Nothing OS 3.0 Open Beta 2 for Phone 2 and Phone 2a Rolling Out: What’s New

Nothing OS 3.0 Open Beta 2 is now available for Phone 2 and Phone 2a users, the company has announced. Users can experience the new Android 15-based operating system (OS) before its public rollout in December and try out more features such as shared widgets, smart drawer enhancements, refined animations, and camera improvements. This release builds upon the rollout of the Nothing OS 3.0 Open Beta 1 update that was introduced earlier this month.

Notably, the beta program was first launched in October with the Phone 2a and will be available for other devices, such as the CMF Phone 1, later this year.

Nothing OS 3.0 Open Beta 2 Features

In a community post, Nothing announced that the OS 3.0 Open Beta 2 update adds more features to the already expansive list of introductions with the first beta. This includes a Shared Widgets feature which lets users see another user's widgets displayed on their home screen and interact with them through reactions. This feature is exclusive to interactions between Nothing smartphones. Animations for Quick Settings have been refined, including those for Bluetooth, tile resizing, swiping interactions, and tile transitions.

The Carl Pei-led company introduced a Smart Drawer powered by artificial intelligence (AI) with the Nothing OS 3.0 Open Beta 1 which can automatically arrange apps in separate category folders based on usage. The Open Beta 2 is said to bring enhanced accuracy to this feature, while also adding an auto-sort feature.

Nothing Phone 2 and Phone 2a users will also be able to take advantage of camera enhancements with the update. It is claimed to deliver improved stability when switching between camera modes, an upgraded HDR algorithm for better picture quality, an optimised portrait mode, and enhanced brightness when using the Ultra HDR Mode.

Nothing OS 3.0 Open Beta 2 brings other visual and performance updates. There is now an AI-powered selection and prioritisation of the frequently used apps, support for a refresh rate of up to 90 frames per second (fps) in PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, an onboarding guide for first-time Pop-up view users, and other general bug fixes and performance improvements.