Nothing OS 3.0 announced with Nothing Gallery app, AI-based app drawer, and more: here's its launch timeline

Nothing OS 3.0 features and new changes that have not appeared in the newly surfaced launch video. Most of it is built on Android 15, making this an important update because this is said to be the software Nothing “always wanted to make”. OS 3.0 brings the highly-awaited Nothing Gallery app, several customisation options, and an AI-powered Smart Drawer bearing more resemblance to the iOS app library than it was inspired by. Here’s the full feature breakdown and launch timeline:

Nothing OS 3.0 comes with

Smart Drawer: Nothing OS 3.0 uses AI to categorize apps and places the most frequently used at the top. It looks and works quite similar to the iOS app library. There is this new app drawer, known as Smart Drawer, and this can be enabled. The old, run-of-the-mill app drawer remains and is available by default. You can pin favorite apps to the top.

Nothing Gallery and Camera App: A native gallery app is available in Nothing OS. The interaction between the native gallery and the camera app is seamless, resulting in a nearly 1.4 seconds faster experience than when the previous implementation was used. HDR and portrait effects are also processed quicker-this time by almost 25 percent.

lockscreen clock and widgets: Nothing OS 3.0 can display more clock faces and widgets on the lockscreen. The new clock faces are an N-Type, N-Dot designs and another like the London Underground rail station clock.

Quick Settings tile layout: Quick Settings tiles are modular, can be resized, and should be arranged as you like. Carl Pei calls it intuitive. There’s also an auto-brightness toggle with the brightness slider now.

Homescreen widgets: You get more than 20 preloaded built-in widgets, with a countdown widget. Nothing OS 3.0 also lets the user share specific widgets like pedometer among other Nothing OS users for a connected experience. People can react to the shared widgets using stickers.

There will be new UI elements such as font, Dot matrix, and Transparency: New Dot Animations of fingerprints and charging indicators animations can be seen. N-dot font can be combined with the Sans Serif font for better readability. Dot Matrix UI expands into apps such as the one above, where you can see animated weather icons. The brand has also teased new transparent software elements for better visualisation of data. We’ll have to see how that pans out.

Nothing OS 3.0 release date

Nothing OS 3.0 beta available in October, and nothing has not confirmed the list of phones that will get the update but is likely to roll it out for the Phone (2) and Phone (2a)/Phone (2a) Plus. In contrast, the stable release will roll out in December.