Hi everyone, Today, we rolled out the Nothing OS 4.0 Open Beta for the Phone (3a) Series, which included Lock Glimpse and sparked a lot of questions. We had planned to cover this next week as part of a new product announcement, but we wanted to address it now to be transparent and provide you with the full context. Building Nothing from the ground up hasn’t been easy. We are the only smartphone brand in the last decade that has successfully launched, scaled and developed full end-to-end capabilities. This is no small feat in a market defined by high entry barriers, from massive capital requirements and complex supply chains to intense competition. One of the biggest challenges for any new entrant is managing the BOM (Bill of Materials) cost, which is higher than that of established players. On top of this, most brands also have software-based revenue streams, the most straightforward being pre-installed partner apps and services. This is a common approach across the industry, including for established brands like Samsung. For us, this means operating on razor-thin margins and making careful, deliberate choices for every aspect of the product while still delivering an optimal user experience. As we continue investing in hardware and software innovation as well as sustaining our growth, we need to explore sustainable revenue models to avoid passing costs and ensuring optimal pricings for our products - especially for entry- and mid-segment products. Moving forward, on select non-flagship devices, we’ll start including a carefully considered selection of third-party partner apps and services that don’t disrupt the Nothing OS experience you love. These are apps most people install on day one, like Instagram. They’re not random - we’re working with popular platforms many of you already use daily, and in some cases, these integrations can even enhance performance or provide tighter experiences, such as improved camera or sharing features. As part of this we have a new feature called Lock Glimpse being tested in the Nothing OS 4.0 Open Beta on the Phone (3a) Series. Lock Glimpse brings fresh, high-quality wallpapers to your lock screen, curated to your taste across nine categories. It can also surface timely updates and useful content, designed to enhance your experience, not distract you. A few important details: On Phone (3a) Series, Lock Glimpse is off by default. You can enable it anytime in Settings, or access it only by swiping left from your lock screen. You can customize wallpaper categories, refresh anytime, or disable it completely. In future updates, you’ll be able to use your own photos, replacing standard wallpapers entirely and making every unlock uniquely yours. If you choose to turn it on, no personal data is shared. This is standard across the industry, but we’ll always do it the Nothing way - redesigning each element and integrating them into Nothing OS in the most optimal way (default designs look terrible…) - while keeping everything completely under your control, giving you the ability to remove things or turn features on and off as you wish. What’s not changing: our focus remains on delivering the best possible user experience while taking the steps needed to achieve our ambitions. We’ll always: Keep partner apps minimal and easy to remove Be upfront about what’s pre-installed and why Give you full control over features like Lock Glimpse We’d rather be open and transparent about this change and hear your feedback and suggestions. We’ll keep you posted on any new developments regarding third-party apps and services. Thanks Akis [ UPDATE ] - 30 OCT Yesterday, we launched Phone (3a) Lite, the first entry-level smartphone from Nothing. As mentioned above, we want to remain open and transparent about the inclusion of third-party apps and services in Nothing OS, and we welcome your feedback and suggestions regarding this change. Continuing on that, we’ve made some new developments regarding third-party apps and services and have begun including a carefully selected range of third-party partner apps and app recommendation services in Phone (3a) Lite. These are some of the most widely used apps globally , the ones most users tend to install on day one. TikTok - EU , UK and Japan Instagram - All Regions ( except Japan ) Facebook - All Regions ( except Japan ) Because these apps come pre-installed, they offer : Faster startup: These apps launch 50 to 100 milliseconds quicker. Smarter background performance: App background retention is optimized, so when you switch back to Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok, they resume exactly where you left off without reloading. Better power efficiency: These apps are optimized for power efficiency, helping extend your device’s battery life by reducing power consumption. Seamless camera access: Using the camera within these apps is smoother, providing a more fluid shooting experience and reducing the chance of lag or crashes. And importantly, you still retain full control. If you choose to, all three apps can be uninstalled at any time. Additionally, some community members have raised concerns about the Meta App Installer, Meta App Manager, and Meta Service. These apps are designed to ensure that pre-installed apps are updated to their latest versions in a timely manner and to maintain their stability. If users wish to disable them, they can do so by navigating to: Settings App > All apps > Tap the icon in the top-right corner > Select “Show system” > Find the Meta apps > Select the “disable” button. However, we recommend not disabling these apps if you intend to use the pre-installed apps, as they are essential for ensuring the stability and proper functioning of those apps. ‎ We are also introducing recommendation services which essentially recommend apps that are curated to enhance the initial setup experience for users by helping them quickly discover essential utility and social apps, rather than searching for and downloading each one individually from the Play Store. A few important details: It’s only visible during the initial phone setup or when the phone is reactivated after a factory reset. Once the setup is complete, there are no more app suggestions during daily use. Users have full control over it — you can choose to skip and not download any of the recommended apps. The recommended apps are verified by a trusted partner, eliminating the risk of malware or low-quality software. If users wish to disable this feature , they can do so by navigating to: Settings App > All apps > Tap the icon in the top-right corner > Select “Show system” > Find “App services” > Select the “disable” button. ‎ [ UPDATE ] 3 NOV Hi everyone, Following your feedback and suggestions, we’ve been working on making pre-installed services more flexible and within your control. Starting later this month, you’ll be able to completely remove Meta App Installer, Meta App Manager, and Meta Services from your device background. Previously, these could only be disabled. While we recommended keeping them active for better stability of pre-installed apps like Instagram or Facebook, we understand that some users prefer full control over what stays on their device. We’re aiming to roll this out by the end of the month and will confirm once it’s live. Thank you for your continued feedback. It helps us keep improving while staying true to our promise of openness and user choice. [ UPDATE ] 9 JAN Hi everyone, With the latest software updates, we’ve introduced improvements that give you more control over pre-installed services, Lock Glimpse, and app recommendations. Sharing the details below for full transparency. Meta Services You can now fully remove Meta App Installer, Meta App Manager, and Meta Service from the background. Here is how it works: The Disable button remains visible in the app details page. When you tap Disable, you will see a prompt asking you to restart your device. After the reboot, all Meta services are removed from the background. Disabling any one of them will automatically remove the others. After a factory reset, these services will reappear as part of the original system image and can be removed again using the same steps. App Recommendations With the latest update on Nothing (a) series and CMF phones, you may see a small pop-up suggesting recommended apps. This is part of the setup experience and appears during initial device setup or after certain software updates, when setup-related flows are triggered again. If you’re not interested, you can simply swipe left to dismiss it. If you prefer not to use this feature at all, you can turn it off at any time by going to Settings > Apps > All apps > Top-right icon > Show system > App Services > Disable. We’re also working on adding support to completely uninstall App Services in a future OTA, following the same approach as Meta Services. Lock Glimpse Based on feedback and after careful consideration, we’ve decided to remove Lock Glimpse from the Nothing Phone (a) Series except Lite. We’ll only reconsider it once it’s meaningfully improved to feel less intrusive and more considered. We’ll continue to be open about these decisions. Your feedback directly shapes how Nothing OS evolves. Akis

Hey everyone, for entry-level devices like Phone (3a) Lite and CMF phones, the context is different. To deliver strong overall value at a more accessible price, certain trade-offs apply. On these devices, Lock Glimpse remains off by default, is easy to remove, and continues to be refined to stay non-intrusive. Users can turn it off via Settings > Lock Screen > Lock Glimpse, or disable it via Settings > Apps > Show system apps > Lock Glimpse. Support for completely uninstalling Lock Glimpse will be added in a future OTA, following the same approach used for Meta app services removal from the background. [Update] - 28 JAN We’re starting the rollout of Nothing OS 4.0 for Phone (3a) lite today. With this update, Lock Glimpse can now be fully removed from the background. The Disable button remains available in the app details page. When you tap Disable, you’ll see a prompt asking you to restart your device. After the reboot, Lock Glimpse is removed from the system background. If you perform a factory reset, Lock Glimpse will reappear as part of the original system image and can be removed again using the same steps.

Lock Glimpse & Future Plans

Ambassador_Pineapple

Romeevan I agree, the rapid and intense devolution into AI slop and obnoxious bloatware is awful. Worse, it destroys any and all community trust they had built until this point. It may very well be over for Nothing if they can’t course-correct, and fast.

ShreekrishnaSNattoja

Amoled Display

Shafman THEY LITERALLY PARTNERED WITH THE “GLANCE”. BE CAREFUL 😭

Alternative

themountofmint

We are consumers. We buy products if they are good, and don’t if they are not.

It is our right to give opinions about what Nothing does to the products we own(and refuse them). It is not our job nor obligation to give ideas and care about Nothing. WE gave them OUR money, not the other way around. Why do we have to care about how they earn their money if they are the ones to add adware to our phones?

By this shrew move by them, we(most of us here) lost faith in their vision and minds. We couldn’t care less about how they earn money if it is through handling our private information, not by presenting great products and services.

I know some of you love Nothing much to the extent to defending them, but please think carefully about what is really right for us consumers. It’s the Nothing’s job to care for themselves.

OHMIC

Akis Whatever I just saw, the changes you guys are making in Nothing OS 4.0

Like The lock screen glimpse and adding some apps is actually not a good idea. You guys are eventually loosing that integrity for the OS for which it was know for (Clean, Bloat free, optimised) .

I know for growth company needs the revenue but not in this way people will start hating the phones due to such things already Phone 3 was trolled for its price but ok everyone compromised but compromising for bloatwares and glimpse is not a good idea ! Nothing OS was not meant for this !

Please it’s a kind request to you that not add this instead focusing on optimization and productivity!

Adding this things will not improve the company growth instead it will be a downfall for company by reducing your loyal customers and new customers.

I’m also a new customer using Phone 3 & I was impressed with the my device usage and performance and especially the NOTHING OS.

PLEASE DON’T DO THAT !

Maggi Goreng

Alternative

True! OUR phones are paid with OUR own hard-earned money, not some charity handout from THEM. When I decided to buy a phone, no phone company ever helped me figure out how to earn the money to buy their phone.

themountofmint

We’re not just complaining for the sake of it — we’re customers who genuinely care about the brand. Giving feedback is a form of solution, because if no one speaks up, Nothing would never know where the real line is.

True loyalty isn’t about blind support. Nearly 90% of the people here believe this strategy is problematic; it’s clearly not just an isolated opinion😅

Amudhan_Sundararajan

themountofmint Hey, I can understand your perspective about a small brand. It’s tough, and nobody is arguing that Nothing doesn’t face enormous challenges. However, the complaints about features like Lock Glimpse aren’t just people being ungrateful… it’s a reaction to a broken promise and a serious value problem.

You mentioned that Nothing offers their phone at less price and how hard it is to stay in business. But we need to look at the economics here:

Manufacturing is in Asia: While their HQ in London is a great strategic move to build brand trust and bypass the “Chinese-only” skepticism in the West and India, the actual hardware is made in India. The cost of manufacturing, labor, and the supply chain is significantly cheaper than what you’d expect from a purely Western operation.
We Already Paid the Premium: We, the customers, have literally been paying a premium for the clean experience. When you look at the specs-to-price ratio—especially with the Phone (3) itself whivh is being marketed as a flagship.. you see clear compromises: a downgraded processor compared to rivals, slower memory types, and the baffling inclusion of a slow USB 2.0 port on a high-priced phone. When a flagship itself downgrades a lot, you can see understand the compromises they made for (a) series too. We accepted these downgraded specs and higher price because Nothing’s USP was the bloatware-free OS. That premium price was our subsidy for their “small team” and “clean vision.”

If Nothing starts packing in ad-serving features like Lock Glimpse, then what’s the point of choosing them? The minute they add ad-ware, they lose their only real differentiator. We bought the phone to avoid this kind of tracking and unnecessary content.
If Nothing is now just going to give us less specs for a higher price and add bloatware, we might as well buy another brand and use ADB to debloat it ourselves.

If they are struggling financially (which is unlikely given their statements about sales, but let’s assume it’s true):

Use CMF: That’s what their sub-brand is for! They can pack the budget-friendly CMF line with ads and bloatware and still justify it as it is offering a better price-to-specs ratio than the competition.
Respect the Tiers: The price difference between the Phone (3a) Pro and the Phone (3) flagship is only about $95. If they must monetize the mid-range, they could put Lock Glimpse on the base Phone (3a), but leave the expensive Phone (3a) Pro clean. People who paid an extra $80 for slightly more RAM and the periscope lens shouldn’t get ads.
Offer Useful Value: If they must pre-install, install useful apps like Netflix or Amazon Prime Video (which are necessary for HDR support) or the AI features like ChatGPT they already built widget for it might as well pre-install and make money outof it. They can also use Chatgpt instead of gemini flash for essential space, Customers can benefit from a better model, ChatGPT will get more training data and Nothing can profit from it too (just like apple). Generate revenue by enhancing the experience, not distracting from it.

The poor sales of the Phone (3).. if that’s the cause of this… are their own strategic mistake regarding pricing and specs. We shouldn’t have to suffer lock-screen ads because of it. It’s a disservice to the customers who specifically paid more for their minimalist promise.

Ant-e-so-shial

Amudhan_Sundararajan The cost of manufacturing, labor, and the supply chain is significantly cheaper than what you’d expect from a purely Western operation.

It’s still costlier than China and Raw materials and suppliers demand and sell the same hardware components for higher prices to Nothing than to Apple or Samsung or Chinese brand

Amudhan_Sundararajan The minute they add ad-ware, they lose their only real differentiator.

Still Bloatware free OS is no the ONLY differentiator 🤦‍♂️( Hardware Design, Glyphs, Aesthetics, pricing and Build quality, Uniqueness,etc…) you are ignoring everything else and blatantly lying for the sake of aligning with your arguments

Amudhan_Sundararajan The price difference between the Phone (3a) Pro and the Phone (3) flagship is only about $95. If they must monetize the mid-range, they could put Lock Glimpse on the base Phone (3a), but leave the expensive Phone (3a) Pro clean. People who paid an extra $80 for slightly more RAM and the periscope lens shouldn’t get ads.

Let me guess…you own Phone(3a) Pro

Amudhan_Sundararajan install useful apps like Netflix or Amazon Prime Video (which are necessary for HDR support)

They have not yet announced which apps they will include, this is a discussion after they announce those

Amudhan_Sundararajan We shouldn’t have to suffer lock-screen ads because of it. It’s a disservice to the customers who specifically paid more for their minimalist promise.

Suffering? are you serious? Its turned OFF by default…

themountofmint It’s fruitless…seems like nobody listens or thinks here

Stereobasic

Ant-e-so-shial you don’ t really listen too 😉

Amudhan_Sundararajan

Ant-e-so-shial Still Bloatware free OS is the ONLY differentiator 🤦‍♂️( Hardware Design, Glyphs, Aesthetics, pricing and Build quality, Uniqueness,etc…) you are ignoring everything else and blatantly lying for the sake of aligning with your arguments

Nord 4 Aesthetics are much better than Nothing phone (3a) pro. Unimetal body, and the design and in hand feel was much better than plastic frame from (3a) series. And one more thing in this budget segment almost everyone offers gorilla glass back (if they include back glass) than the one that’s present in (3a) series (panda glass on front and unknown glass on the back) and Nord series have thinner bezels too compared to (3a)

You think Nothing offers premium materials? You are just living in a delusional world. Almost everyone knows nothing cut costs at everything except the likes of you. I knew there are some phones that offer better front and back protection and did a quick research on ChatGPT. And you can see the results!

You are a sales person in a mobile show room and doesn’t even know this! I pity those who purchased their smartphones in your shop based on your recommendations.

I am a (3a) pro user. A phone which is ridiculed by the community itself for the back design and camera bump. I don’t care about the design, I chose Nothing purely based on the minimalistic design and for essential space. So, stop assuming.

Ant-e-so-shial Let me guess…you own Phone(3a)

I’m still against the bloatwares on Nothing OS. But, if they’re indeed in the verge of bankruptcy i suggested these as an extreme measures. I’m not suggesting this just because I’m using the (3a) pro.

See, during this Big billion days sale Phone (3) price dropped below phone (3a) pro at point (between 12-2 a.m. to be exact). That almost blurred the lines between the (3a pro) and phone (3).

Ant-e-so-shial Suffering? are you serious? Its turned OFF by default…

In other phones also we can disable / uninstall bloatwares through ADB. It’s just turned off. But, that Adwares is still present in your phone and collecting data in the background

Ant-e-so-shial It’s fruitless…seems like nobody listens or thinks here

You are the one who doesn’t listen or thinks around here. If you’re able to read and think you’d have understand what others are trying to say here. But, alas your arrogance is overshadowing your clay brain.

Maggi Goreng

A wild appeared!

Ant-e-so-shial

Amudhan_Sundararajan

Amudhan_Sundararajan Nord 4 Aesthetics are much better than Nothing phone (3a) pro. Unimetal body, and the design and in hand feel was much better than plastic frame from (3a) series. And one more thing in this budget segment almost everyone offers gorilla glass back (if they include back glass) than the one that’s present in (3a) series (panda glass) and Nord series have thinner bezels too compared to (3a)

bro…Just buy those from now on…

Amudhan_Sundararajan You and your arrogant, stupid assumptions.. the other day you assume Indian customers are poor and can’t afford better phones and all and now you’re assuming I’m (3a) user.

In other thread itself I mentioned I use (3a) pro 12/256 variant which is relatively pricer than pixel 8a

Yeah my bad I meant to type 3a pro i’ve edited it now but my point is, You have phone(3a) pro so it shouldn’t have bloatware, people who have phone(3a) can have blaotware cause they bought a cheaper phone than you? Who is showing classism now?

Amudhan_Sundararajan The price difference between the Phone (3a) Pro and the Phone (3) flagship is only about $95. If they must monetize the mid-range, they could put Lock Glimpse on the base Phone (3a), but leave the expensive Phone (3a) Pro clean. People who paid an extra $80 for slightly more RAM and the periscope lens shouldn’t get ads.

I thought your agenda was no bloatware but its “ No the phone I bought shouldn’t have bloatware, but people who have bought cheaper phone than mine, the poor can have Bloatware, idc” I had a bit of respect for your arguments cause I thought you stood for no bloatware,, Nothing shouldn’t lose thier essence but these lines show what you truly want.

and with your logic of Bloatware = suffering, you are saying poor shall suffer.

And I thought we were supposed to debate idiologies but if it’s about insulting then there are other words to use to try and insult someone apart from fool,arrogant,stupid. This might help https://www.dictionary.com/

OHMIC

Please stop it Guys don’t fight.

Only the thing is this glimpse and all this bloatwares shouldn’t be added cuz it ain’t professional for Nothing OS.

Nothing OS will not look like a signature OS how it should be a different OS than other OS which are there in market.

Giving bloatwares to base model and not to flagship model is type of in equality to users.

Nothing could eventually loose their loyal customers. And I don’t want Nothing to face this.

Dear Nothing please don’t add bloatwares

ArC

🤔

Anonymous1447

I can’t believe there’s a heated debate going on here. Whether it’s justified or not to inject adware and pre-installed apps, it’s a fact that no Phone 3a, 3a pro user bought the devices knowing the devices will eventually have adware. This was never mentioned in any of the promotions, advertising, marketing, sales online or offline during sales. in fact the latter was advertised that all Nothing devices will have same clean OS, but now they are setting tiers as flagship and non-flagship. Turned on or off, adware does what adware does, i.e to collect user data. this is being forced up on the current a-series customers that have already bought the devices expecting clean OS. if they really want to do this, they should do it in the future devices and not the current ones.

Mr_RatsYT

Siemens NX

I wont be buying any new Nothing products anymore… Thanks for destroying our trust Carl

Nectar

Akis It doesn’t work that way.

First: you are betraying your principles and your users, just as happened with the old 1+.

Second: It’s not a question of whether it can be disabled or not, it’s a question of opening up the possibility of doing similar or worse things in the future.

There’s no way around it, unless you want to become a Xiaomi 2.0. Remove that option and look for other alternatives to generate revenue, of which there are many more. For example, cloud storage, etc.

I am not currently a Nothing user, but I was a user of the old 1+ and saw with my own eyes where 1+ has ended up, so don’t do it. As a former user of 1+ in its heyday, I urge you to reconsider.

MeshachStephen

Siemens NX ooops

nautrish

So my journey started with CMF phone continued till 3a and now thats the end..

You hv build ur customer base bcoz of clean software……thats it..

In comparison neither Ur phone have superior hardware nor features, just 1 thing the software and now U hv taken this away …. Other brands are providing AI capabilities in their software but these guys provided us wid ads. Now I will trust any Chinese company, at least they are not fooling us wid only clean software, they provide us wid great hardware and features at such price range.

Thank u for an eye opening. Never gonna buy Nothing again…

ArnoldMelvinXavier

Nectar OG. Oneplus last good phone was oneplus 6, Android 10. Since Android 11 and oneplus 6T. Oneplus became oppo 2.0 by removing headphone jack and injecting colour OS

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