Nothing Exploring Development of Own Mobile OS as Android Alternative, Carl Pei Says

Nothing is considering the development of its own mobile operating system, according to CEO and founder Carl Pei. The UK startup's handsets currently run on Google's Android operating system, with a custom interface running on top. Most smartphones today run on Android, while Apple's iPhone models run on iOS, the company's mobile OS. Developers offering access to popular apps on Android and iOS via the Play Store and App Store, respectively, while Huawei's HarmonyOS is attempting to present a third alternative, and Nothing could eventually join the fray.

Nothing Considering Development of Its Own Mobile Operating System

During a discussion with Brian Heater at TechCrunch Disrupt, Pei said that the company is exploring the development of a new operating system to create a new revenue stream for the company, while further establishing the startup in the mobile industry. “We're thinking about how we manoeuvre here, and maybe create something of our own. Some kind of operating system,” he said.

The co-founder and former CEO of OnePlus also stated that such an operating system would include support for artificial intelligence (AI) feature, but it would not be the "be-all and end-all". Both Google and Apple have heavily invested in features powered by machine learning and artificial intelligence for their latest operating system updates.

If Nothing were to build its own OS, the company would focus on improving the user experience, taking advantage of all of the information available on devices to offer a better experience, according to Pei. He said that the company could work on the project even in the absence of funding, and did not comment when Heater asked whether Nothing planned to raise funds to create its own operating system.

Pei's company isn't the first to consider the development of an operating system to challenge market leaders Google and Apple. Huawei has replaced Android on some of its devices with its own operating system called HarmonyOS, which offers access to popular apps via the Huawei AppGallery.

In order to successfully compete with Android and iOS, Nothing would need to offer a similar app marketplace and convince developers to offer its apps on that platform. The lack of access to popular apps is widely believed to be one of the reasons mobile operating systems like Windows Phone or Sailfish OS failed to compete with Android and iOS.

Nothing previously announced that its upcoming software updates for its smartphones will be based on Android — this includes the Nothing OS 3.0 update, which is based on Android 15. If it does develop a new mobile OS, it is likely to arrive on a new smartphone that is optimised to work with the company's software, which suggests that it could be several months until we see a new handset with a new operating system developed by Nothing.