Yesterday, Nothing unveiled the Nothing OS 5.0 release, based on Android 17. The company also detailed its rollout for all supported devices. And today, right on time, the first open beta build of Nothing OS 5.0 has become available for the Nothing Phone (3).
You can download the open beta from this page (scroll down almost to the end to see the link). Well, technically, you’re not downloading the new firmware, but the latest Nothing Beta Hub version 2.0 app. You need to use that to get the software update.
Once you’ve installed the app, go to Settings > System > Nothing Beta Hub, tap on Check Version, then tap on Join Beta to register. You should then receive the first open beta build as a normal over-the-air update. If it doesn’t appear automatically, you can manually check for it by going to Settings > System > System updates.
As always in such cases, note that this is unfinished software, so bugs could be present and things could break, so it’s generally not advisable to play with it on your main device. If you do decide to try it, make sure you back up your data first.
If at any point you want to go back to a stable version of Nothing OS, you can do so from Settings > System > Nothing Beta Hub, by tapping Request Rollback. However, do note that if you do this, all of your data will be wiped.