Nothing Drops Controversial ‘Lock Glimpse’ Feature from Phone (A) Series

Nothing has officially dropped the controversial Lock Glimpse feature from its Phone (a) series, citing user feedback and concerns around its intrusiveness. The update was confirmed by Akis Evangelidis, co-founder of Nothing, in a community post today, on January 9, 2026. 

Nothing Lock Glimpse removal update is live now

According to the brand, Lock Glimpse will not return unless it is "meaningfully improved" to feel less intrusive and more thoughtfully integrated. The Lock Glimpse feature, which showcased glanceable content on the lock screen (much like glance on other phones), has been quite the red flag in the community since its rollout last year. 

However, the good news is that Nothing Phone (2a), Phone (2a) Plus, Phone (2a) Community Edition, Phone (3a), Phone (3a) Community Edition, Phone (3a) Pro and Phone (3a) Lite users can now let out a sigh of relief. Sadly, there's more to the latest update and it may not all be good news.

Nothing introduces app recommendations on Phone (a) lineup and CMF phones

With the latest update, users will see a small pop-up suggesting recommended apps during initial setup or after certain software updates. The brand clarified that this is part of the setup flow and can be dismissed by swiping left. 

However, for users who prefer not to see these recommendations at all, the feature can be disabled by navigating to Settings -> Apps -> All apps -> Show system -> App Services -> Disable. Nothing also added that it is working on enabling complete uninstallation of App Services in a future OTA update, similar to the approach now used for Meta services. 

In the community post, Nothing emphasised that user feedback directly influenced these decisions and reiterated Nothing's commitment to transparency around software changes. The brand says it will continue to openly communicate such updates as Nothing OS evolves. 

The latest Nothing Glimpse removal update for the Phone (a) lineup seems like a broader effort to balance monetisation, system functionality and user trust.