Nothing’s Android 16 update puts a progress bar on the back of your phone

Nothing’s update based on Android 16 brings many new features to its phones, including its own version of Google’s over-the-air updates. With Nothing OS 4.0, users can track a delivery, route or timer by glancing using the Glyph interface – the dot matrix on the back of the Phone 3 or the lighting system on the Phone 3A and older models.

Google’s over-the-air updates are slightly different depending on which Nothing device you’re using. A GIF shared by the company shows a light on the Phone 3A gradually turning on to match the progress of an over-the-air update, while the Phone 3’s dot matrix displays an animated progress bar. Over-the-air updates can also appear on a device’s lock screen.

In addition to this feature, Nothing is launching its AI-powered Essentials App tool that allows users to create their own widgets by providing a written description to a chatbot. Meanwhile, Nothing OS updates add more minimalist native app icons, new lock screen clocks, and animations that respond with “sharper tactility and depth, making every swipe and tap smoother.”

You can now open two floating apps at once and switch between them by swiping up from the bottom of your screen to minimize them, or swiping down to view them full screen. There is also an additional new dark mode with deeper blacks than the original.

Nothing also rolls out a few Phone 3-specific features, like a “pocket mode” that automatically turns off the device’s glyph matrix when it detects it’s in a user’s pocket, as well as new “toys” that display an hourglass and show the position of the Moon on the dot matrix.

Nothing OS 4.0 will begin rolling out to the Phone 3 from today, before expanding to other devices in the range “over the coming weeks”. CMF devices will receive the update before the end of the year, but the Nothing Phone 3A Lite will have to wait until early 2026.