Hello Nothing Team,
I recently tried Nothing OS 5.0 and wanted to share detailed feedback, bug reports, and feature suggestions based on my experience.
I really like the direction of the new update, especially the redesigned Quick Settings/Notification experience. However, there are a few issues that I noticed, along with some features that I believe could make Nothing OS much more useful for multitasking and power users.
1. Bug Reports
1.1 new notification panel can be opened from the Lock Screen
The new Notification panel can be opened from the left side by swiping down while the phone is on the lock screen.
For security and privacy, please consider restricting access to the notification panel from the lock screen, or provide an option under Lock Screen settings to control this behavior. Currently quick settings didn’t open but the notification panel opens.
1.2 Quick Settings sometimes feels laggy
The new Quick Settings panel sometimes feels noticeably laggy, especially when:
- Adjusting brightness
- Controlling volume
- Scrolling or interacting with Quick Settings
- Closing the panel
The animation and touch response occasionally feel less smooth than expected.
1.3 Background does not properly fill the bottom corners
After opening the new Notification/Quick Settings panel, the background does not always appear to properly fill the bottom corners.
There is sometimes an empty/unfilled area around the bottom corners, which makes the panel look unfinished.
1.4 Chrome can cause system-wide lag/freezing
When opening Google Chrome, I sometimes experience severe lag or freezing across the system.
It can affect other system/Google apps as well, and on some occasions I have also seen a message indicating that Google Play services has stopped working.
Please investigate whether this could be related to memory management, background processes, or the new system UI.
1.5 Lock Screen depth-effect wallpaper movement
The Lock Screen depth-effect wallpaper has an issue while zooming.
When zooming/interacting with the wallpaper, it sometimes automatically moves or bounces up and down, instead of maintaining a stable position.
It would be better if the wallpaper remained stable unless the user intentionally moves it.
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2. Feedback & Feature Requests
2.1 Option to remove the Media Player from Quick Settings
Please add an option to hide/remove the Media Player from the new Quick Settings panel.
The media player is already available in the notification section/page, so showing it in multiple places can take up valuable space.
2.2 Improve landscape Quick Settings layout
The new Quick Settings panel does not utilize the available space properly in landscape mode.
Quick settings elements extend beyond the available screen height.
As a result, the interface feels less optimized and sometimes slightly laggy in landscape mode.
Please consider creating a dedicated landscape layout that makes better use of the available horizontal space.
2.3 Customize app icon size in Nothing Launcher
Please add an option to control app icon size in Nothing Launcher.
It would also be great if Nothing Launcher allowed users to customize the shape of app icons, or at least choose from a few predefined icon shapes.
2.4 Option to hide app names in the app drawer
Please add an option to hide app titles/names below icons in the app drawer.
Some users prefer a cleaner and more minimal launcher layout where only the icons are displayed.
Also in the app drawer margin is not even at start (left) & end (right). You can add padding to scrollview at start / end.
Please add an option to show total RAM and current RAM usage in the Recent Apps screen. This would give users useful information at a glance and make the Recent Apps UI feel more informative and controlled.
2.5 Popup view for older notifications
Currently, when a notification is visible on the screen, users can interact with it and potentially open the related app in popup view.
It would be useful if older notifications in the notification section also had an option such as:
Long hold on notification then Open in Popup View
This would be particularly useful for quickly opening a messaging app, email, browser, or another supported app without leaving the current task even if nothing is in no longer on current screen, just in notification section (unread notifications)
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3. Major Suggestion — Smart Side Bar
The feature I would most strongly request for Nothing OS is a Smart Side Bar / Edge Panel-style feature.
Something similar to Samsung’s Edge Panels would be extremely useful on Nothing phones.
The idea is simple:
Swipe from the side → Smart Side Bar appears → tap an app → app opens in Popup/Floating View
This would allow users to open another application without leaving or minimizing the current application and without going to the Recent Apps screen.
For example:
- Playing a game → open WhatsApp in popup view
- Watching YouTube → open WhatsApp or Messages
- On a video call → quickly open another app
- Reading an email → open Chrome to search something
- Waiting for an OTP → quickly open Gmail/Messages
- Writing a message → open ChatGPT for help improving or replying to the message
- Gaming → open music controls or another supported app
- Working in one application → quickly open Calculator, Notes, Chrome, etc.
This would make Nothing OS much better for quick multitasking.
I have seen users requesting similar functionality multiple times across the Nothing community, X/Twitter, YouTube comments, and other discussions. This has also been requested by users for a long time, including since around 2024.
I understand that a Smart Side Bar would not be useful to every user, but it does not need to be enabled for everyone.
It could simply be an optional feature that is disabled by default.
Users who want it can enable it from:
Settings → Special Features → Smart Side Bar
This would give Nothing users more flexibility while keeping the default Nothing OS experience clean and minimal.
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4. Per-App Volume Control
Another useful feature would be separate volume control for individual apps.
For example, a user could:
- Play music at a low volume
- Play a game at a different volume
- Keep video-call audio at another level
This would be especially useful when gaming while listening to music, during video calls, or when using multiple media applications simultaneously.
A per-app volume mixer could make Nothing OS considerably better for multitasking and media usage.
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5. Per-App Mobile Data & Wi-Fi Control
Please consider adding an option to completely control an application’s network access from App Info → Data Usage.
For example:
App Info → Data Usage
- Allow Mobile Data switch (on/off)
- Allow Wi-Fi switch (on/off)
The user could disable mobile data and/or Wi-Fi for a particular app.
This would be useful when an application is supposed to work offline but continues using network data which using the app.
It would also give users better control over:
- Background data usage
- Battery consumption
- Privacy
- Unnecessary network activity
- Apps that do not need internet access
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Final Request
I understand that not every suggestion here will be useful for every Nothing Phone user. However, these features would be extremely valuable for users who want better multitasking, customization, and control.
Most importantly, I would really like to see the Smart Side Bar with Popup View become part of Nothing OS.
Nothing has always focused on a clean and unique software experience. An optional Smart Side Bar could add powerful multitasking capabilities without making the default UI complicated.
If these features are implemented as optional settings, users who do not need them can simply leave them disabled, while power users can enable them when needed.
I hope the Nothing team considers these bugs, improvements, and feature requests for the Nothing OS 5.0 stable release and future updates.
Thank you for listening to the community and continuing to improve Nothing OS.
Best regards,
Shivam Raj
https://docs.google.com/document/d/16vj5B3YjHMYMs0WPfT4ZXdDlM6Ygsk3ZY0Q6D9Av93E/edit?usp=drivesdk
I will keep updating on Google docs.
