Why Nothing’s AI Essential could finally break Android and iOS

After using Nothing devices daily, including my own Nothing Phone 3 (read my Nothing Phone 3 review for the full breakdown), I’ve started to wonder: are Android and iOS losing their edge? Nothing’s latest launch, Essential, certainly feels like a direct challenge to the established order.

For years, smartphones have offered the same one-size-fits-all experience to everyone. Rows of pre-installed apps. Operating systems are designed more to capture attention than to help you get things done. Essential aims to change that as it's built around the user, not the device, with a focus on tools and apps you can create yourself.

The heart of the system is Essential Apps, which you build by simply describing what you need. Examples put forward in today's launch are: if you want a weekly PDF of receipts, a pre-call briefing summarising messages and calendar events, or a mood tracker that syncs with playlists? Describe it, and Essential produces it for your home screen. It’s a new level of personalisation, without requiring a team of developers.

Nothing's AI app creator

Nothing also introduces Playground, a space to build, share, and download community-created apps. Unlike Google’s and Apple’s walled gardens, Playground encourages real creativity and allows users to decide how their devices work. Carl Pei, Nothing’s CEO, says: “The future of software will be one of unrestricted access, collective innovation, and hyper-personalisation.”

In its early stages, the Nothing community has contributed a growing number of widgets and experimental apps, covering everything from small productivity tools to playful utilities. While the ecosystem is still young, these projects show the potential for personal tools developed by individuals rather than corporations.

Nothing has proven that independent platforms can grow quickly. In five years, it has shipped millions of devices and generated over $1B in revenue. By combining hardware and software closely, Nothing can deliver an experience Android and iOS simply cannot match: a device that adapts to your routines and priorities rather than forcing you into a fixed system.

Stay or go?

So, are Android and iOS dead? Well, let's not jump to conclusions. Essential is basically a new layer on top of Android, not a completely separate OS. It adds generative apps, the Playground ecosystem, and personalisation features, but the core system still relies on Android’s foundations for stability, security, and hardware support. So, realistically, Android is not going anywhere, and neither is iOS, but Nothing is seeking a way to push the old way of doing things aside and find a personal approach to using a smartphone.

Essential’s focus is on user-led, generative experiences, things like creating custom apps in seconds and sharing them via Playground for others to adopt, which is what distinguishes it from the traditional approach of Android or iOS, and it's why many creatives could find Nothing a fun and innovative way to use a smartphone. Heck, it could even make app developers of all of us.

Essential is available now, with Playground open for everyone at playground.nothing.tech.