Ask me anything. Today from 4:30M BST I’ll spend some time responding to a few of your questions following todays announcement… See you then!

Thank you all for dropping your questions above! We’re ending the session here 🤝 Thanks @Carl and @SelimBenayat for taking part! And apologies for the outages, the site traffic today has been off the charts! - time to up sites our resources 😅 See you all next time 👋

Ask me anything...

Ymtt

Top question on my mind is if Essential is going to be based on Android. Another question is if Essential is going to have a brand new UI to go with the new OS. I am a graphic designer and I love the trailer yall put out. Makes so much sense everything in there

SelimBenayat

Ymtt Great questions! Essential is built on top of Android, so you’ll still have the same app ecosystem and compatibility you rely on today. What changes is the experience layer: a new UI that’s more fluid, adaptive, and deeply integrated with AI. The goal isn’t to throw away what works, but to make your phone feel more personal and alive - closer to what you saw in the trailer. And yes, this will need a new UI

SelimBenayat

sravanreddy323 Essential OS is the next stage of Nothing OS—they’re not two separate things. The big difference is the experience layer: Essential adds personal apps, memory, search, and adaptive surfaces that make the device hyper-personal and predictive. Think of it as Nothing OS growing into something smarter and more fluid, rather than being replaced.

RapidZapper

With “AI Native devices” coming, what’s the plan for the OS part, Android (with NOS?) or something lighter?

Would they be unlockable with required resources for hardware enthusiasts to build new experience on this new hardware?

SelimBenayat

RapidZapper Thank you! That is correct 🙂

Ymtt

and also I gotta say this. Carl, thank you, for being so passionate about smartphones, for bringing fun and flair into the phone market. The phone market has lost it’s soul, everything is copying Apple now. While I love my iPhone 16 my secondary is a Phone 2a. The phone has served me well over the year ive had it for. I love it when people ask me “what is that phone??” and I explain it to them. Just makes me feel unique for choosing Nothing. I truly understand the mission you and your team are going for and I cannot wait to see what is next. Thank you, Nothing Team and Carl.

Truly_Lokesh

SelimBenayat hi Selim, the app closing animations in the open beta are too quick and does looks like device is skipping animations, can you guys please fix this?

Thanish Thahir

Can we expect a personal assistant in the coming days?

Pranshu

Pranshu anything on this? Dont want to spam

Rob ⚡️

Asy1bek47 With essential apps maybe you can make one 😉

On a series note, it’s on our mind and would be a significant investment - it’s a logical step in growing our community - days like today show how engaged you all are with us!

Yash_JsHmVskFR2

SelimBenayat Awesome. Thanks for your reply!

SelimBenayat

RapidZapper Essential is the experience layer across the Nothing device ecosystem. That’s where the real strength comes from: a shared memory and context that learn your habits and needs, then tires to solve across phone, audio, and beyond. Android stays at the core for compatibility; Essential makes it more personal, predictive, and cohesive - so every device simply feels more useful on a daily basis.

Ymtt

adding to my previous comment. I love how Nothing does not copy a certain brand and goes its own way. Oh Apple gets liquid glass? Every android now has a transparent OS but Nothing. Nothing means a lot to me as a consumer and I hope to work for Nothing as a designer one day. Much love from Bulgaria.

Thanish Thahir

And I think Essential should post stuff on Instagram too, with a seperate handle.

SelimBenayat

Truly_Lokesh Hey there, thanks for flagging! What you’re seeing is a mix of (a) an over-aggressive animation duration in the current open beta and (b) a timing regression that can make the close animation feel “skipped” on some devices/refresh-rate combos. We’re tuning the duration/easing and fixing the frame pacing so it reads as smooth rather than abrupt.

bein

Will Essential intergrated with other apps like gemini like controls homes, and play spotify or something in the future

RapidZapper

SelimBenayat So these “AI Native devices” should be Android devices dedicated to the Essential experience with a unique form factor? That should be interesting by H2 2026 considering how Essential keep expanding with more features these days.

Balkrishna_Pandey

Why no changes in ui in nothing os 4.0

Missing required features like colour in status bar.New Android 16 icons

ca11mejp

I was wondering… The LLM processing is not free. So how are you going to manage the higher user interaction with your playground and the essential space processing. There has been looming doubts about essential space being paid in the future. Please could you shed some light on that?

Personally, I wouldn’t mind if you charge a little for only the creations I make in playground. But a subscription based thing would be too far fetched for me to prioritise in my financial planning. And about essential space, it would not be bad to have high tier premium features, but a free tier is important as you have already provided hardware switch for it. Otherwise allowing the essential button remapping would be good, if you plan to go for full premium essential space.

SelimBenayat

bein Taking notes here, Bein! 🙂

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