Smartphone widgets are like having mini superheroes on your screen, providing quick information and easy access. Apple, Samsung, and OnePlus all offer these handy widgets, but none do it quite as well as Nothing.
**In Short:**
– Nothing excels in functional widgets.
– The News Reporter widget uses AI to provide news updates.
– The Camera widget offers customizable camera presets.
Widgets are now a key feature on smartphones, acting like mini superheroes that deliver quick information and easy access. While brands like Apple, Samsung, and OnePlus have integrated widgets into their interfaces, they often feel more like shortcuts than the functional tools we hope for. However, Nothing stands out for getting widgets right.
I’ve tested several Nothing Phones, including the Nothing Phone 2, Nothing Phone 2a, and Nothing Phone 2a Plus. These phones are known for their unique transparent design and Nothing OS, which have received positive reviews. One feature that doesn’t get enough attention is their highly functional widgets.
During my review of the Nothing Phone 2a Plus, I got an exclusive preview of a new widget called News Reporter. This widget, set to launch soon, uses AI to deliver news updates. After testing it, I found that the widgets on Nothing phones offer significant functionality and easy access right from the home screen—something other brands haven’t achieved as well.
The new News Reporter widget is not just a basic news app shortcut—it’s a standout feature. It provides a daily digest of news using AI to deliver updates in a clear, user-friendly format. Here’s how it works:
– **Voice and AI Integration**: The widget aggregates news across eight genres—business, entertainment, general, health, science, sports, and technology—based on your preferences. It uses AI to summarize articles and converts them into audio, narrated by Nothing CFO Tim Holbrow. No signup is needed.
– **Daily Updates**: Each day, the widget offers summaries of eight stories, each lasting about one minute. The widget refreshes every morning with new content, and you can skip stories through the Quick Settings Panel or Media Player widget.
– **User Experience**: Using the widget is straightforward. When you have around eight minutes, just tap the widget to start listening. The news plays in Holbrow’s voice, and you can continue using your phone without interruption. If the Gemini shortcut with the voice feature is active, the widget pauses momentarily if it detects speech and resumes if no speech is detected.
– **Control and Aesthetics**: You can pause and resume the news at any time by tapping the widget. The design includes an animated audio waveform that visually represents the progress of each news item, turning red and then grey to show how much time remains.
Overall, the News Reporter widget combines functionality with a sleek design, making it a noteworthy feature on Nothing phones.
**The Camera Widget:**
The camera widget isn’t entirely new, but it was introduced earlier this year. In February, Nothing OS head Mladen Hoyss mentioned it, and we finally got to try it on the Nothing Phone 2a Plus. It’s impressive.
This widget allows you to create and set shortcuts for custom camera presets on your home screen. For example, I set up a portrait mode preset with a 50mm lens, auto HDR, a monochrome filter, medium bokeh, and a watermark. Tapping this widget opens the camera with these exact settings.
You can name the preset, choose the mode, select the lens (rear or front, wide or ultra-wide), adjust the focal length, HDR settings, ratio, flash, timer, filter, retouch, bokeh, and watermark. You can create multiple presets and edit them by long-pressing the widget and selecting widget settings.
**ChatGPT Widget:**
Nothing also offers a handy ChatGPT widget. It lets you use ChatGPT 4o mini without needing to sign up. You can interact using text, voice, or image search directly from the home screen.
To use this, download the ChatGPT app and go to the widget settings. You can choose between a ‘Multiple’ widget with text, voice, and image options, or a ‘Single’ widget just for voice. If you use voice interaction, you can switch to it on the home screen by swiping or tapping the widget, which will open ChatGPT in voice mode.
Overall, Nothing has excelled with its widgets. Unlike just shortcuts, the widgets on NothingOS provide real functionality and quick access to information without scrolling through multiple pages or apps. While other brands like Samsung and Apple also offer widgets, Nothing stands out for how effectively it integrates them.