Nothing unveiled its Essential Suite of AI tools in September 2025, positioning it as an initial step towards an AI-native operating system. As part of this suite, the UK-based smartphone company, led by Carl Pei, introduced the Essential Apps Builder within its Playground hub. Initially launched in an early Alpha phase limited to internal teams and a small community group, the tool has now progressed to a broader beta rollout.
In a recent community announcement, Nothing confirmed that the Essential Apps Builder beta is now expanding to more users, starting exclusively with Nothing Phone 3 owners. Beta access is rolling out gradually in batches via a waitlist, and users must register on the Playground platform to join the queue and gain entry.
The core concept behind Playground and Essential Apps is to transform ideas into functional phone widgets or mini-apps simply by describing them in natural language. Powered by AI, the builder interprets text prompts to generate personalised tools in minutes, with no coding skills or complex development environments required. This approach, often called “vibe coding,” turns app creation into an intuitive conversation. Users can refine their creations, add features, revert changes, or restore previous versions if needed.
Currently, the beta supports basic integrations like location access, read-only calendar, and contacts, enabling creations such as location-based reminders, agenda summaries, meeting countdowns, and quick-contact widgets. Nothing plans to expand capabilities soon, adding support for camera and microphone access, internet data fetching, notifications, vibration, calling, Bluetooth, activity recognition, usage stats, sensor data, and a system Weather API — some of them expected in a late-February OS update.
While limited to the Nothing Phone 3 for now due to its superior performance for handling multiple apps, Nothing intends to extend the feature to other Nothing and CMF devices running Nothing OS 4.0 or later once the beta stabilises and compatibility is ensured. The company views this as a shift towards hyper-personalised software that adapts to individual needs, differing from traditional one-app-fits-all approach.
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