I installed the Nothing OS 5.0 stable release on my Nothing Phone 3(a) yesterday and deeply regret the decision. This does not feel like a stable build - it feels like an unfinished, poorly tested version. Here’s why:
1. RAM expansion disabled itself. Right after the update, the system reported an error and turned off the RAM expansion feature. I had to manually re-enable it.
2. Unremovable bloatware - Google Play Games. The update installed Google Play Games, which cannot be removed. It’s unnecessary garbage for many users.
3. Choppy / janky system animations. Animations feel broken and stuttery. The smoothness from the previous version is gone.
4. Fonts, icon sizes and layout regressions - everywhere. System font size is set to «standard», but text became smaller. On the same screen: Russian text has one size/style, English text has a different size/style. Icons shift upward / get partially obscured because they overlap the status bar / top panel. This is not an isolated case - font/icon sizing and positioning issues appear throughout the OS.
5. SIM PIN prompt no longer appears after reboot / wake. After turning on or restarting the phone, the «Enter SIM PIN» prompt does not show automatically. I have to swipe to unlock first. The PIN dots are huge and positioned very close to the SIM icon - looks careless.
6. App switcher shows a huge label button in the top-left corner. In the recent apps view, each app now has a button with its name in the top-left corner. It looks awful and provides zero value.
The OS has serious font and icon regressions across the system. It looks and feels unfinished and rushed. I really hope Nothing addresses most of these issues quickly with patches and stops shipping under-tested updates.
