Nothing, please do not create your own system apps

hexagonal707x · 2024-01-07T12:14:26+00:00

Google apps are enough. Why do you want another calculator app or gallery app. This is the problem it creates. Now companies like Nothing, Oneplus, Samsung have to create their own versions of the same app you already got from Google. The difference is Google updates their app and companies like Nothing, OnePlus don't update after some time. After a few OS upgrades, your phone will be having an older version of the app while the newer phone models of these companies will have the latest version of the app. And they don't even bother to update their own system apps. Then also people will be complaining why aren't these companies not updating their system apps for older phones. That's why sticking to Google apps are better. that's why stock Android is better. I have a Nothing Phone 2. Previous Pixel Owner. My dad has OnePlus. I can tell you right now. Telling companies to make their own version of system apps is a bad idea. They'll be lazy and never update it for older phones whereas Google apps will be always the latest on any phone. OnePlus was shit when it came to their Oxygen OS. Same with Samsung. Duplicate apps.. Google photos and Gallery app, files by Google and File manager by OnePlus. Well guess what OnePlus never updates these apps. I think Carl Pei already knows the duplicate apps situation. I don't think he's gonna make a nothing gallery app or calculator app. And that is a good thing. Whatever Nothing is doing now is literally perfect. Perfect amount of their apps that doesn't create situation of duplicate app. I hope Nothing keeps it like this. UI experience is clean and simple. If you're going to be committed to the whole design philosophy. You gotta make it reach to every phone you ever created. For example Nothing themed apps just like how Google apps update even on their old phones. Else stick with what you're doing right now. And people stop asking for a Gallery app. It will be start of duplicate apps. If you want a gallery app that much, it should atleast have Google photos and iCloud integration. Without it, it's so pointless. Don't turn this company into Samsung and OnePlus with their boat load of duplicate apps. Thank you.

oliverwhite2711

Anonymous931 actually they DO use legal force sometimes. Google it. 😭

Anonymous931

oliverwhite2711 Right… So let’s see what Google have to say about it…

https://developers.google.com/android/

When you go through the link, you see that Google doesn’t legally mandate anything at all for Android OEMs, like to preinstall apps. There is MADA (Mobile Application Distribution Agreement) and EMADA (European Mobile Application Agreement) that require OEMs to include certain Google apps to actually make the system work in order to access the Google Play store.

Now if Google is lying and if everything is such a conspiracy then, hell, I’m lying too, but I Googled it just as you said 😳

Edit: Forgot to include the link for MADA: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/containers/fix380/1495569/000119312510271362/dex1012.htm

Do a Ctrl+F for “legal” and you will find it just once - in the word ILLEGAL - everything else is “Google Legal Contact” and such:

Amudhan_Sundararajan

Just throwing in my two cents since this thread’s still kicking. A lot of people here think stock Google apps are enough, but honestly, for some of us, they’re just bloated placeholders. I disable most of them right out of the box—Photos, Files by Google, Dialer, Messages—you name it. Either they’re limited, ad-driven, cloud-dependent, or just bad.

The “duplicate app” complaint only makes sense if you have to keep the Google versions. Personally, I’d rather Nothing (or any OEM) build their own apps and give users the option to remove Google’s. Let the users decide what’s actually useful.

Also, about updates—people act like Google updates = magic. But those updates don’t care if your hardware can keep up. I’d rather have an older, stable gallery app that works offline than a shiny cloud-syncing mess that chokes on weaker processors.

Some of us even flash custom ROMs without GApps. Not having Google in everything is a feature, not a bug. If Nothing wants to make their own apps, great—just make them good and optional. That’s real user-focused design, not just shipping everything with “Made by Google” stamped on it.

Stereobasic

Amudhan_Sundararajan google photo is a catastrophe, it’s bad on every part for me. I’m very happy Nothing have done they own gallery. If they have not i will have instantly buy the oneplus 13 instead. So i can say that the fact they have gallery app was big part of the fact they won a new customer.

oliverwhite2711

Stereobasic that’s so real

CMF1_hacker

Stereobasic I gotta disagree. NOTHING Gallery is useless without a back-up feature to the cloud. Also, it has zero editing tools with the exception of that double-tap to copy. Whereas, Magic Eraser from Google is great for quick touch ups and removal of NPCs in my photos. Sure, NOTHING Gallery looks slightly nicer, and might actually run faster, but functionality-wise, I find it quite poor and a distraction of dev talent.

chaee

Love the NOTHING apps and os they make me spend so much less time on my phone and that’s ideal

CMF1_hacker

Amudhan_Sundararajan You’ve significantly drifted away from the narrative line.

The dev resource of NTL is finite. Why waste it on extra apps. Are you making the argument that NOTHING’s own suite of apps would drive sales, then make that argument with evidence.

I have an easier argument to make, that NOTHING’s current app offerings offer less than Google and I’d prefer finite dev time spent on NOTHING OS.

The other argument you could make, but are not, is that a premium per device could be charged to expand NTL’s dev budget. I feel with the NP3 I am already paying this premium for longer support and for custom dev for ES and the GM. I am OK with paying a £50-150 per device for this support. I am not OK with paying a £50 premium per device for extra apps with less functionality. I’d rather subcontract those out to third-party developers like those that made N Dial (where I’d gladly pay a £5 fee for unlimited usage.)

For the Indian market covert 100:1 (10-15k INR per device for dev of ES and GM I’m OK; 5k INR for extra dev of NTL apps, I’m not OK with)

How much MORE are you willing to pay per device for these apps you’d like? I’d bet very little.

Amudhan_Sundararajan

CMF1_hacker You’re saying I “drifted away from the narrative” — but the real drift started when this thread turned into a weird defense of Google Photos and cloud backup. Let’s bring it back: this isn’t about whether Google’s apps are “good enough.” It’s about whether Nothing should settle for “good enough” and outsource its user experience to Google, or actually build something original.

You argue that Nothing should focus only on the OS because dev resources are limited. But the OS is not just the launcher and settings menu. Core apps — like dialer, messaging, gallery, recorder, notes, and even wellbeing tools — are part of the everyday experience. Acting like they don’t matter is ignoring how users actually interact with their phone.

And let’s be real: Nothing didn’t build an OS from scratch. They’re working off AOSP like everyone else. You’ve probably seen what small custom ROM teams have done with that same base — with far fewer resources than Nothing. Some of those ROMs are more refined than what major OEMs ship. So saying “there’s no time or budget for apps” just feels like an excuse.

You mentioned N Dial — that’s a custom app. It exists because someone decided to not settle for the default. Same with Zen Space on OnePlus. Have you used it? It actually locks you out of your phone to help you focus. That’s miles ahead of Google’s “Digital Wellbeing,” which just shows you a timer while you continue doomscrolling.

This is the point: Google’s apps are generic by design. OEMs that want to stand out — Samsung, OnePlus, Nothing — need to build their own experiences. That includes apps.

Saying “I’d rather subcontract third-party apps” is fine — but that’s literally how we ended up with a fragmented Android ecosystem. If you care about long-term value, privacy, or user control, building your own stack matters. And if you ever deGoogle your phone or flash a custom ROM, you’ll wish Nothing’s apps existed to bring that familiar OS feel back.

Also, people do use OEM apps. Ask Samsung or OnePlus users if they prefer Google Photos over their native gallery — the answer usually isn’t “yes.” A fast, offline-first, ad-free gallery isn’t a luxury. It’s expected.

So yeah, Nothing building its own app ecosystem isn’t a waste — it’s an investment in identity, user trust, and long-term value. The argument that “Google already does it” is the same one that killed innovation in other OEMs. Let’s not repeat that here.

Ant-e-so-shial

I would say let Nothing do their thing for now, let them release NOS 4.0 then we can actually make better assumptions about the resource allocations and their priorities, which will make our arguments less ambiguous and more sensible.

Vast

hexagonal707x I completely agree, especially on the app store idea. Give people the choice of having these apps or not as a lot of people find Google apps perfectly fine.

Thanks for writing this!

CMF1_hacker

@“oliverwhite2711”#p200338 Dingbats, I don’t know. They just don’t have an understanding of how a non-public-company works. Getting Series A/B funding is based on bravado, Series C/D is delivery.

Designing apps is not delivery, it’s distraction.

Hmm, should I fix LUT importation for my camera app, or should I develop my own Notes app? Pretty simple answer and that’s what the people in this thread forget, NOTHING needs an IPO or Series C/D funding. NOTHING OS is a great bloat-free platform that doesn’t need double-up apps; leave that to the third-party developers.

But I digress, I will leave so people can continue to discuss NOTHING making their own apps but a few custom ROM developers did it … lol.

There’s also a lot of pendants here that often lose the forest for the trees.

EDIT: by delivery, I mean seeling more devices. I’m simply not convinced that NOTHING would sell more devices with their own apps. They’ve tapped that market completely with optimising the OS itself and the apps add little to the pool of customers purchasing. That’s my take at least, and you’re free to disagree with me. What brand has their own apps that is sooooo killer that people buy that brand (Apple but I struggle to anything similar in Android space).

pixcel25

CMF1_hacker completely agree with you here , if people want bloatware there already a variety of options , pick from them.

RapidZapper

Hey
Let’s focus on the main topic of this thread which is about Nothing variant of Google apps

AmjithViswambharan

I agree with the nothing owned apps.but if they don’t update the older phones new updates and ecosystem in a year or two after buying.Then why should people buy new phones, which will be old in one year.

CMF1_hacker

AmjithViswambharan because a subset of all phone users require a new phone at some point. I buy a new phone when my old one breaks physically (1+1 to Vernee X to Mi 10 Youth Edition to CMF1). Nothing can always compete in that market. Certain populations have a high birth rate and an expanding user base and an increased user base year-on-year and NOTHING can tap into that.

Most users don’t care about updates on a phone two years old and the most popular Android apps back to many, many, many Android updates ago or can be accessed on a browser.

oliverwhite2711

CMF1_hacker honestly I’d be more than willing to make some apps for nothing. I would be honoured actually. Although I’m 15 I’m such a great developer it’s unreal.

FUN FACT: a lot of apps are actually just HTML

GabrieliusMarkauskas

hexagonal707x I think this is an old post kuz they’ve made a gallery a long time ago. Btw does any1 know if any of the nothing essential space features will come to nothing phone 2a???? Or at least the nothing playground widgets

themountofmint

Well, just make Google apps in Nothing style is pretty enough for real. As i mentioned somewhere in a community, there’s a bit of inconsistency in colours tbh. So I’d wish this to be fixed in a new OS version. Because having all-brown system colour but your gallery is just black… or no N-type/N-dot font in Google apps… like a few touches should be done.

Anonymous931

themountofmint just make Google apps in Nothing style

Only Google can do that. No one else can modify Gmail, Photos, Drive, Maps… Only Google can.

themountofmint

Anonymous931 so we can wish Nothing will talk with Google about this? Because why not.

« Previous Page