Nothing Phone (2) receives first taste of new Android 14 features with Nothing OS 2.5 Beta update

Nothing has now opened its Android 14 public beta program, following the stable release of the operating system at the start of October. In a community post, the company only discusses Nothing OS 2.5 in the context of the Phone (2), thereby implying the update's exclusivity to its latest handset for now. Unfortunately, it has offered no indications about when Android 14 beta builds will reach the Phone (1).

In the same post, Nothing explains that the Phone (2) must be running Nothing OS 2.0.3 before you can install its beta tool APK. Following the latter's installation, an option to switch to beta builds will appear in system settings under the software update sub-menu. Predictably, Nothing recommends backing up all data before installing Nothing OS 2.5 Beta, owing to the inherent instability of beta builds compared to their stable counterparts.

With Nothing OS 2.5 being based on Android 14, it includes revised Quick Settings, a monochrome theme and a tweaked back gesture, among other changes. Additionally, Nothing has introduced its own improvements, such as new widgets and a three-finger swipe gesture for capturing a screenshot. Moreover, it is now possible to hide app icons from the app drawer, a feature that other Android OEMs already offer. Please see Nothing's community post for its full Nothing OS 2.5 Beta changelog.

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