Android 13 for the Nothing phone (1) has been “officially” released to all users of the OEM’s inaugural device. The Carl Pei-led OEM asserts that it offers “our smoothest, most secure user experience” thus far, with updated apps, system tweaks and features. They include more customizations for the Glyph interface, potentially improved privacy controls and general system stability upgrades.
The latest stable software upgrade that updates the Nothing phone (1) to Android 13 has been available for some time now – albeit only to those who participated in the device’s open beta program. Now, however, the company has formally announced its roll-out today (February 21, 2023).
Therefore, many more phone (1) users may find the major update waiting for them under Settings -> System Upgrade. On installation, Nothing notes that they may encounter a new first-party Weather app, not to mention new sound effects that correspond to their smartphone’s unique Glyph lighting system.
Nothing OS 1.5 is indeed based on the newest version of Android, and thus confers its new privacy-focused options, which include those that help keep certain photos out of per-app sharing menus, alert the user when clipboard contents are accessed and more granular media-access permissions.
The phone (1)’s latest stable upgrade also adds the ability to get to potentially important functions such as a wallet or the camera app (which should be “refined” compared to Nothing OS based on Android 12) right from the lockscreen: a concept that may be familiar to those with experience of custom ROMs.
Nothing OS 1.5 is also rated to clear “unused” cache and “expired” system dumps automatically, crush bugs and increase background memory on the phone (1), which may cut app loading latency by up to 50% and generally make the device seem the “smoothest” it has ever been – according to Nothing, at least.
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Deirdre O’Donnell – Senior Tech Writer – 6042 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2018
I became a professional writer and editor shortly after graduation. My degrees are in biomedical sciences; however, they led to some experience in the biotech area, which convinced me of its potential to revolutionize our health, environment and lives in general. This developed into an all-consuming interest in more aspects of tech over time: I can never write enough on the latest electronics, gadgets and innovations. My other interests include imaging, astronomy, and streaming all the things. Oh, and coffee.
Deirdre O’Donnell, 2023-02-21 (Update: 2023-02-21)
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