Early Software Issues Cropping Up For Nothing Phone

After a long period of hyping up the device and feeding the public breadcrumbs about the phone's design and specs, the Nothing Phone (1) has made it to the shelves and the pockets of its early adopters. It's still a little early for any serious judgment calls as to how good the Nothing Phone (1) really is, but the words of the customers speak for themselves — the phone seems to have arrived with a number of flaws and bugs.

The new release marks Nothing's first attempt at making a smartphone, but the startup was founded by Carl Pei of OnePlus fame, so there was a certain set of expectations that came with the launch of a new phone brand. Nothing did a good job driving up the hype, revealing little bits of information up until it was finally ready to unveil the phone in its entirety. Although it won't be making its way to the United States in any great capacity, the Phone (1) stands a chance to win some customers, if only due to the mid-range worthy £399 (around $478) price tag.

Nothing certainly managed to get people interested in the Phone (1), but the software issues reported by various users certainly make things look a little bleaker. It seems that the devs may not have had enough time to work out all the kinks before releasing the phone to a wider audience. As such, some of Nothing's customers are currently going through a trial by fire.

A user by the name of Lime compiled a few indicators of less-than-stellar software into a single post in the Reddit community r/Android.  The post doesn't mention any hardware flaws, which is mostly a good thing, as it means that users who are currently dissatisfied with the Phone (1) can hope for a fix. On the other hand, multiple issues surfacing at launch imply that the software may have needed more extensive testing prior to release.

Based on a review by the German website Computer Base, the phone has issues with Google Pay that mostly seem to stem from a lack of compatibility between the service and Nothing OS. The Phone (1) meets resistance with Google Pay, alerting the user that "Ihr Gerüt erfüllt nicht die Sicherheitsstandards" — effectively saying the phone does not meet the app's required security standards. A phone failing to meet security standards prompts Google Pay to assume that it's rooted or runs uncertified software. For people who frequently use Google Pay, that's bound to be a nuisance.

Update: Again according to Computer Base, this issue has been rectified with an update to Nothing OS version 1.1.0.

The poster spotted two more recurring problems. A few Reddit users report that their Auto Rotate function doesn't work, which much like Google Pay should be a staple for any modern smartphone. So-called "ghost touching" is also a problem, meaning pocket dials, with one user even reporting that their phone automatically dials the emergency service number. They also reference camera switching, and all of this still happens on the most recent update.

Nothing Phone (1) is still a new product, so bugs and various issues can happen, but let's hope that the company can follow through on the hype and fix the problems that are currently plaguing the users who took a risk and decided to try out a completely new brand.