Damien Wilde / Android Authority
The Nothing Phone 2 is finally out, and with it is the new software Nothing has been building for a while. Nothing OS 2.0 is currently only available on the Phone 2 but will eventually come to the Nothing Phone 1 in August. The latest version of the proprietary Android skin has added several new cosmetic and functional changes. That said, it remains completely bloat-free and maintains its ultra-clean aesthetic. The software is still based on Android 13, so don’t expect to see any new Android 14 features here just yet. Here’s a list of all the new Nothing OS 2.0 features you should know and care about.
Monochrome icons
The new monochromatic icons in Nothing OS 2.0 are designed to eliminate distractions. The company wants you to focus on the “intentional consumption” of content and mute the distractions of colorful app logos from different brands. Not only do these new icons reduce distractions, but they also go very well with the monochrome color theme Nothing is known for.
New home screen layout options
Nothing OS 2.0 also introduces new home screen layout options. You can now tailor everything from app labels to the grid design. Users can add four or five columns on the home screen, show or hide app labels for apps on the home screen, and show or hide the Google Search bar in the dock.
Widgets and lock screen customizations
Nothing has made several additions to the reimagined lock screen utility. Nothing has also added new app widgets to its existing library. These widgets support swipeable views and animations for more levels of information. The best part is you can now create widgets for all your Quick Settings functions and add up to eight of them to your Nothing phone’s lock screen.
App shortcuts and folders
Nothing OS 2.0 lets you add shortcuts to apps and group together commonly used apps into folders. You can also customize the size, layout, and shape of the folders as well as assign them different types of illustrations based on Nothing’s dot matrix branding. There are no limits to the number of app folders you can create.
Other notable Nothing OS 2.0 features
- Lock apps: The Nothing Phone 1 did not support a native app lock feature, but with the Nothing OS 2.0 on board, the Phone 2 has a built-in App Locker feature. This lets you lock any app behind a password, pattern, or fingerprint.
- Cloned apps: You can also run multiple instances of the same app thanks to the new Cloned Apps feature in Nothing OS 2.0.
We expect all these new Nothing OS 2.0 features to land on the Nothing Phone 1, which is currently running version 1.5.5 of the software. We’ll keep you updated when that happens.
