What you need to know
- Nothing announced an OS update that will first arrive on the Phone 4a this week.
- The patch brings real-time alerts to the AOD, lock screen, and home screen for the Phone 4a, alongside what’s already possible with the Glyph Bar.
- Other updates include a Relaxation Hub, a trio of relaxing widgets for users, an AI Eraser, and more.
Nothing’s Phone 4a series is set to receive an OS update this week that boosts usability, as well as a patch for the Glyph Bar.
In a lengthy X thread, Nothing kicked off its updates with what’s changing for Live Updates for the Glyph Bar. Now, Nothing is making it so your real-time updates remain visible “across the Always-on Display, Status Bar, Lock Screen, and Notifications.” The design of the notification may change slightly when moving from the AOD to the lock screen, but the information is constant.
Android Central’s Take
The convenience of keeping tacking of orders or delivers with a Nothing Phone was always pretty cool to me. Bringing these notifications to a more constant level in this update only makes it more useful. Of course, it’s not meant to completely replace the Glyph Bar, as that’s a pretty integral part of the phone. But, rather, it’s meant to make the device more convenient for users, which is all I really want from my phone.
Moreover, Nothing adds that the phone’s Glyph Bar continues to offer quick, glanceable information via its LEDs. Speaking of the lock screen, the Phone 3a’s Community Edition clock is arriving for the Phone 4a series. In collaboration with Jad Zock (community member), this clock face uses a typeface style and a unique wake-up animation.
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Joining this is support for users to use Depth Effect (Beta) with “adjustable clock sizes and alignment options.” A Relaxation Hub is headed for the Phone 4a series with “Breathing Break” widgets available in the widget library. Users will find three variations: Calm, Focus, and Relax. When used, your phone’s haptics will kick in, as they steer you toward calmer breathing.
An Essential Apps section, which will recommend apps to users, will be found in the widget drawer through this Nothing OS update. The long-requested AI Eraser is making its debut on the Phone 4a series, too. Users can quickly remove artifacts and even people who might’ve ruined your shot with this.
Nothing OS looks a little better
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Nothing adds that this OS update for users will hit the Phone 4a series before the others. Older devices are reportedly set to receive these updates “in the coming weeks.”
Android Central’s Take
Going back to Nothing’s AI Eraser, this was a highly requested feature, which the company states in X. I’m sure many Phone 3a and Phone 3 users are happy that they should receive this, too, either at the end of March or into April (if all goes well). To me, Nothing’s come with two decent updates back-to-back. One for Essential Space, keeping things informative, this OS-specific patch that covers a wider berth.
Nothing already had a pretty important update for its Essential Space earlier this month. The goal for this was to bring crucial information to users in a meaningful way. To do that, Nothing said users would see “actionable information” highlighted more prominently in Essential Space with a new “Event” marker for upcoming occurrences. This “Event” tag is new to Essential Space, which features info “intelligently extracted from your captures.”
