How we build Software

Dan🧑💻 · 2026-09-04T10:18:00+00:00

Hi! I’m Dan. I joined Nothing in January, and I am in charge of software for Nothing phones. If you watched the Nothing OS 5.0 video (the one where Carl is playing pool), I am the person chatting to Rob at the end. I’ve been speaking to @Louis ☕️, @Rohit and @Zac 🛸, and they suggested I start writing more on Nothing community. Transparency is a big part of what we do at Nothing, so I’ll be on here more regularly. I’ll share what I am thinking about Nothing software, and I want to know what you think too. — What do you do all day? Most of my job is about prioritisation. There are so many good ideas out there that Nothing could be building, but we have to decide which gets made. Sometimes this is based on user feedback, data and the market, and sometimes it’s a gut feel we have for something we really believe in. Let’s take Nothing OS 5.0 as an example - by now you should have a better understanding of what is coming, so I won’t rattle off features, but I’ll try and explain the thinking behind it. — Why do people buy our phones? We start by asking why users like Nothing phones, and our software. There are lots of ideas out there, here are just a few: It’s a rejection of other big phone companies, and feels distinct. That says something about the people who buy it - they have good taste in tech. For software, that means it should look and feel different to everything else. Touching grass - People are tired of having their attention sucked into their phone every day. “Nothing” means a life without unnecessary tech, just the stuff which you choose to include in your life. Cryptic and playful - “Nothing” is about making tech fun again, and it is meant to be a bit mysterious. You have to use our phones for a while to unlock their secrets. There are lots of others too - some of our features are focused on personal productivity, and sometimes we do stuff about creativity and personalisation. There are too many ideas. We cannot do all of them. The ideas that I am most excited about are the ones that tie back to how Nothing started. We are called “Nothing” - a rejection of needless excess. Our logo looks like it is from a dot matrix printer, our first phone was called phone (1), and our phones look like they are right off the production line - transparent enough for you to see the inner workings. We can apply these ideas to software - by keeping the design minimalistic but different and cool, by building features that help you stay away from your phone rather than dragging you back to it, and by keeping the OS as a simple blank canvas you can make your own. We used these ideas to decide what we built in Nothing OS 5.0. — Nothing OS 5.0 We wanted to focus on improving what we already do well, rather than adding things that might feel un-Nothing. We didn’t want to drift away from what made all of you like us in the first place. That is why we focused a lot on broad improvements to design and experience across the OS, rather than just one new area. We did a full audit of everything we have built over the last few years, looking for points of friction, and looking at how features are really being used after they go live. We know from looking at our analytics that a lot of our most interesting features aren’t used by everyone. For example, we know it takes a long time for users to configure Essential Notifications, and some never figure it out at all. This is our fault, not theirs, so we created the Glyph app to make this easier. We also know that if you are used to using OS4.1, sometimes it can feel basic in places - a lack of polish and character. We wanted to make using our OS every day delightful in lots of small ways, so we added a lot of UX improvements, upgraded the visual style, added more motion design, and tweaked the tech to make everything feel smoother and quicker. Where we have introduced new features we tried to base them on gaps we saw in how users actually use our phones. We visited stores, talked to users and took lots of photos of their homescreens and lock screens (even if their phone wasn’t a Nothing phone). We kept those near our product and design teams while we were working. We saw that some users wanted a detailed and techy UI, while some wanted their phone to look simple and slick. That’s why we created the two new lock screen clock faces - one minimal and stylish, one intricate and packed with information, almost like a terminal. We wanted everything we added to be inspired by a user’s needs and preferences, and built with love and creativity. You will have to tell us whether you think we’ve achieved our goal. — Why don’t you build a Nothing (insert existing app here)? We get a lot of requests from the community to build things like a Nothing Dialler, Messaging app or Calculator. We did build a Nothing Weather app, but haven’t expanded much beyond that. I can understand for many of you it is frustrating to drop out of the Nothing world into the Android world. The main reason we haven’t done this is comparing the cost to the benefit it brings. The dialler is a good example - there is a lot of regulation and requirements from carriers for diallers, covering things like emergencies and accessibility. The Google app also provides things like call screening, spam protection and caller ID. Building a new dialer is harder than it looks, and isn’t just a one-off cost - we’d have to keep spending money on it every time there was an Android update, regulatory change or carrier need. At the size we are, that would mean we’d have to deprioritize a lot of other things that we think are more valuable. It is again a question of prioritisation - if we did it, we’d either have to charge more for our phones, or do much less with our other software. The dialler is a very mature product - we don’t think there’s much value we can add in how it works right now. It would look better. It would not work better. We could make a calculator look like its from Nothing, but we can’t invent new Nothing maths. For the near future at least, we will be leaving most of the Google apps as-is, and focusing on making the overall OS shell and a few hero apps feel very Nothing. — What’s next? Our teams are focused on rolling out the Nothing OS 5.0 release across all supported devices, and are starting development on 5.1. Nothing OS 5.1 will be a smaller release, but still with a few exciting changes. (We will finally be allowing users to remap the Essential Key, for example). Lots of us are already starting to focus on what we do for Nothing OS 6.0 next year. This process should always start with talking to users, so we will be doing store visits, user interviews and hopefully talking to some of you over the next few months. It is still in the abstract stage at the moment - we are trying to refine our understanding of why people like Nothing phones, how their expectations of us are changing, and what is possible as technology evolves. 🗣️ I’d like to know what you think. You aren’t typical users, you are our core fans, so you know what feels like Nothing and what feels weird. What makes Nothing good? How would you describe it to a friend who has never heard of us? What would be an un-Nothing thing for us to build? Why would it feel wrong? If I keep writing about how we build software, what would you like to know about?

Dan🧑‍💻

RGupta as much as possible we try and introduce features and changes to all of the phones we support, but it isn’t always possible.

For example - some features are created in Android by Google, and they then have to be enabled by chip manufacturers like Qualcomm before we can adopt them. That sometimes introduced an upgrade cutoff that we’d rather wasn’t there. This has been a bit of a learning curve for me - I’m a software guy used to working with apps and servers, and working an OS means you have a range of hardware profiles (at the last count we had about 14 different glyphs to support, and we want them all to be great!). I promise you we try to make sure our earliest customers get a good experience with their phones for as long as possible.

ChrisJ

Dan🧑‍💻 That sometimes introduced an upgrade cutoff that we’d rather wasn’t there.

I did not understand what u meant here

RGupta

Dan🧑‍💻 I am software developer at os level and I understand difficulties and intent to solve them…especially if the same cpu chip is available on the older phones…for eg essential space could be triggered via a gesture on phones lacking essential key, also essential voice can be ported on phones with the same snapdragon 7s cpu… nothing team is acting smart by limiting features on older version (with same version number ) for selling newer phones!!!

Dan🧑‍💻

Igor S one for our design team - it would certainly look cool, but might be distracting. It can make it harder to find stuff if things are moving around - movement is usually a call to action.

That being said, a little subtle motion design in some places might be nice.

Bruce_Wayne8887

Would it be possible to get device level sound equalizer? So we can try to add more Bass to watching videos on tictok or youtube? I find my self wanting more bass on the Phone 3 outside of listening to music apps.

CandidSai

Thanks for sharing and very insightful information.

_8OMIC_

@Dan🧑‍💻 It’s really fun watching this conversation 😄. Gaming features I want to see in nothing in future :

1.) a voice 🗣️ changer option, with atleast 5-6 voice options .

2.) A dedicated fps ⏫ booster , I mean the native game boost is just a casual thing , i want a specific option for that ( if possible ).

3.) A dedicated screen recorder 🎥 for gaming , as many users run yt channels through screen recording and it’s a headache 🤕 with the current general screen recording system and there’s even a bug in screen recording through game turbo 💨 which disable any voice in the video.

4.) i ask for team to add a dual recording system in screen recording where screen and camera( front camera ) recording both run at the same time , I mean like the youtubers do . If there’s a way it can be possible, then it will be the spotlight of the gaming upgrades . We can call it something like streamer recording .

5.) add something like quick msging 💬 or quick access of specific apps like , discord , WhatsApp an more which will then appear as a pop up. like I used to have this settings in my old redmi 5 phone which had a quick access tab for such apps.

6.) a dedicated gaming widget 🤏🏿 can be also added and there can be more ideas around this one.

Lastly , i want to say that it doesn’t need a major OS update to come out . Team can just update things in the settings if possible.

🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗

RiyanR

Dan🧑‍💻 pls allow every lens(uw,telephoto)with full potential to be accessible by third party apps

AyushYaduvanshi_sD5xyDzjFL

Dan🧑‍💻 i think the newly introduced lucent theme in nothing os 5 can be implemented in more places as lucent theme is already looks good but with the app icons both doesn’t match app icons looks ugly if lucent theme implemented on app icons that will be too good and somewhere in control centre as it’s everyone there own choice give the lucent theme like also in control centre… that’s it because lucent theme is the main highlight feature of nothing os 5 and as I see many user are asking for this .. but this time nothing really done a good job I j love nothing for there uniqueness, they take users feedback and a clean ui

Cmf Guy

Zac 🛸

could you add like option to change the voice like robot voice or child voice,
floating app option directly in the game mode so that we can use apps if we needed and game at the same. We don’t have to exit the game to like reply someone.
Show the ram used in the game mode and also the temperature of the phone

@Dan🧑‍💻 is essential voice coming to other phone like 3a series and cmf phone 2 pro?
For camera, kindly remove the over photo processing things.
Is dual video recording coming for other phones in 5.0 update?
Is it possible to add fingerprint animation ? If yes, kindly add 2 or 3?

np3_cmf1

Dan🧑‍💻 I have to say that I was VERY skeptical of two recent NOS 4.1 / 5.0 additions and I have to admit that I was totally wrong.

(a) depth effect wallpaper has been great. I have a photo of my son holding a large molecular array and I really enjoy the effect against the background every time I open my phone. Great work.

(b) the collector widget. I never knew what to do with Gallery option to hold and copy an item (paste somewhere else???). However, this is exactly what the Collector widget does very effectively. I had three photos of my family (two children and one family photo) and it create that it rotates on every unlock.

I think these both are very well executed and make the small bits of NOTHING’s ideas stand out.

So, well done and props for the work leading to these seeing the wild.

Have a great weekend.

Til21 🇩🇪

Dan🧑‍💻 I think the current approach taken by Nothing OS 5 really is a great step forward. The use of transparency is top-notch, and the fluidity is well on its way to striking a brilliant balance between functionality and playfulness.

What’s a personal no-go for me when it comes to software are brazen copies of existing systems. For me, Nothing has always been one step ahead when it comes to hardware: headphones? With the wonderful Nothing X app. Smartphones? With the Glyph interface. New headphones? With Snapshot. New smartphone? Glyph Matrix.

With every new feature, I can see the reasoning behind it and the added value (regardless of what I actually use), and I appreciate the same approach in the software too; I’d like to be able to feel that very same sense of being one step ahead in future updates as well. My appeal, therefore, is to focus on existing strengths when it comes to software and to develop new features only if they offer genuine added value, rather than simply copying others cheaply. Necessities such as a separate Control Centre or various animations are, of course, a different matter, but even here care should be taken not to drift off in a direction that’s too playful, as I’m convinced that many users really appreciate the software’s lightness, and too many bouncy animations here and there, or yet another reaction, walk a fine line between smooth and overloaded.

Everything’s great at the moment, but for example the swipe down bounce and the brightness or volume slider need refinement in OS5.

I am pretty sure the team will find a well balanced way to develop NOS further and further :-)

StealthySniperC

Dan🧑‍💻 Very interesting read, thanks for all the transparency(in the os and your article lol), overall I love nothing os and am looking forward to 5.0. As of right I have a few main requests. 1.Essential voice for 3a users(I have a 3a). 2.More customizable essential notifications where for example texts can make the glyph on the right light up and calendar the bottom left etc. I understand this could make the essential notifications ui more complicated but I think it would be well worth it if implemented well. 3.Camera changes so you can either take 50mp pictures in expert mode or put manual focus in the main camera mode.(I want manual focus and 50mp photos) That’s all, ty for making this post and listening to the community!

Jerin Jose

Dan🧑‍💻 , Good to see, someone from nothing reply to user comments. Appreciate the effort went into nothing OS for what it is today. Currently I own a phone 2 and 2a, planning to buy nothing phone 3 soon. One thing which I am upset in Nothing OS is the camera optimization. I am using Nothing phone 2 as my daily driver, but the image processing became worse after introduction of Ultra XDR and it was never fixed. Also carl mentioned that image processing in new models will be coming to older models in a tweet. Still now it didn’t reach us and the update cycle is over for Nothing phone 2. I expected something until Nothing OS 4.1 which was the last feature update.

I am not sure whether you will answer this.

Still like what Nothing OS is.

I feel transparency should not be only for the problems which can be solved.

CR24

Dan🧑‍💻 Please add more options for the expert camera mode. It’s not advanced enough for most advanced photographers! 🙏🏻

g_IOnikman

Dan🧑‍💻

hi,

I’ve got my Nothing Phone (4a) less than a month ago, and I’m still new in the community.

As soon as I finished setting it up, i felt home inside NOS, yes it does feel still a young OS in some parts, and I’m not really a fan of Google apps.

But, at the same time I also felt the care put in the main parts, in design, UX, overall optimisation… it’s palpable how it’s shaping mkre and more towards a complete, smooth experience.

Also I’ve got to mention how active the community is, there are a lot of options of community-made Nothing-like apps and some are very good.

Apart from that I’d also have a “question-request hybrid” : why did you chose that specific provider for your weather app? It’s common to see it in a lot of other manufacturer’s default meteo app. To be honest I had to use another app as Nothing’s, most of the time, wasn’t accurate (I still kept using the widgets tho) … do you think you would ever be able to let user choose their providers or are there specific requirements you must meet?

Sumit

Dan🧑‍💻 We want the icons, quick setting panel, notification panel and setting page to get the lucent theme.

DaviBarbero 🇮🇹

Dan🧑‍💻

Not gonna lie, the open and close animation here looks way better than the normala android system one

bein

Dan🧑‍💻

Hi Dan, I’m Arif and I’m from Malaysia, so for me, what makes Nothing good is that it isn’t afraid to do things differently, especially with software. Nothing OS feels clean, fast and intentional, while still feeling familiar and easy to use.

I also really like how Nothing has been approaching AI so far. Instead of adding random AI features just because AI is the trend, it feels like you’re trying to find ways for it to actually be useful in everyday life.

One direction I’d personally love to see explored is more agentic AI in Nothing OS, something that can actually carry out certain tasks for you, like ordering food, handling emails, creating notes, making bookings, etc. Something similar to the upcoming android halo but NothingOS version. It could build on the same AI foundation used across the Essential apps, integrate with Essential Space, and connect with selected apps like Gmail, Notes and others. Basically, instead of having lots of separate “AI features,” the AI becomes something that can understand your context across the Essential ecosystem and actually get things done.

I feel like experimenting with this inside Nothing OS could also be a really interesting stepping stone toward the bigger Essential OS vision you guys have talked about for the future.

If you keep writing about software, I’d genuinely love to hear more about this side of it—how you see AI evolving across Nothing OS and the Essential ecosystem, what should stay on-device versus in the cloud, and how far you think agentic experiences could realistically go. And if you can share even a small hint about what you’re imagining for Essential OS, I’d love to hear it.

Dan🧑‍💻

Logging off for the weekend now. I haven’t managed to reply to you all but will go through on Monday and see if I can get you all answers.

Thanks in particular to those of you who answered my questions - it really does help us shape OS6.0.

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