Leak reveals how the Nothing Phone (3a) series' new physical button works
Both leaked renders and officially released images have shown the Nothing Phone (3a) and Nothing Phone (3a) Pro will have an extra button below the power button on the right hand side of the phone. According to a leak, that new button is called the Essential Key
, and details of why it is called that and how it works has also been provided.
The Essential Key gets its name from an app called Essential Space
which will house Nothing's custom AI. According to the source, the app will function as an AI-powered hub
where users can store important things such as screenshots, voice notes, and other things of interest they may come across while using their phone and which they want to easily access later.
How the key is pressed will determine what it does. A press and hold will capture what is on the screen with the option to add a note for context while a continuous press of the Essential Key will record a voice note such as an idea or a piece of information you might forget. Double-tapping the Essential Key will provide access to all content saved in Essential Space.
In addition to the aforementioned, the Essential Space app itself uses AI to categorize and analyze stored data. Some of the features it is reported to have is the ability to analyze and sort photos, text, and audio into categories, eliminating the need for the use to manually sort saved items. It also uses AI to help users find exactly what they are looking for.
It has also been reported that Essential Space will still be in development when the Nothing Phone (3a) and Nothing Phone (3a) Pro launches, but it will still be pre-loaded on both devices.
It is not known if it will be made available for older devices such as the Nothing Phone (2a) Plus (curr. available to buy on Amazon for $394) even though it lacks a dedicated button for accessing it. However, based on the video detailing the design process of the Nothing Phone (3a) series, it appears the Essential Key will be a standard feature for Nothing smartphones going forward.
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