Nothing OS Wishlist (2024)

NotP2a Bro you are a legend. These are amazing features. I also had some ideas about missing features… i am describing them below

1. implementing the option of edge panel. coming from a Samsung phone, I miss it dearly as it increased productivity by a lot as I could do calculations on calculator panel, see calender, and open any app I want straight from it. I don’t want you guys to copy it the same as Samsung. I want to see your take on it, using the nothing theme.

2. I want you guys to develop an all in one app that lets me connect my phone to my PC wirelessly , use my phone from my PC, share and transfer files seamlessly, use my mobile as a webcam or mic and all the good stuff. if I would like to give an example of an app it would be Samsung flow but with webcam option. make something like that for PC connection but all in one app I would ever need.

3. more photo taking options. and I straight up like you guys to add palm to capture, extra floating shutter button, voice to capture like saying “cheese” and like this.

4. please please please add charging indicator option for nothing 2a. I mean like making the top left one show charging indication when not in use would be the best thing. it should have the least priority, glyph timer having priority. I say this because I think the top left one is the only one that can be used like a meter… if others can be used make the bottom left one the charging indicator. would love to see it. (ps don’t make the Right bar one the charging indication, cuz that’s important for essential notifications)

5. I did not find a possibility to assign specific contacts to Whatsapp or meet for essential notifications. if not yet added then kindly do, as it’s important. otherwise, win win.

Note: The following list, while not exhaustive, may contain code-related details which may be relevant only to the developers on the Nothing OS team.

Bugs in Nothing OS:

• Unable to rotate Home screen:

  I previously initiated a discussion here. As evident from the discussion, despite the presence of the option in the Settings, there is currently no means to enable/disable it.

  • I’ve examined the code of the Nothing Launcher app and discovered that most activities are configured with android:screenOrientation="portrait". Additionally, the strings.xml file houses the strings visible in the screenshot. Moreover, within the nt_launcher_preferences.xml file, there’s a preference with the key android:key="pref_allowRotation" with a default value of false. However, in the LauncherSettingsFragment.java class, the initPreference method always returns false for rotation instead of true, causing the preference to be excluded from the Home Settings screen. Despite this, since the key is defined in the nt_launcher_preferences file, the Settings app displays it when searched.

• Cannot rotate screen in Settings app:

  Similar to the aforementioned issue, while stock Android permits screen rotation within the Settings app, the customized Settings app by Nothing restricts this functionality.

• Missing dancing (squiggly) playback bar in media player:

  Android 13 introduced a feature called dancing playback bar, as seen below:

  

  • To the best of my knowledge, Nothing OS does not include it. In the default SystemUI implementation in AOSP, the progress bar utilizes the SquigglyProgress.kt drawable. You can find the implementation here. Therefore, if Nothing OS employs a customized version of MediaPlayer, then please set the android:progressDrawable to SquigglyProgress.

• Bugs in Google Search bar:

  Enabling the Search bar in the Home screen layout triggers several issues:

  • The option for Google Doodles on widget is missing from Google’s Search Widget settings.

  • Google Doodles occasionally appear inconsistently.

  • The Search bar doesn’t reflect customizations made in the Google app’s settings.

  • Dynamic theming isn’t applied to it (It’s uncertain whether this feature is exclusive to stock Android.):

    

    Note: These bugs might be influenced by my use of the beta version of the Google app.

• Volume indicator remains visible even when screen is on:

  The Volume indicator feature in the Glyph interface is designed to display the volume level even when the screen is turned off. However, it lights up unnecessarily when the screen is on and the phone is in use. It seems redundant since the volume level is already visible on the screen. Additionally, it’s inconvenient as I don’t want others to see my phone’s volume level while I’m using it.

• Screen saver does not work:

  Unless I’ve overlooked a setting, the screen saver has never appeared on my phone. I have it enabled and set to While docked and charging, yet it never activates.

• Multiple clocks displayed on the lock screen:

  Presently, when you add a clock widget to the lock screen, the system clock remains visible alongside the added clock widget. This doesn’t serve any purpose, as having two or more clocks on the lock screen is unnecessary.

  Potential solutions:

  1. Upon adding a clock widget to the lock screen, the system clock should be automatically hidden.
  2. Enable customization options for the lock screen clock. This feature, absent in Nothing OS but available in Android 14, would be preferable over adding widgets.

• AOD clock often changes position:

  The clock on the Always-On Display (AOD) appears to intermittently shift position, moving up and down randomly. Sometimes, it positions itself towards the top, while at other times, it shifts towards the bottom.

• Lock screen clock snappy animation:

  While not technically a bug, there’s an issue with the lock screen clock snapping back into place when dismissing a notification.

  Steps to reproduce:

  • Enable Double-line clock in lock screen settings.

  • Start a video, music, or any notification (ensure Show media on lock screen is enabled for media notifications).

  • Dismiss the media player or the notification.

    Expected behavior:

    The clock smoothly transitions back to the center of the screen.

    
    

    Actual behavior:

    The clock abruptly snaps back to the middle of the screen.

• Glyph interface sometimes does not turn on when Bedtime mode goes off:

  I’ve configured the Glyph interface to deactivate when Bedtime mode begins. However, the Glyph interface fails to reactivate when I pause Bedtime mode. Moreover, there are instances where it doesn’t turn on even after the scheduled Bedtime period concludes. The same things happens vice-versa, i.e., when I’ve paused Bedtime mode and enabled Glyph interface myself, the Glyph interface does not get disabled when Bedtime mode resumes again.

• Music visualization is just random:

  While the Music visualization feature is a welcome addition, it appears to operate randomly, often not syncing with the song or its beats.

• Per-app music visualization:

  While this could be considered a feature request, it would be beneficial to have an option to set per-app preferences for music visualization, similar to the per-app language preference. For instance, I don’t want the Glyphs to light up when I’m watching a YouTube video; I only want them to illuminate when music is playing!

• Network issues:

  There are several network issues plaguing Phone 2 (as per my personal experience owning one), particularly noticeable with a Jio SIM.

  Here’s a rundown:

  • Network signal drops to zero bars for extended periods. I’ve encountered this problem quite a few times, leaving me without network connectivity for hours. In such instances, I’m unable to make calls and must resort to Wi-Fi calling.

  • Internet speed occasionally plummets to 0 kbps without any discernible cause. I’ve had to toggle the internet on and off multiple times before it resumes functioning.

    It’s worth noting that I primarily utilize 5G, and while these issues are most prevalent on 5G, they do occur rarely on 4G as well.

Lack of features:

• Enable editing of the top two tiles in the quick settings panel:

  When you open the notifications shade, you’ll notice six tiles displayed. Among them, the top two are occupied by the Network and Bluetooth tiles. I wish to customize these top tiles to better suit my preferences, as I don’t use Bluetooth as frequently. Unfortunately, while such customization is possible in stock Android, it’s currently unavailable in Nothing OS.

• Quick settings panel lacks color variety:

  While it’s not a feature deficiency, incorporating some color into the quick settings panel, akin to stock Android, would enhance its visual appeal:

  

  I’m not suggesting a complete overhaul with fully colored pills like in the example above, but adding a touch of color would be aesthetically pleasing.

Note: The lack of features above typically mean features that are available on stock Android but missing in Nothing OS.

While I understand that these issues are typically reported through the Feedback option in Settings, I’ve already submitted numerous reports without any visible resolution. I’m starting to doubt whether the developer team even receives the feedback through that channel. Hence, I’m posting them here in hopes that someone from the team notices these issues and addresses them accordingly.

I will keep the list updated by marking issues as resolved or even adding new ones.

RapidZapper Even if it were a design choice, I would still like to have it. The current media player already has other stock Android effects, so why not include the squiggly progress as well? Personally I feel like it looks better than a boring straight line and also enhances the visibility of the progress bar.

SaiAnand I agree, Sai Anand. Much more than the aesthetics, if the Security features are concentrated upon along with useful time-saving features [read my post] and a better image processing in future updates, then NOTHING will not be ANYTHING ! Like I said in my post, I am keeping my fingers crossed.

SumanKumarDas In the 3rd point “A dedicated Phone Manager app for cleaning Junk, boosting RAM and which shows storage and Security status of the device.”, I haven’t mentioned about a third party cleaner software which may be unsafe for various reasons mainly for the permissions it may seek and the T&Cs which it may throw in and which the Consumer would barely read. The point I am making is about a native Nothing (home-grown) app which brands like Samsung and Asus have. These features have been used by me earlier in the afore said brand phones and I didn’t find them to be intrusive. I believe that, these brands have evolved a lot in the last decade and are (like NOTHING) listening to the consumers. An example is Asus retaining the 3.5mm headphone jack in even the latest device and keeping the UI clean and another example is Samsung promising 4+ years of OS upgrades in their devices and keeping the One UI clean and efficient.

I have not used Xiaomi phones or phones of brands under BBK Electronics till now.

Taking a leaf out of competitors’ books doesn’t mean that you are copying. You may end up doing better than them, if proper plans are in place to use the available resources effectively and efficiently which leads to the ultimate goal i.e., a solid feature-packed device. If you want to punch above your weight in this Smartphone market, then you must leap in the right direction which is in the direction of consumers. And there are a lot of areas, where one can become a pioneer in like what NOTHING has done with the Glyph interface, the overall phone design and minimalistic UI. A solid start for everyone to notice and start thinking about NOTHING. And that is why, I have shared the features wish-list because I want a brand like NOTHING to grow and steer clear of the competition in a league of its own and take the Consumers in a league of their own. I see shades of uniqueness and the thirst to be the best like what once One Plus was and like what Asus and Samsung try to do with their higher end phones. In the end, it will be a Win-Win situation for both the Company and the Consumers.