Nothing's rolling out the Nothing OS 5.0 Open Beta to more devices, and if you own a Phone (4a), Phone (3a), or Phone (3a) Pro, you can jump in right now. The company already seeded the beta to the Phone (3) and Phone (4a) Pro earlier, and now it's time for the rest of the lineup to get their shot at the new software. This is a genuine open beta, so there'll be bugs, but if you're comfortable with that risk, you can grab it through the Nothing Beta Hub.
The new OS brings some seriously nice touches for customisation. You're getting fresh lock-screen clock designs like Gooey and Micrographics that actually sync with your wallpaper colours, which is a clever detail. There are three new widgets on board, a translucent Lucent theme, and a split Quick Settings panel that breaks things up nicely. Nothing's also added multi-app drag-and-drop on your home screen, adjustable torch brightness, and the Geist typeface across the system. The whole vibe feels more polished than what came before.
Essential AI gets a speed bump too, with faster voice transcription and smarter Smart Collections. You'll also get Android 17 goodies like 3D emojis, a sharper Dark Theme, and iPhone Quick Share support, which is honestly a big deal for cross-platform users. Overall system performance is supposed to improve as well, so the beta isn't just about looks.
Installing it's pretty straightforward if you follow the steps. First, make sure you're on Android 16 and Nothing OS 4.1 already. Then download the Nothing Beta Hub v2.0 APK from Nothing's website, enable installation from unknown apps in Settings, install it, and hit the Join Beta button in Settings. Wait about five to six minutes and the update will show up ready to go. If you hit server overload issues, just try again later when fewer people are hammering the servers.
Here's the thing though: this is beta software, so it's not meant for your daily driver unless you've got another phone to fall back on. If things go sideways and you get tired of the bugs, you can request a rollback through the Beta Hub and get back to stable Nothing OS 4.1. Nothing's aiming to release the stable version in early November 2026, so you won't have to wait too long if you'd rather play it safe.