Android 16 confirmed to be coming to your Nothing Phone "soon"

Android 16 rolled out to Pixel devices in June 2025 and we've seen a scramble for other Android phone manufacturers to catch up ever since.

Of those, it looks like Nothing is now close. The company has teased that Android 16 is "coming soon" in the guise of Nothing OS 4.0.

Anticipation has been high for the roll-out of Nothing OS 4.0, after Carl Pei – the company's founder and CEO – confirmed that the new software would be landing "later this autumn" during the launch of the Nothing Phone (3) in July.

At the time of the phone's launch it was running Android 15, so it was only fair that the new software got a mention. Now that we're in autumn and Nothing is teasing the update, we can expect Android 16 with Nothing OS 4.0 within weeks. That aligns with a mention in the reviewer's guide for the new phone, which mentioned the software would land in Q3 – which we're in the final month of.

The tease was shared via X and no timeline is given. Nothing is currently teasing the launch of the Nothing Ear (3), its latest headphones due to launch on 18 September, but that's not the only hint out there.

Recently, Nothing India put out a teaser that scrolled the date of 14 September. There's been no other mention of this date and it doesn't seem linked to the Nothing Ear event, so that could indicate the date when Nothing OS 4.0 will start to roll-out.

That would also allow Nothing to mention the update during its new headphone announcement.

Nothing has been running the Nothing OS 4.0 beta since 30 July, allowing some users to sample the new software. That has included tweaks to the UI, the incorporation of some Android 16 features like Live Update notifications, new widgets and other elements.

Nothing OS 4.0 will also likely bring some features announced on the Nothing Phone (3) to older devices.

Will my phone get Nothing OS 4.0?

The following devices are expected to get Nothing OS 4.0:

• Nothing Phone (2)
• Nothing Phone (2a)
• Nothing Phone (2a) Plus
• Nothing Phone (3)
• Nothing Phone (3a)
• Nothing Phone (3a) Pro

It's also expected on the CMF Phone 1 and CMF Phone 2 Pro. The original Nothing Phone has reached the end of its update cycle, so isn't in line for the update, but there is some hope.

In response to a question about whether it would be updated, Carl Pei said that "to thank our day-one users, we're working on a program for you". Exactly what that will be remains to be seen.