What is up community,

Nothing has always focused on reducing distractions and making technology more transparent. However, when you turn on your phone for simple tasks—like playing or pausing music or turning on the flashlight—it’s easy to get distracted. While some brands offer gesture controls, they often lack ease of use and practicality.

This year, with the introduction of the Essential Key, I just thought we had a unique opportunity to enhance the user experience. Currently, the Essential Key has no functionality when the screen is off. My idea is to introduce External Gestural Controls, allowing users to perform essential actions without waking the device.

How It Works:

By integrating a touch-sensitive button that recognizes precise gestures, users can quickly access important features. These gestures could include:

• Swipe up → Next track

• Swipe down → Previous track

• Single tap → Play/Pause

• Tap and hold → Toggle Noise Cancellation

• Tap and hold (when no music is playing) → Turn on the flashlight

• Double tap and hold → Toggle Glyph lighting

• Customizable options → Control ring modes, quick settings, and more

Why This Matters

This feature would make basic interactions effortless, keeping users focused and minimizing distractions. It would also make Nothing’s design philosophy more functional by ensuring that quick actions are truly quick—without needing to turn on the screen.

With this, the Essential Key can serve a dual purpose:

• When the screen is on → Essential space features

• When the screen is off → Intuitive gestural controls for seamless interaction

It would be really cool if this was real!

Do let me know what you think—peace out! ✌️

Related discussions

I see where you are heading, however, touch sensitive buttons rarely work as supposed to. The reason why auto OEMs replaced them with physical buttons. Another note, it’s a button, and allowing it to act while screen is off can create problems like accidental activation in pocket.

What I’m trying to say is - people are drifting away from what used to be a phone, a device for calling to someone. Instead of adding all sort of nonsense and features (which do have their own need) maufacturers should be focusing more on device reliability, connectivity and ease of use. Make people come off the screens to see the world and use their own brains again. Look around, everyone is constantly staring at the screen, even when they are together at cafeteria or whatever place. People go to a concert and again nearly all are watching it through their tiny screen. WHY??!

Make it simple, without bloatware, reliable, easy to use auto connecting device. So that every time I go to my car it automatically connects itself. So that it wont occasionally disconnect itself (super annoying). So that it automatically connects to local network when travelling. So that it is clean without bloatware, and secure. So that the fingerprint always works. So that it wont break down or screen wont crack when it accidentally drops.

That’s the device I want to have. Everything else is secondary. I had this kind of device, it was called Nokia. The main reason I swithced to Nothing is Nokia software was broken. They simply couldn’t fix it.

Thank you.

    RainHein I agree, but this could be like the camera control on the iPhone, while being a well-engineered button, adding gesture functionality would make it more useful. Not everyone might use it, but I believe there would be an audience for it!

    This would also help Nothing stand out, especially since we have an extra button this year.!

        Thanish Thahir Yes. If my phone has an extra button I want it to do extra for me. Whatever it might be, but make it special, make it stand out.

        It’s the same with marketing or anything else basically - there’s no point of doing something just for the sake of doing it. Gotta have a well thought out purpose.

        I have a Phone (2), and I’m in LOVE with my phone. From day one. The best there is. I’ve had Nokia, Huawei, LG, Samsung, iPhone. Nothing stands with head and shoulders above the rest. For the love of God - don’t make it yet another mainstream brand, don’t lose yourself. I see a lot of phones in the market, none of them are truly "smart"phones.