One of the best Nothing OS 2.5 options on the Nothing Telephone 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 best way 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 palms on the Nothing Telephone 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 all the pieces we’ve seen with Nothing OS 2.0 and Android 14, however it’s nonetheless at present in beta. Nothing is testing it publicly on the Telephone 2. You’ll be able to be part of the beta by following the steps under or on Nothing’s neighborhood discussion board:

1. Guarantee you have got the most recent 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 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 house the place you may tuck away apps you hardly ever use, these you need to obfuscate from individuals who would possibly 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 acquired 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 take advantage of each day.

So the Telephone 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 digital camera with this shortcut, and that was the case on the Telephone 2. Now you may 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 maintain hopping between completely 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 Telephone 2 could be rather more helpful than they at present are. Integrations with third-party apps aren’t simple, although, so we get a number 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 help timer presets, whereas Glyph progress has added Google Calendar compatibility.

The latter is helpful after I’m approaching conferences or occasions. The Nothing Telephone 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 process at a logical juncture level.

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

This turns your complete interface into correct greyscale, with none hints of blue’ish, inexperienced’ish, yellow’ish, or every other coloration 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, Maintain, and extra.

Granted, this isn’t an aesthetic I need each day, however after I do, I’d somewhat have one thing uniform, and this new theme coloration 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 photos. Simply choose a wallpaper (my favourite app and the one I acquired 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 way of glass at a gorgeous scene.

Nothing made an attention-grabbing addition in OS 2.5: A regional settings menu permits 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 offered too. And lock display widget choices have been expanded with a QR code scanner and Do Not Disturb — two options I personally use so much and instantly assigned to my very own lock display.

Quantity controls for ringing and notifications are separate now too. Plus, there’s a brand new gesture that captures screenshots once 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 embrace 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 a lot better in individual than in screenshots and photographs. Plus, they tie nicely along with the Telephone 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 Telephone 1, Nothing is lastly giving software program the main target it deserves. Nothing OS 2 was an excellent step ahead; 2.5 is even higher.