just below the clock.
- Change the camera and torch shortcuts on the bottom corners to something else.
You can also remove the clock. To do this, tap the widget tray that will open the widget gallery. Here, toggle on Expand Widget Area. This will hide the main clock face and give you space for adding more widgets to the lock screen. You can still see the date and time at the top.



2. AI-Powered Smart App Drawer
Nothing has introduced a new Smart App Drawer that uses AI to sort your apps into categories like Social, Games, Entertainment, Utilities, Lifestyle, Travel, Productivity, Shopping, and more. The concept is appealing, but the implementation might remind you of the iOS App Library.
You can tap on the three larger app icons to open them while pressing the smaller bunch opens the full app folder. This method is a bit slower than the traditionally alphabetically sorted app drawer that Android has had for years, but it’s still a good option for anyone who likes to keep their apps neatly organized by category.
To switch from the traditional app drawer to the Smart App Drawer just swipe up on your home screen. Once you’re in the app drawer, tap the three dots in the top-right corner and select Smart App Drawer (Beta) to try out the new layout.



3. Pin Apps in App Drawer
With Nothing OS 3.0, you can now pin your favorite apps in the app drawer. This lets you access what you need quickly with just a swipe up, so you won’t have to search through the app drawer or clutter your home screen with icons.
To pin an app to the top of your app drawer, swipe up on your home screen to open it. Then, tap and hold the app icon and select the Pin icon. The app will move to a new tray at the top, right below the app suggestions, providing you with easy and quick access.


So far, this is my favorite feature of Nothing OS 3.0.
4. Smart Cleanup Feature
Tucked away in the settings of Nothing OS 3.0 is a new feature called Smart Cleanup. Over time, as you use your phone, file fragmentation can occur. This happens when files are broken into smaller pieces and scattered across your device’s storage instead of being stored in one neat location. When this happens, your phone has to work harder to access these fragmented files, which can lead to a slower performance.
Smart Cleanup intelligently handles defragmentation automatically, helping to improve your phone’s performance. The best part? You don’t have to do anything—it’s completely automatic.


5. Movable Pop-up View
Earlier, Nothing OS allowed you to open apps in a pop-up view—a small box on your screen—so you could keep using an app while navigating the rest of your phone as usual. With Nothing OS 3.0, you can now move the pop-up view anywhere on your screen and resize it by dragging its corners, making multitasking even cleaner and more convenient.
To open an app in pop-up view, swipe up and drag it to the top while the app is open on your phone. This will automatically move the app into pop-up view. You can then drag it anywhere on your screen or resize it by adjusting its corners. Alternatively, tap the minimize icon (-) to pin it on your screen for later use.





Moreover, you can view your notifications directly in pop-up view without leaving your current app. Simply swipe down on incoming notifications to enter pop-up view. To enable this feature, go to Settings > Special Features > Pop-up view > Expand notifications.
This is a cool addition that really makes you want to use apps in pop-up view. Previously, you had to do multiple taps, but it’s much more frictionless now.
6. Partial Screen Recording
Nothing OS 3.0 is built on Android 15, which means you get access to a bunch of cool features right off the bat. One of those is partial screen recording. This lets you record just the app you want to showcase instead of capturing your entire phone screen.
For instance, if you want to create a tutorial on how to use a specific app, you can easily select just that app to record. This makes it a lot easier to share specific content without distractions from other notifications or apps popping up.
To get started with partial screen recording, just swipe down to access your quick settings. Find the Screen Recording option and tap on it. Then, choose A single app from the drop-down menu and hit Start recording. Next, pick the app you want to record, and the recording will begin.


Everything you do in that app will be captured, while any other notifications or app activity stays hidden. It’s a great way to keep your content focused and more privacy-friendly.
7. Auto-Archive Apps
Nothing OS 3.0 also adds support for auto-archive, which automatically frees up storage space when needed by removing apps you rarely use while retaining their data and login details. The app’s icon will remain on your phone, and you can tap it to reinstall the app, as long as it’s still available on the Play Store.
Here’s how to turn it on:
- Open the Google Play Store.
- Click on the profile icon in the top-right corner.
- Select Settings.
- Tap on General at the top.
- Scroll down and toggle on Automatically Archive Apps.



Your Nothing phone can now automatically offload unused apps to save space when needed. It can even prompt you to archive some apps if you’re trying to install a new one but don’t have enough storage. You can also do this manually by tapping Archive on the App Info settings page.


8. Check Battery Health and Cycle Count
You can now check your Nothing phone’s battery health and the current charge cycle count. To do this, go to Settings and tap on System > Device Diagnostics. Here, tap on Component Health and then select Battery Status.





I’ve previously discussed battery cycle count and its importance for iPhones. This is applicable to all smartphones, including the Nothing phone, since they all use lithium-ion batteries.
9. Set a Custom Charging Limit
Your Nothing phone, like most modern Android phones, can analyze your usage patterns to charge steadily overnight and preserve long-term battery health. There’s also an option to set a custom charging limit, allowing you to manually stop your phone from charging between 70% and 90%.
This feature is also available on Nothing OS 2.6 and seems inspired by how iOS 18 lets you set a charging limit on the iPhone 15 and newer models. Regardless, what matters is that it’s a really useful feature, and it has been effectively implemented here.
Open the Settings app and navigate to Battery > Battery Health. Here, toggle on Custom Charging Mode. Choose the percentage at which you want your battery to stop charging; you can select between 70%, 80%, and 90%.



Personally, I would choose 90% if I charge my phone once every day, and 70% if I tend to keep it plugged in most of the time.
10. Customize Quick Settings Panel
Nothing has revamped the quick settings panel. It now supports light mode and introduces new editing options.
For starters, you can now increase or decrease the tile size of the controls in the panel. To do so, swipe down on your phone’s home screen to open the quick settings panel and tap the Edit button. Tap the expand button next to the control icons to increase or decrease their size.



When dragging the icons around in the quick settings panel, you’ll notice a grid that appears to help you organize these controls. You’ll also find a new alert-slider-styled ringer control that slides between silent, vibrate, and ring modes, just like a physical alert slider. Additionally, the automatic brightness button now sits directly on top of the brightness slider, so you no longer have to enable it from settings.
If you accidentally mess up the quick settings panel, you can tap the Reset icon and then tap Confirm to reset the quick settings panel to its default status.


11. Predictive Back Animations
Predictive back animations, introduced with Android 14, allow you to peek and preview where the back gesture will take you instead of just showing a back gesture arrow. Previously, this feature only worked with select system apps like Settings. However, Nothing OS 3.0 enables predictive back animations for third-party apps that have opted in.
To turn on Predictive Back Animations on your Nothing phone, go to Settings > About phone, tap the Nothing OS banner, and then tap the Build Number seven times to enable developer options. Enter your phone PIN when prompted.
Next, head back to Settings > System > Developer Options. Scroll down and toggle on Predictive Back Animations. Unfortunately, this option seems to be hidden for some reason in the first beta, but I expect it’s a bug that will be fixed in the next build.
Nothing OS 3.0 Brings Several Other Features
The Nothing OS 3.0 is the company’s biggest update thus far and brings several other changes both inside and out. These include:
- Interactive Dot Matrix Animation: The new animation engine provides smooth dot animations across the UI, including a new charging animation.
- Redesigned Widget Library: Long-press on the home screen and tap Widgets to access the revamped widget library, featuring widgets in square boxes. Swipe left to browse additional widgets.
- Font Change in System Apps: Nothing has removed the dotted NDOT font from most system apps, including Settings, and switched to a cleaner Sans Serif font.
- Reset Home Layout: You now have a button to reset the home screen layout to default. You can find it at the top right in Settings > Customization.
- Faster Image Processing: The processing time has been reduced for HDR and portrait photos. They’re now processed much faster than earlier.
Some Features Will Arrive Later
Several other changes and features haven’t made it into the first beta yet, but they will arrive in upcoming versions of Nothing OS 3.0. Check them out:
- Gallery App: A revamped Gallery app is in the works. It will include AI features like smart categorization, upscaling, and finding photos using prompts.
- Shared Widgets: You can now share widgets with your friends. Link a widget with a friend to share the same content between two devices. You can share photos within widgets, and your friends can react to them with stickers.
- New Charging Animation: The same Dot Matrix animation will change the charging animation to a wave of dots flowing from the bottom to the top.
A Fresh Look for Your Nothing Phone!
The new update to Nothing OS fundamentally alters much of the UI, and fortunately, it’s for the better. You’ll find new fonts and system animations, improved multitasking and productivity features, AI that helps you sort apps automatically, lock screen customization, a revamped widget library, and essential geeky features like checking cycle count and setting charging limits.
Most of these changes are based on user feedback, and I hope Nothing continues to deliver on that front. I expect a couple more additions by the time we receive the stable version of Nothing OS 3.0, so stay tuned for that. Have you tried out Nothing OS 3.0 yet? Let us know your favorite new features in the comments below.