Nothing has started rolling out the stable Android 17 update, officially named Nothing OS 5.0, to four of its smartphone models. The Nothing Phone (4a), Phone (4a) Pro, Phone (3a), and Phone (3a) Pro are now receiving this significant software upgrade. As is typical with such releases, the rollout is staggered, meaning availability will vary by region and device batch. Users can manually check for the update via the Settings menu under System > System update. Nothing advises users to back up their data before installing and notes that devices may experience increased power consumption and warmth during the installation process, which is normal and resolves once the update is complete.
The update brings a suite of new features shared across all four devices. These include a dedicated Glyph app, a split between Quick Settings and the notification panel, bulk arranging of home screen icons, and a new three-color status bar indicator for sensitive access, location, and AI processing. A new Translucent theme for the launcher with a frosted-glass style and subtle accent colors inspired by your wallpaper is also introduced, alongside two new lock screen clock faces, custom clock face colors, the new Geist typeface, and a refreshed Settings UI. Additional enhancements include new Collector and Away Time widgets, a Glyph Timer widget, an Expanded Dark theme that forces dark mode on most apps that don't support it natively, adjustable Enhanced HDR brightness, Noto 3D Emoji in Gboard, refined Live Updates in the status bar, and single-tap Bluetooth connection and disconnection in Quick Settings.
Camera improvements differ slightly between models. The Phone (3a) and (3a) Pro get a new Tuning feature with seven adjustable effects, upgraded Presets with a new 2x2 widget, Filters and Tuning support for video, and Dual-view Video. The Phone (4a) and (4a) Pro get Dual-view Video for recording with the front and rear cameras simultaneously, as well as faster Essential Voice transcriptions. All four also get a refreshed Camera UI and improved recording, zoom, close-up shooting, and QR scanning. Looking ahead, the stable release is expected to reach the Nothing Phone (2a) and Phone (2a) Plus in mid-November, followed by the Phone (3a) Lite in late December, and the Phone (4b) and CMF Phone 2 Pro in mid-January.
Source: GSMArena · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing