The Nothing Phones version of Android is surprisingly good

Date:
Thu, 28 Apr 2022 14:25:46 +0000

Description:
The Nothing Launcher now lets you test out the software that the Nothing
Phone (1) will use.

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If youre excited for the Nothing Phone (1) , weve got big news: as promised
in the phones teaser announcement, you can now download an early version of the devices software to test and play about with.

Well, when we say you we mean specifically people with a Samsung Galaxy S21
or Samsung Galaxy S22 series phone, or the Google Pixel 5 or Pixel 6 - this
is just an early beta of the user interface, with only a few features and tools.

Were expecting the Nothing Phone (1) to land sometime between June and September, but at an event with the silly name of The Truth , Nothing teased the device, and also promised that itd launch the software soon - well, soon is now apparently. What's the Nothing Launcher like? How to install the Nothing OS

1. Find the Nothing Launcher (beta) on the Google Play Store ( or click here ). Download it.

2. Go to your phone's settings menu, then apps, then default apps, then default home apps.

3. Pick the Nothing Launcher and it'll automatically install.

There are three key features that the Nothing Launcher brings onto your
phone, but were going to presume this doesnt represent the full feature set, because its a little limited. Theyre built over what looks like stock
Android.

Firstly, there are three Nothing-themed widgets: weather and two clocks (digital and analog). The digital clock and weather widget have a spotty
retro look, while the analog clock is a little more typical. (Image credit: TechRadar / Nothing)

Second, there's a new Nothing wallpaper, and its certainly something? We thought our phone had broken when we first saw it, but no, thats how its
meant to look. You can change the color of it if you want, but this only changes the text color.

Admittedly those are two rather small features, and the third one is too, but its one we actually like. You can choose to enlarge app and folder icons, so instead of taking one space in the home menu grid itll take four.

This is quite useful for ease of access - you can easily slam your thumb on one part of the screen and be sure to hit the app. We also see this being really useful for accessibility, for seniors or people with physical disabilities who might struggle to tap really small icons.

Were fond of this feature, and can already see our everyday phone feeling a little restrictive since it doesnt have resizable icons.

Given that the app is called the Nothing Launcher (beta), were assuming this is the first version of the operating system, and hopefully well see new versions before the Nothing Phone (1) launches with bigger updates. But for a first impression, were pleasantly surprised. This is what the Nothing Phone (1) could look like



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/news/the-nothing-phones-version-of-android-is-surpri singly-good/


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