Nothing Phone 1 Receiving Android 14-Based Nothing OS 2.5 Open Beta 1 Update

Nothing OS 2.5 open beta 1 adds a three-finger swipe gesture for capturing screenshots.

Written by Nithya P Nair, Edited by Siddharth Suvarna | Updated: 20 December 2023 14:30 IST

Nothing Phone 1 Receiving Android 14-Based Nothing OS 2.5 Open Beta 1 Update

Nothing Phone 1 gets new widgets with the Android 14 beta update

Highlights

Nothing OS 2.5 includes a customisable double-press power gesture button
Update brings a redesigned home and lock screen customisation page
Nothing OS 2.5 introduces a new Glyph animation for NFC

Nothing released the stable Nothing OS 2.5 update for the Phone 2 last week. Now, the Carl Pei-backed UK-based company is rolling out the Nothing OS 2.5 open beta 1 for its first smartphone — Nothing Phone 1. The new software based on Android 14, brings several new security, and privacy features to the handset alongside Glyph improvements. The Nothing Phone 1 will get a redesigned home and lock screen customisation page with the latest update. It brings new widgets, camera stability, and system stability improvements.

Through its official X account, Nothing announced the rollout of Nothing OS 2.5 open beta 1 for the Phone 1. As per the changelog shared on Nothing's community forum, the latest update brings some basic Android 14 features alongside the list of upgrades under Nothing OS.

Nothing OS 2.5 open beta 1 brings a redesigned home and lock screen customisation page. It adds an atmosphere wallpaper effect to transform a background photo into a wallpaper by adding motion to colours on the home screen. The update includes solid colour wallpapers and a monochrome colour theme.

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Additionally, Nothing OS 2.5 includes a customisable double-press power gesture button to quickly access a chosen feature with a simple tap. This can be availed by heading to Settings > System > Gestures. The update introduces new lock screen shortcut options like Do Not Disturb, Mute, QR code scanner, and video camera. The new software adds a three-finger swipe gesture for capturing screenshots and includes a new screenshot editor and menu.

Nothing Phone 1 gets new widgets with the Android 14 beta update. These include a new pedometer widget to track steps, a media player displaying currently playing songs, and a screen time widget to monitor daily screen time. The Phone 1 users will have to update their Nothing Launcher and Nothing Widgets app to the latest version on the Google Play Store to use the new widgets.

Further, Nothing OS 2.5 introduces a new Glyph animation for when NFC is being used. It also optimises the Flip to Glyph experience alongside improving Quick Settings and the stability of the camera.

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To install the Nothing OS 2.5 open beta 1, users need to ensure that their Phone 1 is running on the latest version of Nothing OS. They have to download the Install Beta APK. Once it has been installed from the downloads users can get the update by heading to Settings > System > Update to Beta version. It is recommended to update the handset while it is connected to a strong Wi-Fi network and is charging.

Will the Nothing Phone 2 serve as the successor to the Phone 1, or will the two co-exist? We discuss the company's recently launched handset and more on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Nothing Phone 1

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery Life
Camera
Value for Money

Good
Premium build quality, unique design
Vivid 120Hz OLED display
Wireless charging and IP53 rating
Decent battery life
Clean software, snappy performance
Very good primary camera

Bad
Secondary cameras struggle in low light
No bundled charger

Read detailed Nothing Phone 1 review

Display 6.55-inch

Front Camera 16-megapixel

Rear Camera 50-megapixel + 50-megapixel

RAM 8GB, 12GB

Storage 128GB, 256GB

Battery Capacity 4500mAh

OS Android 12

Resolution 1080x2400 pixels

More Nothing mobiles Nothing mobiles price in India

Comments

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Further reading: Nothing OS, Nothing OS 2.5, Nothing OS 2.5 Open Beta 1, Nothing Phone 1, Nothing

Nithya P Nair

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Nithya P Nair is a journalist with more than five years of experience in digital journalism. She specialises in business and technology beats. A foodie at heart, Nithya loves exploring new places (read cuisines) and sneaking in Malayalam movie dialogues to spice up conversations. More