Nothing is still a relatively fresh Android brand, but its devices are already among the most popular in the industry, largely thanks to their unique features. However, not every decision has been a hit with fans. The company recently received significant backlash when it introduced Lock Glimpse, a feature that brought intrusive ads to the lock screen. A few months later, it appears that the fans have won. Nothing now plans to remove the feature from most of its devices.
Lock Glimpse was designed as a customization tool offering unique wallpapers in exchange for interactive ads displayed on non-flagship Nothing devices. This was intended as a way for the company to capitalize on a new revenue stream. While the feature was turned off by default on most handsets, users were unhappy because the ads felt intrusive. There were also reports that enabling Lock Glimpse negatively affected battery life and performance for some users.
Pricier Nothing Phones to Drop the Feature
In a recent announcement, Nothing provided an update regarding Lock Glimpse and other software changes. Most notably, the company is removing the controversial Lock Glimpse feature from the Nothing Phone 3a (review) series, with the exception of the Lite model. This means the feature will remain available on the Phone 3a Lite and CMF smartphones, though it will still be optional.
The feature might not be gone permanently from the more affordable models. Nothing stated that it may “reconsider the tool once it has been meaningfully improved to feel less intrusive and more considered.”
Uninstalling Unwanted Apps
Nothing is also addressing complaints that the process for removing certain features was not straightforward and caused noticeable battery drain. With the planned update, the removal steps should be more direct and will no longer interfere with device efficiency.
In addition to the changes for Lock Glimpse, Phone 3a Lite users can now fully delete or uninstall Meta’s suite of applications. This includes the Meta App Installer, Meta App Manager, and Meta Service. A new Disable button will appear on the app details page, and selecting it will require a reboot to completely remove the services from the system partition.
The brand is also updating how the app recommendation service works for Nothing and CMF devices. Following a restart or update, these recommendations can now be easily dismissed. Users also have the option to completely disable this service by navigating to Settings, selecting All apps, tapping the top right icon to show system apps, and then disabling App Services.
These changes are part of a Nothing OS update that has been shipped to eligible devices.
How do you feel about these changes? Would you consider buying a Nothing phone again after this update? We want to hear your thoughts in the comments.
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