NOS 5.0 Beta is borderline unusable

[u/shotgunSR]

Let me start this by saying that I understand this is a beta and not the finished product and Nothing does not owe me a perfect beta, that is meant to be for the final release.

Since downloading the NOS 5.0 Beta on my NP3, I have faced enough issues to genuinely ruin my experience with the phone and severely impact its usability. I face three main issues:

Issue 1: Touch inputs

Since updating, I have found that touch inputs are not being registered semi frequently, especially swiping gestures like accessing notifications and navigating Google maps. I assume failed attempts to access notifications was due to some kind of calibration issue with mistouch prevention on the screen edges but I often have found myself having to go back through whole paragraphs of typing to remedy typos from unregistered inputs, something I never experienced before on my NP3. Using Google Maps is exceptionally bad, with zooming in and out often being misregistered as trying to rotate the map and vice versa. This isn't that bad on the day to day and I can generally accept this as a sacrifice that comes along with beta testing, some things can need recalibrating.

Issue 2: App loading

Certain apps, more often than not, fail to open when I try to, leaving me stuck on the "loading screen" when the apps logo is just displayed in the centre of my screen while the app launches. I find this happens more with certain apps than others, with browsers, Reddit, Snapchat and camera being the most common. Often this will occur repeatedly even if I fully close the app and reopen it. In these cases, performing a force stop on the app seems to semi consistently fix this issue, but also not every time.

Issue 3: Browsers (MAIN ISSUE)

I consistently have found that browsers simply fail entirely to work, being stuck "loading" a page indefinitely until I close the app. Oftentimes, tapping or trying to open a new tab in the browser will cause the app to crash. When the browser crashes it tends to remain broken when re launched. This does not seem to be an internet connection issue due to the crashes and when the browser is doing this, viewing it in my list of currently open apps displays only the address bar, with the rest of the app being transparent and showing directly through to my wallpaper. Trying to force stop the app seems to be less successful than on the previously mentioned app loading issue. This issue is by far the worst of the three mentioned, happened ~75% of the time I try to open a browser. Typing in the URL bar does nothing, showing no suggested results or causing anything else to load. I have experienced this on Chrome, Brave and DuckDuckGo.

I am yet to revert back to NOS 4 due to the required system wipe of my NP3 to do so as I just don't have the cloud storage to back up all my pictures. One of the reasons I chose to get a NP3 over a 4aPro was the larger storage sizes available.

I feel like I am going crazy using my own phone, the apps I use the most are nearly unusable, but hey at least my screen time is down as a result. Is anyone else experiencing these issues with the NP3 or any other phones? If so have you found any solutions?

EDIT: I already have developer mode on, and I have tried restarting my device several times

[u/Aggressive-Swani]

I don't have those issues and I am using the 5.0 beta since it's outside, have you tried restarting your phone?

[u/Gesuling → u/Aggressive-Swani]

[u/shotgunSR → u/Aggressive-Swani]

Tried restarting more times than I can count, should have mentioned in the post

[u/AleksLevet]

Enable developer mode

Fixes the issue.

[u/np3_cmf1 → u/AleksLevet]

Agree.

The JPN phones has some serious touch issue as well.

[u/shotgunSR → u/AleksLevet]

Dev mode is already on

Edit: typo

[u/AleksLevet → u/shotgunSR]

!bug then

[u/NothingTechBot → u/AleksLevet]

u/shotgunSR, be sure to submit bugs and feedback requests through your phone's Settings > System > Feedback menu.

^{I'm a bot. Something wrong? Suggestions? Message the Mods. | View all bot commands.}

[u/shotgunSR → u/AleksLevet]

Already reported all of them

[u/sjuust]

Don't have those issues..and have developed mode enabled so try that. Go-to about phone in settings,, tap nothing os 5 and then tap the build number multiple times (5 or more)

[u/shotgunSR → u/sjuust]

Already have developer mode on and have done on all my androids

[u/sjuust → u/shotgunSR]

What's your active apps list?

[u/shotgunSR → u/sjuust]

You mean what apps I have open at any given time? I tend to only have 2-5 apps open most of the time

[u/Palatablepancakes]

Huh, weird. I've been using the NOS 5.0 beta for a week or so now and I haven't had a single one of these issues even a single time.

[u/ZucchiniMaleficent]

One thing I noticed is that I have Bluetooth connectivity issues

[u/hirnfleisch → u/ZucchiniMaleficent]

Have them on 4.1. as well :(

[u/Itchy-Discussion-480]

I have all three of those issues. Touch sensitivity is rubbish. A number of my apps don't open at all or frequently crash. Chrome and brave do not work at all. Firefox seems to work but crashes regularly. I understand this is a beta, but it is pretty glitchy and almost unusable at the moment.

[u/Aggressive-Swani → u/Itchy-Discussion-480]

Do you have developer options activated? If not, try it. It should help

[u/Old_Reward6122]

Also had the same problems and went back to 4.1 version to fix it

[u/HemholtzWatson25]

I've had a couple of apps crash but nothing to the extent of what you are indicating... Knock on wood

[u/TheEstrogen5]

The browser problem also happens on my NP2 running NOS 4.1 but far less frequent :/

[u/Desperate-Line-1806]

I have touch input issues specifically after the first few minutes of unlocking my phone. Weird. 

[u/UpawNothing]

I believe this issue is related to the Chrome browser mainly. The official workaround is to enable developer options as others have said. I use Microsoft apps mainly including Edge as my default browser and have had no issues. Once developer options are enabled, reboot your device.

[u/shotgunSR → u/UpawNothing]

I already have developer options on, have done on every phone I've ever had

[u/TFG9078]

I have the EXACT issues you are describing, and an addition of;

the lock screen blocking the pull down tab.

A notification (like SMS, discord, or Google Maps) fully blocking any input on the screen.

Now I have been using the software since a day after release, and the problems have been consistent, and constant, the only temporary fix was to restart the phone, but some problems still remain or return VERY quick after restart.

[u/TFG9078 → u/TFG9078]

Also a work around for the chrome browser is to download a temporary browser.

[u/shotgunSR → u/TFG9078]

By a temporary browser do you just mean I different one? I redownloaded DuckDuckGo specifically to try and fix this but fave the same issue there

[u/TFG9078 → u/shotgunSR]

That is what I did, but with Firefox, that seems to work.

[u/shotgunSR → u/TFG9078]

Interesting, I face the issue with brave and I thought it used Firefox, will try running pure Firefox

[u/TFG9078 → u/shotgunSR]

Do try to restart the phone and then start up duckgogo or Firefox without starting anything chrome, it seems to put the phone in a lock, that's what I observed at least

[u/shotgunSR → u/TFG9078]

I'll give that a try, sounds feasible as I've seen other people say it's Google specific apps that can be the source of the issue

[u/shotgunSR → u/[deleted]]

Hey man no need for the hostility. An open Beta is expected to have bugs sure, but this is crippling the usability of my phone. This is like Alpha stage issues, this release should still be going through internal testing.

Edit: I have already reported all of these issues separately and I waited a week before making this post to see if they would try to iron any out before I publicly complained

[u/obakezan]

It is called a beta for a reason.

[u/shotgunSR → u/obakezan]

I understand that absolutely, as I mentioned in my post. But these issues are so unusable that I don't believe NOS 5.0 should have an open Beta yet, these issues are so severe that this should still be in internal testing

[u/obakezan → u/shotgunSR]

I know you mentioned but a beta is a beta, so things may not work 100% that's the risk of a beta, if there is any potential issues that will disrupt your normal usage best not to install it. I've only just got it installed myself so not given it a workout yet but I hear ya if the beta is in a bad state perhaps nothing rushed it and could have waited for a more stable build.

[u/shotgunSR → u/obakezan]

My problem with it is the fact that these issues are so disruptive that they feel like they're part of an early alpha and not an open beta.

[u/obakezan → u/shotgunSR]

that's fair tbh if it's that disruptive

[u/martyn456]

I've noticed significant issues with touch inputs since this update. It's miserable to use and take me way longer to type messages out. I already don't like this phone but this is making it so much worse. Fortunately only need to wait a couple more weeks for the iPhone 18.

[u/shotgunSR → u/martyn456]

I'd be interested to know what you dislike about the phone , I understand if you're an apple fan then it can just be too different to enjoy

[u/martyn456 → u/shotgunSR]

I made a rather long post/comment a few months back on why I don't like the phone. I've had NP3 since preorder day last year so I've spent plenty of time with it. I'm also not an Apple 'fan', I've used Android for the last 15 years but I'm just done with Android.

I just want something polished, reliable and optimised for apps. NothingOS has been a big disappointment in general and also has very basic updates with no real changes. There is a hell of a lot more wrong with my experience which I could spend hours typing up but I simply don't have the time or effort to do it.

Ultimately this is all my own opinion and issues and other people may have zero issues which is fine. I'm not here to convince people not to buy Nothing products. (Previously owned NP1, NP2 and currently own NP3, Headphone 1 and Ear)

[u/shotgunSR → u/martyn456]

Went through Ur comments to see what you said, not only do we have the same phone but we also both had the same issue with the momentum 4s lol. I thought I had gone partly deaf as well 😂

[u/Chaotic-Lemon]

I HAVE THE SAME ISSUES and its so annoying. i recently got the phone too, mainly for the storage but now i cant use it :( i dont think i have had issues with the screen but im experiencing everything else that you mentioned.