With the new update dedicated to Nothing Phone (3a) Lite, the smallest member of the family, the rollout of Nothing OS 4.0 is now truly complete. Carl Pei’s company has brought Android 16 to all supported models, the only exception is the brand’s very first device. Here are all the new features of the update, and now there is nothing left but to wait for the next generation of mid-range!
Nothing Phone (3a) Lite updates with Nothing OS 4.0 and Android 16: all the official changelog details
The update dedicated to Nothing Phone (3a) Lite is currently rolling out and brings the software to version B4.0-260116-1904. As also hinted at in the opening, this is Nothing OS 4, the latest version of the company’s proprietary interface, based on Android 16; the size should be around 1.03 GB.
According to what has been reported by Carl Pei’s company, the rollout started incrementally: it will arrive first on a limited number of models, then expand to all.
Changelog
New Features
- AI Usage Dashboard: Adds a dashboard to monitor AI model usage. When using Essential Space, the system automatically tracks usage for greater privacy transparency. Path: Settings > Intelligence Toolkit > AI Usage.
- Hide Apps: Supports hiding apps directly from the home screen and the app drawer. Path: Home screen > App Drawer > Hidden Icons.
- Essential Notifications: Adds a dedicated entry in Settings for quicker access. Path: Settings > Notifications > Essential Notifications.
- Flip to Glyph setting: Adds an option in the Glyph Interface to choose whether the Flip to Glyph function should activate Silent or Vibrate mode.
- App Drawer Search: Supports managing the search scope to display results within a specific perimeter.
- Updated Widgets: Added new size options for Weather, Pedometer, and Usage Time widgets.
- Quick Settings: Support for the 2×2 size for most QuickSettings tiles.
- Popup View: Support for two floating icons to switch more easily between apps.
- Dual SIM: Supports setting different ringtones for the two SIMs.
- App Optimization: The system now supports app optimization to improve launch speed. Path: Settings > Apps > App Optimization.
Essential Innovations
- Playground (Alpha): Introduction of Playground to test community creations, including Essential Apps, camera presets, and EQ profiles.
- Essential Apps (Alpha): Opening downloads for Essential Apps, AI-powered apps, and community-created apps. More details at playground.nothing.tech.
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Visual Improvements
- Nothing Icons: Redesign of Nothing app icons with a completely new look.
- Status Bar: Update of status bar icons for a more intuitive appearance.
- Lock Screen: Added 2 new clock styles in the Personalization section.
- Extra dark mode: Introduced an even deeper dark mode. Path: Settings > Display > Dark Theme > Extra dark mode.
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Camera Improvements
- Presets: Updated the default list with the new most popular styles.
- Filters: Added intensity control and new exclusive “Stretch” styles.
- Watermark: Introduction of new Nothing brand watermarks and artistic frames.
- Create Preset: Support for importing LUTs and watermarks for greater creative flexibility.
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