As the excitement builds for the upcoming Phone (3), Nothing is making some impressive strides in both hardware and software.
After launching its Gallery app alongside Nothing OS 3.0 last year, the company has now added much-needed editing features that fans have been asking for.
With the latest update, the Gallery app is getting a built-in editor, making it easier than ever to tweak photos and videos directly in the app. Gone are the days of needing third-party apps for basic edits. Here’s a rundown of what the new features include:
- Basic editing tools: Six options for crop and rotation to fine-tune your framing.
- Color adjustments: Twelve sliders to adjust brightness, contrast, saturation, and more.
- Filters: Ten custom filters from Nothing, each with adjustable intensity (0–100).
- Video controls: Trim, adjust volume, and modify slow-motion playback speed.
The app is designed to take full advantage of Nothing’s hardware, ensuring that the editing process is smooth and responsive. The company claims that switching from the camera to the Gallery app is now 20% faster, with image processing speeds improved by 25%. The app also introduces a more polished experience across the UI, with refined typography and motion effects
. Image Cutout is now powered by Nothing’s Dot Engine, providing a unique and tactile editing experience when long-pressing a subject in a photo.
In addition to improved speed and usability, the app now includes AI-based photo categorization, pro-level image quality controls, and advanced color fine-tuning options, allowing users to adjust settings like white balance, contrast, and tone curves at full resolution without compromising quality. Haptic feedback is also integrated into every tool, offering a more precise editing experience.
For HDR enthusiasts, the Ultra XDR support is a game-changer, as it preserves HDR data using gain maps embedded in JPEGs, which is a feature most third-party apps can’t handle. While we’ll need to test it to confirm, Nothing claims this means the image you see should match exactly what the camera captured.
One of the standout features of this update is the emphasis on privacy. All editing happens entirely on-device, meaning your photos stay on your phone with no forced logins, cloud syncing, or subscriptions. For those who value complete control over their data, this privacy-focused approach is a refreshing change from cloud-based alternatives like Google Photos, which syncs your edits to the cloud.
With the Phone (3) on the horizon and expected to retail for around $800, Nothing is clearly aiming for the premium market. To compete with giants like Apple and Samsung, the software experience needs to be top-notch. The upcoming launch promises even more features, making it clear that Nothing is committed to refining its software and providing users with the experience they’ve been waiting for.