It has been 3 months, and Nothing’s Glyph Matrix nonetheless appears like a gimmick

I wish to assume that I used to be cautiously optimistic when Nothing swapped from the line-based Glyph Interface to the dot-based Glyph Matrix with the launch of its Telephone 3. In actuality, although, I used to be largely simply cautious. I used to be apprehensive that in making an attempt to make its iconic LED lights do much more, Nothing would wind up with one other enticing however in the end ineffective gimmick — sort of like its pseudo-transparent again panels. And, now that it’s been a couple of months, I really feel like I used to be proper.

Don’t get me improper, I’ve given the Glyph Matrix its likelihood. I’ve put in nearly each Glyph-themed app to make its strategy to the Play Retailer, figuring that one in every of them — simply one in every of them — would add one thing good. And, on a floor stage, they’ve a minimum of added one thing. I picked up a digital leveler and a brand new toy known as Glyph Dial from a paid app known as Glyphify, and extra just lately put in a 50/50 likelihood simulator known as Coin Flip from Dot Hub. They’re all… advantageous.

Effectively, of these three, I’ve to offer Glyph Dial probably the most credit score. It’s the one Glyph Toy that I’ve really began utilizing usually, because it lets me create a pace dial for ten contacts of my selecting. All I’ve to do is press the little Glyph button on the again panel, cycle by contacts, and lift my Nothing Telephone 3 to my ear to begin a telephone name. And, if I spent extra time really calling individuals, it could be good.

Sadly, although, I’ve discovered some fairly constant limitations throughout the remainder of my new Toys. The leveler, for instance, works fairly nicely till you contemplate the truth that you’re utilizing the show of your Telephone 3 because the leveling floor. Now, when you’re simply hanging a poster, that’s most likely advantageous, but when you might want to stage something rougher, you’re most likely going to cringe the entire manner by. I’d additionally a lot moderately carry round a single coin — or pull one from my automotive — than toggle by an entire record of instruments to seek out the precise one.

However hey, a minimum of Nothing is taking among the greatest community-made Toys and baking them into latest Nothing OS updates. One such instance is a compass which you could toggle between levels and cardinal instructions. It’s a good suggestion, although one I might need anticipated at launch moderately than a couple of months later.

Solely, there’s an issue with the compass, too: I can’t get it to level the precise manner. After I sit it down subsequent to my iPhone 17 Professional, I discover that Nothing’s compass is off by as a lot as 90 levels, indicating that true North is definitely Northeast, or worse, East. Different instances, although, it’s spot-on, which someway makes it more durable to belief. Fortunately, I do know my manner round my grid-organized neighborhood, however I may very a lot see the Telephone 3 main somebody astray in a extra meandering metropolis.

On the very least, I’ve to offer impartial builders some credit score for making an attempt. They’ve taken Nothing’s developer equipment and run with it, populating the Play Retailer with a handful of paid and free apps that maintain me coming again to the Telephone 3. They’re doing their greatest to make the Glyph Matrix attention-grabbing, however they’ve but to make it actually sensible. Video games like Glyph Bike give the small, dot-based interface slightly little bit of retro aptitude, but it surely’s onerous to say that they make the telephone higher — a minimum of for greater than 5 or so minutes at a time.

To me, the most important downside with getting 5 minutes of leisure out of an app is, nicely, that you’ve got your telephone for manner longer than 5 minutes a day. You even have to make use of it for issues like calling, texting, and staying productive — none of which the Glyph Matrix actually does. Certain, you’ll see an incoming name within the type of flashing patterns, however you possibly can try this earlier than with the unique Glyph Interface. And, when the price of this new light-up expertise is that it’s nearly inconceivable to discover a sturdy telephone case, it turns into even more durable to get enthusiastic about Nothing’s newest design.

There’s additionally the straightforward indisputable fact that builders haven’t actually given the Glyph Matrix almost sufficient love. After three months of open growth, you’ll a minimum of hope to see a couple of dozen apps hit the Play Retailer, they usually haven’t. At the moment, looking for “glyph matrix” yields fewer than a dozen hits, a lot of which nonetheless show the outdated Glyph Interface moderately than the brand new setup.

I, after all, don’t actually wish to be this doom and gloom about one of many extra distinctive Android options in the marketplace proper now. I might like to hype up the Glyph Matrix as a lot as I’ve hyped the remainder of Nothing OS. Nevertheless, Nothing doesn’t appear any extra interested by making the matrix any extra attention-grabbing than the impartial builders do. It hasn’t added assist for its in-house Glyph Composer — an app that in any other case would appear like a no brainer when it comes to including some substance to its type. In truth, Nothing hasn’t touched its Glyph Composer since early July 2025 — proper after its long-awaited return to the flagship area.

So, if Nothing doesn’t appear to care about its Glyph Matrix, I’ll maintain asking why I ought to really feel any totally different?