The perfect Nothing OS 2.5 options on the Nothing Cellphone 2

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 — wonderful merchandise. I’ve been a fan of the Ear 1 and Ear 2 for a few years and I lastly managed to get my fingers on the Nothing Cellphone 2 ($559 at Amazon). I didn’t anticipate to be as impressed by the telephone and Nothing OS as I’m, nor did I anticipate Nothing OS 2.5 to push issues even additional. However the newest software program actually takes Nothing’s expertise to a different stage. Listed below are my favourite Nothing OS 2.5 options.

How can I get Nothing OS 2.5?

Nothing OS 2.5 builds on all the pieces we’ve seen with Nothing OS 2.0 and Android 14, nevertheless it’s nonetheless at the moment in beta. Nothing is testing it publicly on the Cellphone 2. You’ll be able to be a part of the beta by following the steps beneath or on Nothing’s neighborhood discussion board:

1. Guarantee you could have the newest secure Nothing OS working in your telephone.
2. Obtain this APK supplied by Nothing and set up it.
3. Go to Settings > System > Replace to Beta model
4. Faucet Verify for brand spanking new model and observe 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 hardly ever use, these you need 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 need 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 each 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 ability button. By default, most Android telephones allow you to open the digicam 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 digicam. Since I like taking random movies, this protects me from opening the digicam after which switching to the video mode earlier than beginning to shoot.

I feel the Glyph lights on the again of the Cellphone 2 will be far more helpful than they at the moment are. Integrations with third-party apps aren’t straightforward, although, so we get a couple of cool use instances once in a while. 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 toilet, fill my water bottle, or pause my present activity at a logical juncture level.

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

This turns all the interface into correct greyscale, with none hints of blue’ish, inexperienced’ish, yellow’ish, or another colour 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, Images, Contacts, Hold, and extra.

Granted, this isn’t an aesthetic I would like each day, however once I do, I’d reasonably have one thing uniform, and this new theme colour matches 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 choose 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 flip some common wallpapers intro intriguing designs, like peering via glass at an exquisite scene.

Nothing made an attention-grabbing addition in OS 2.5: A regional settings menu enables you to choose the default temperature and first day of the week. As somebody who units their telephone to US English, however makes use of metric items 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 appropriate with all third-party apps, although.

It’s additionally simpler to identify Nothing’s personal themed widgets amongst all the opposite widgets obtainable so as to add. A brand new Images widget is on the market too. And lock display screen widget choices have been expanded with a QR code scanner and Do Not Disturb — two options I personally use quite a bit 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 while 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 high of any private data 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 changing 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 recognize 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 a great step ahead; 2.5 is even higher.