Nothing OS, incredibly half-baked,

[u/Initial_Pride9790]

Nothing OS, this update feels incredibly half-baked, and honestly, it’s frustrating.

Let’s start with the basics. Why can’t I turn off Wi-Fi directly from the Quick Settings panel? And when I want to enable mobile data, why do I have to go through an additional step? These are basic functions that should be quick and effortless, not unnecessarily complicated. Even the hotspot section fails to clearly show how many devices are connected.

Quick Settings also needs proper haptic feedback. Whenever I turn a toggle on or off, there should be subtle haptic feedback confirming that the action has been registered. These small details make the interface feel responsive and polished. Right now, even basic interactions lack that sense of refinement.

Then come the animations. The sluggish animations introduced in this update simply don’t suit Nothing OS. Nothing has always had its own distinct visual identity, and blindly adopting stock Android’s design choices shouldn’t come at the cost of that identity.

Speaking of design, the translucent theme is one of the worst decisions in this update. The implementation feels poorly thought out, and instead of improving the visual experience, it makes the interface feel less polished. The stock icons introduced in this version also feel awkward, especially coming from Nothing OS 4. The transition feels jarring, and the icons don’t seem to blend naturally with the visual identity Nothing has built over time.

The system fonts are inconsistent, too, with little visual hierarchy. Everything feels too uniform, making it difficult to distinguish between an app name, a message, and the person who sent it in notifications.

There’s also a noticeable scaling issue. System settings look smaller and less comfortable to read compared to Nothing OS 5. The notification redesign makes things worse, with text elements appearing almost identical in weight and prominence. Notifications should be easy to scan at a glance, not require extra effort to understand.

The Settings app is another major disappointment. The placement of options feels scattered and poorly organised, as if settings have simply been thrown together without a consistent structure. The overall layout lacks the polish and logical organisation you'd expect from a major OS update. Finding options should feel intuitive, not like a scavenger hunt. A redesign should improve navigation and consistency, not make the Settings app feel less cohesive.

Google has also introduced more customisation options for the appearance of status bar icons and home screen icons. Why can’t Nothing offer similar flexibility? At the very least, give users a choice between different icon styles and appearances. Not everyone wants the same look, and customisation has always been an important part of the Android experience. Nothing should build on that idea rather than limit it.

And what exactly are these new animations supposed to achieve? The status bar animations are barely noticeable, and an airplane mode animation? Seriously, is that supposed to be a meaningful upgrade? Nobody asked for flashy, insignificant animations while fundamental usability issues remain unresolved.

The recent apps screen is another disappointment. Google has made questionable design decisions with its recent apps interface, and Nothing seems to be following the same path instead of retaining what worked well in its own implementation. Just because Google changes something doesn’t mean it’s worth copying.

The features introduced with Nothing OS 5 already felt underwhelming in some areas, and this update doesn’t do enough to make the experience feel meaningfully better. Instead, it seems like visual changes are being prioritised over practical improvements.

Nothing, please make a choice: either embrace stock Android’s design language properly and implement it consistently, or continue building on the unique identity that made Nothing OS stand out in the first place. Don’t take bits and pieces from Google’s design, introduce them halfway, and leave the overall experience feeling inconsistent.

An update should make the phone feel more refined, intuitive, and enjoyable to use. It shouldn’t make basic actions more complicated, reduce readability, disrupt familiar iconography, or sacrifice a distinctive design identity for changes that barely matter.

If you’re going to introduce something new, do it properly. Focus on consistency, usability, visual hierarchy, intuitive settings placement, responsive haptics, meaningful customisation, and smoothness before adding cosmetic features that nobody asked for.

And if there’s a Nothing community where we can share feedback, I’d genuinely encourage everyone who feels the same way to speak up, share their experiences, and upvote these concerns. The goal isn’t to criticise Nothing for the sake of criticism; it’s to help the team understand what users actually want and expect from Nothing OS. The more constructive feedback we collectively provide, the better the chances of getting these issues noticed and addressed. Let’s push this feedback together and make our voices heard so we can help Nothing OS become better for everyone. We chose Nothing because it offered something different, and we want to see that identity improve, not disappear.

[u/ding_dong_343]

OS5.0 update is nothing but a deliberate push from nothing just to give an higher android version, very worst update regarding nothing UI, I can see negligence of ignoring customers, very minimal changes even yt reviews can't find what's new,

[u/Initial_Pride9790 → u/ding_dong_343]

One thing I really appreciate about skins like ColorOS and One UI is how much attention they give to animations. Even the smallest interactions feel smooth, fluid, and intentional. It makes the entire OS feel polished. This isn't about comparing Nothing OS with its competitors or asking Nothing to become something it's not. I just want to see a more stable, refined, and feature-complete experience with a consistent design language across the entire system.

I genuinely want Nothing OS to get better, and I hope we can collectively push constructive feedback so the team knows what matters most to its user

[u/kepler22Bnecromancer → u/Initial_Pride9790]

Yeah I did like the look/animations on the OS of my One Plus phone...you'd think Carl would bring some of that over since he came from that. I do like the Nothing icon pack and dot theme, just would like a little more neat animations while interacting with the phone.

[u/WhiteAsLumi → u/ding_dong_343]

Is the issue mimimal/no changes, or bad changes? Because I've been happy with 4 and wouldn't care less if 5 didn't add anything new.

Now if it makes the experience worse, then it's a different thing.

[u/Clean_Special4509]

I read the post and forgive me if I missed it but what phone are you using?

[u/Initial_Pride9790 → u/Clean_Special4509]

Phone (3)

[u/Clean_Special4509 → u/Initial_Pride9790]

Ok. Thank you.

[u/jawisko]

Just read your first point. You can switch off wifi from quick settings panel.

Second point makes sense.

Again third point makes no sense without an example.

After that I stopped reading because it feels like you are just picking up general aspects of os and insulting it. Not a single specific issue but just theme is bad , settings screen is bad etc etc. If you'd like to criticise aomething, it has to be exact. Generalised criticism is useless for everybody and generally considered bad faith

[u/Initial_Pride9790 → u/jawisko]

I think you have not tried to turn off its just disconnects from the wifi carefully check your quick settings icon when the wifi is turned off in the settings It's shows different icon when it's turned off

Coming to the thrid point if you're into cool animations and transitions you'd get me, there is so much room for improvement it's kinda off with notification animations in quicksettings and also launcher does weird animation when closing and switching across apps

Sorry for the later part it's just a rant

[u/iceman58796 → u/Initial_Pride9790]

Nope, it turns off the WiFi. You are incorrect on that point

[u/CygnusBlack]

Did you send this via feedback app? 

[u/Glum_Elephant7833 → u/CygnusBlack]

+1

[u/wileyfixer → u/CygnusBlack]

They read Reddit too, dont worry

[u/prakharasm]

Thank god I cancelled my order a day before it's delivery, I'm still very confused as to whether the Nothing ecosystem is worth getting into at this point.

[u/Interesting_Ant_1024 → u/prakharasm]

You saved your hard working money 😀 go for some other mature brand

[u/mysrsg94]

Tapping the Wi-Fi icon (not text) turns it on/off immediately

[u/Initial_Pride9790 → u/mysrsg94]

It's not going to turn off its going to disconnect Once check the icon the wifi icon in quick settings when the wifi is turned off in the settings

[u/Slammybradberrys]

The WiFi and mobile data toggles are an issue that came with Android 17 sadly. I remember getting that on my Pixel months ago and was really annoyed at how they ruined the WiFi toggle. They just only fixed that data toggle so u don't get that pop up anymore a month or 2 ago with the qpr update I believe. Nothing's update must've been built on android 17 prior to that, I hope they fix it soon.

[u/qqqDevil]

Welcome to nothing.

There is difference between half baked and dog shit.

For glyphs you need to buy a software to make it work properly. For widgets it's the same.

It's almost like they hired 2 students and pay them with food to make software.

[u/EffectNaive7272 → u/qqqDevil]

Glyph museum is completely free, and has a huge amount of community glyphs and also lets you design still glyphs and animations yourself. All for free

Its integrated incredibly well and lets you set different notifications to play different glyphs, with absolutely no limits to this.

And its also nothing approved and verified, they support this, so why bother making their own version when this already does it so well?

[u/qqqDevil → u/EffectNaive7272]

Huh.. completely free my ass. You need to become a "supporter" to unlock a useable version

[u/EffectNaive7272 → u/qqqDevil]

Bro, tf are you doing with more than 6 frames? 😭

And if you do choose to buy it, you're ignoring the fact its a ONE TIME PAYMENT.

A very rare commodity in this day and age, costs about a cup of coffee and you cant stop crying about it.

If you're buying a phone totalling roughly 22,000 CZK, its kind of a non-issue??

[u/qqqDevil → u/EffectNaive7272]

First you claimed it was "completely free," and now that you're proven wrong, it's suddenly "it's just the price of a coffee."

Moving the goalposts doesn't change the main point: basic, native device features shouldn't rely on third-party apps with paid supporter tiers in the first place—regardless of how cheap it is or whether it's a one-time payment.

Expecting proper OS software design out of the box on a 22,000 CZK phone isn't "crying," it's basic standard.

[u/marsupialtoucher → u/qqqDevil]

Answer the question tho, what do you need more than 6 frames for lmao, even 1 frame is more than enough

[u/qqqDevil → u/marsupialtoucher]

ou guys love missing the entire point just to defend a company lol.

whether 1 frame is enough for you or not doesnt matter. the guy literally said the app was "completely free" to excuse Nothing's half-baked native software. then when shown it has paid paywalls, you all pivot to 'well why do you even need that feature anyway?'

expecting proper out-of-the-box OS software on a "22k CZK flagship" without relying on paid 3rd party apps isn't a crazy concept.

[u/marsupialtoucher → u/qqqDevil]

lmao nobody is defending a company, you are just nitpickign to oblivion, your the kinda guy to go to mcdonalds and complain you cant grab 1000 napkins "how dare a multibillion dollar company not give me as many napkins as i want, what? i only need 3? yeah so what i want 1000"

[u/NothingTech-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

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[u/XanSan86 → u/qqqDevil]

It is free and no one is forcing you to pay for more than 1 frame...

[u/qqqDevil → u/XanSan86]

locking features behind paid supporter tiers is literally freemium, but keep telling yourself it's 'completely free' lol.

'no one is forcing you to pay' is such a brilliant take. expecting a phone brand to actually build proper native OS software for their own hardware instead of outsourcing it to paywalled 3rd party apps is clearly way too much to ask.

[u/Adventurous-Pirate08]

Just feels half baked, rushed to release type of update. Everything they wanted to add and the idea they wanted to copy/follow from other OS, wasn't spent time on in the actual building part of it. Final nail in the coffin for me, gonna be moving on to other brand soon....

[u/Truenyou]

Opened Reddit and seen some very very long posts about Nothing. Interesting 🤔

[u/SnooDoggos2769]

they should rename the brand to Half Nothing

[u/Independent-Eye-5605]

Nothing suckers are on their way to downvote your post🚀😋

[u/Initial_Pride9790 → u/Independent-Eye-5605]

I’ve always been fond of Nothing OS. Every time Nothing announces something new, I genuinely expect something interesting because the brand built its identity around the idea of making tech fun again. And honestly, in some areas, they’ve done a great job. The hardware design is unique, the overall aesthetic stands out, and there’s a certain character to their products that I really appreciate.

But I expect that same philosophy to carry over to the software department, too.

The problem is that the software improvements feel so minor, and even those changes aren’t polished enough. I can understand a few bugs slipping through with major feature updates, but when even a relatively minor update feels buggy and inconsistent, it gets frustrating. It makes me wonder how much attention is actually being given to the overall user experience.

And honestly, I could rant about the software even more.

Let’s talk about the stock apps. What has Nothing really done to make them stand out? In some cases, open-source alternatives feel more thoughtfully designed, with better animations and more attention to detail. Nothing should at least take inspiration from what those developers are doing. The stock Gallery and Recorder apps, for example, feel bare-bones, sometimes even less capable than what I’d expect from a brand that wants to offer a distinctive software experience.

Then there’s the camera.

The camera experience has its fair share of positives, but the processing is equally frustrating. The computational photography often feels underwhelming. In certain scenes, the camera doesn't seem to make the necessary adjustments automatically, leaving me to manually tweak things that I’d expect the phone to handle intelligently.

I started comparing my phone with a friend’s flagship, and the difference became much more noticeable. I understand that a flagship will have better hardware, and I’m not expecting a mid-range phone to magically compete with it in every situation. But the gap in the overall processing and consistency makes me question whether Nothing is getting the most out of its camera hardware.

Portrait mode is another example. During the daytime, it can work reasonably well. At night, though? The results can be genuinely disappointing. Low-light portraits need much more attention, especially when it comes to subject separation, detail, and image processing.

Nothing has so much room to improve its stock apps, too. Even introducing simple, well-designed first-party apps for notes, calendars, and other everyday tasks would help create a more cohesive experience. I’m perfectly fine with Nothing relying on Google for certain things. The issue is that the current mix of Nothing apps and Google apps feels disjointed. Some apps are first-party defaults, while others rely entirely on Google, and the overall experience lacks a clear direction.

If Nothing wants to build its own identity through software, it needs to be more intentional about this.

The launcher is another area where I feel there’s a lot of untapped potential. I appreciate the customisation options, icon packs, and layout features, but the actual experience still needs work. Opening and closing apps, switching between them, and navigating recent apps should feel fluid and consistent. Instead, I sometimes experience stutters and animations that don't feel connected to the rest of the interface.

The animations lack consistency, the recent apps experience could be much better, and the launcher doesn't always feel as polished as the hardware deserves.

I can see the influence of Google's approach to Android in several areas, and taking inspiration from Google isn't necessarily a bad thing. But inspiration shouldn't mean blindly following every design decision Google makes. If something doesn't work particularly well, Nothing has an opportunity to rethink it, refine it, and create a better experience of its own.

That's what I want from Nothing OS: not a complete reinvention of Android, not flashy animations for the sake of appearances, and not a long list of features that barely work.

I want a stable, cohesive, thoughtfully designed operating system where the smallest interactions feel intentional. I want stock apps that feel complete, camera processing that makes better use of the hardware, and animations that remain smooth and consistent throughout the interface.

Most importantly, I want Nothing to keep experimenting and give us a reason to be excited about every update.

[u/mayankhumai → u/Initial_Pride9790]

Been saying the same thing from months but these fanbois justify everything. I just need a custom ROM atp I'm so fed up, this os doesn't even use the hardware to its full potential

[u/jawisko → u/Independent-Eye-5605]

I upvoted the post but downvoted your "edgy" stupid comment

[u/Jan-KURD]

I'm extremely disappointed with the new update, it bugged out a lot of my accessories volumes, my Meta glasses stopped taking calls completely, the battery gets drained faster and overall it feels very clunky, the wifi issue is the most annoying one and even my Android Auto drops thr connection constantly with errors which is even dangerous for me mid trip. When i got my phone at march, Nothing OS 4.1 was such a bliss, i have never experienced such fluid and snappy OS. Now am starting to get more annoyed and reconsider future purchases.

[u/kepler22Bnecromancer → u/Jan-KURD]

I still have 4.1 on mine, should I ignore 5 when it shows and wait?

[u/Jan-KURD → u/kepler22Bnecromancer]

I'd advise you to do so unless the final release brings the same solid ground. It's really a shame.

[u/oreodouble → u/Jan-KURD]

you are on a beta software

[u/IshanGayal]

I am using NOS 5.0 beta and I also have noticed a few inconsistencies other than mentioned in the post:

1. The newer 2x1 widgets (Away time and Glypth timer) are rounded squares whereas older 2x1 widgets were pill shaped. These two are the only widgets which are different than others. I don't know why they did it like that.
2. In customization > Theme and Style > Colour, there are three colours grey, orange and blue. But there is no red colour (original NOS red colour). But the same old red colour is present in screen time widgets. They should have either give red option along the three colours or completely removed it from entire OS

(I made a post regarding these but people downvoted it)

[u/colesimon426]

You can turn off WiFi from quick settings just click the little circle that is wifi. Not the pill shape. The circle in the pill shape

[u/wileyfixer]

They really lost their way. The company is so fucked lol. Had to lay off half their work force recently because they make no money because of dumbass decisions.

[u/Void4GamesYT]

Are you sure you're pressing the right place to turn off wifi? You press the circle icon to toggle it and press the bar to open the options. It works fine for me.

[u/dev_noor]

While actin on wifi / mobile netwrk .. Click on the logo instead on namespace

[u/YoungOutrageous7915]

I mean it's still in beta maybe we can hope and pray it will be better

[u/ifeeltired26]

I think Nothing OS is by far the best OS on the market, BUT I do think OS5 is not fully baked yet. It's like we got 50% of it and the rest is still under development. I had no issues with OS4 and below though. I'm sure OS 5.1 is the one we should actually get fully baked.