Nothing has started rolling out the official Nothing OS 4.0 update based on Android 16 for the Nothing Phone (3a) Lite. The update comes with a download size of 1.03 GB and brings several new features, visual improvements, and camera upgrades.
Nothing OS 4.0 New Features
According to the update notes, Nothing OS 4.0 introduces an AI usage dashboard that allows users to see how AI features are being used on their device. This option can be accessed from Settings > Intelligence Toolkit > AI usage.
Users can now hide apps directly from the Home screen and App Drawer, offering better privacy and cleaner organization. A new Essential Notifications entry has also been added in Settings for quicker access.
Nothing has also improved the Glyph Interface. With the Flip to Glyph feature, users can now choose whether their phone switches to Silent or Vibrate mode. The App Drawer now supports search scope management, making it easier to find apps.
The update adds more widget size options for Weather, Pedometer, and Screen Time, along with support for 2×2 Quick Settings tiles. The pop-up view now supports two floating icons, improving multitasking. Dual-SIM users can finally set different ringtones for each SIM, and a new app optimisation option has been added to help improve app startup speed.
Nothing OS 4.0 also introduces Playground (Alpha), a new platform where users can explore community creations such as Essential Apps, Camera Presets, and EQ Profiles. Alongside this, Essential Apps (Alpha) are now available for download, offering AI-powered, community-crafted applications.
On the visual side, Nothing has redesigned its app icons and updated the status bar icons for a more intuitive look. The update also adds two new lock screen clock faces and introduces Extra Dark Mode, which provides a deeper dark theme experience.
Camera improvements are another highlight of the update. Users get updated preset styles, adjustable filter intensity with new Stretch styles, and newly introduced Nothing-branded watermarks and artistic frames. Preset creation now supports LUT imports and watermarks, giving users more creative control.
Lastly, although this change is not listed in the official changelog, but Nothing team confirmed via Twitter and the Nothing Community that Lock Glimpse can now be fully removed on the Nothing Phone (3a) Lite with Nothing OS 4.0. Users can do this by tapping the Disable option on the app details page, after which the device will ask for a restart. Once the phone reboots, Lock Glimpse is removed from the system partition. However, if the device is factory reset, Lock Glimpse will return as part of the original system image and can be removed again by following the same process.
The Nothing OS 4.0 update for Nothing Phone (3a) Lite is currently rolling out and may reach all users in phases. Users are advised to connect to Wi-Fi and ensure sufficient battery before installing.
