Expanding its push toward an AI-native operating system, Nothing has started rolling out the beta version of its Essential Apps Builder to a wider audience. The feature, part of the Essential Suite introduced in September 2025, allows users to create personalised apps using natural language prompts.
Announced in a community post on Tuesday, the London-based smartphone maker confirmed that the Essential Apps Builder is now available in beta through the Playground hub. The rollout has initially begun for Nothing Phone 3 users and is being released in batches. Interested users must register on a waitlist to access the beta version.
The stable release is expected later this year and will include the Remixing Apps functionality within the Playground hub. With the beta update, Nothing has also made publishing and updating apps “easier to understand” by clearly labelling live apps, draft apps, and highlighting changes made. The Essential Apps Builder now also supports dark mode.
Currently, the feature is exclusive to the Nothing Phone 3. However, the company plans to expand availability to other Nothing and CMF devices running Nothing OS 4.0 and later, once the “beta stabilises”.
At present, the app builder requires access to a user’s location, calendar (read only), and Contacts. As a result, it can create “location-based reminders, agenda views, meeting countdowns and one-tap contact widgets”.
Nothing has said that “more capabilities” will be added soon. Upcoming features include access to the camera and microphone, network fetching, notifications, vibration, calling, and Bluetooth. A late February OS update is also expected to introduce activity recognition, usage statistics, sensor data, and a system Weather API to the builder.
The Essential Apps Builder was previously available only as an internal and limited community Alpha release. The tool supports vibe coding, meaning it can generate apps and widgets based on natural language prompts.
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