Nothing Phone 4a, 4a Pro, 3a and 3a Pro receive Android 17

Nothing has begun rolling out the stable Nothing OS 5.0 update, based on Android 17, to the Nothing Phone (4a), Phone (4a) Pro, Phone (3a) and Phone (3a) Pro. The company previously started the stable Android 17 rollout for the Nothing Phone (3) earlier this month.

The rollout is staggered, so availability will vary by region and carrier. To check manually, go to Settings > System > System update. Nothing advises backing up data before installing and notes that a device may draw more power and feel warmer during installation, with performance returning to normal once the update is complete.

System and interface changes

All four handsets receive a suite of shared features in Nothing OS 5.0. The update adds a dedicated Glyph app and separates Quick Settings from the notification panel. On the launcher, users gain bulk arranging of home screen icons and a new Translucent theme that uses a frosted-glass effect with subtle accent colors derived from the wallpaper. The status bar introduces a three-color indicator for sensitive access, location and AI processing, and the Settings UI has been refreshed. Two new lock screen clock faces, custom clock face colors and the Geist typeface are included, alongside Collector and Away Time widgets and a Glyph Timer widget.

Other system additions include an Expanded Dark theme that forces dark mode in many apps that do not support it natively, adjustable Enhanced HDR brightness, Noto 3D Emoji in Gboard, refined Live Updates in the status bar, and single-tap Bluetooth connection and disconnection from Quick Settings.

Camera updates vary by model

Camera improvements diverge between the 3a series and the 4a series. The Phone (3a) and Phone (3a) Pro gain a new Tuning feature with seven adjustable effects, upgraded Presets with a new 2x2 widget, Filters and Tuning support for video, and Dual-view Video. The Phone (4a) and Phone (4a) Pro receive Dual-view Video for simultaneous front- and rear-camera recording and faster Essential Voice transcriptions. All four models get a refreshed Camera UI along with improvements to recording, zoom, close-up shooting and QR scanning.

Next in line for stable Nothing OS 5.0 are the Nothing Phone (2a) and Phone (2a) Plus in mid-November, the Phone (3a) Lite in late December, and the Phone (4b) and CMF Phone 2 Pro in mid-January.