Nothing Phone 2 Glyph lights aren’t a gimmick anymore

After we first bought a take a look at the Nothing Telephone 1 in 2022, The Glyph — the lights on the again of the telephone — appeared like an enormous ol’ gimmick. To its credit score, Nothing did a good job of constructing The Glyph sort of helpful. For instance, it doubles as a torch and has a charging animation to point out the remaining time till it’s topped up. Nonetheless, with the Nothing Telephone 2, the lights leap from “gimmick” to “terrific.”

The Glyph on the again of the Nothing Telephone 2 is barely completely different from the one on the Telephone 1. For instance, there are virtually thrice as many LED nodes (we’ve gone from 12 on the Telephone 1 to 33 on the Telephone 2), and the LED strips themselves have been redesigned to be extra symmetrical. Fortunately, these {hardware} modifications received’t forestall most of The Glyph’s new options from coming to the Telephone 1 for the reason that software program is what actually makes the distinction this time round.

Let’s clarify what’s new and why these options make the Nothing Telephone 2 shine amongst different Android flagships.

At its core, The Glyph is a contemporary tackle the outdated LED notification lights from Android telephones of the previous. On a telephone just like the Samsung Galaxy S3, for instance, the LED mild on the entrance would mild up once you obtained a notification. Because it was an RGB mild, you could possibly even program it to vary colour primarily based on the app — blue for Twitter, purple for Gmail, inexperienced for textual content messages, and so forth. Over time, for some cause, this function light away.

The Glyph won’t have RGB (Nothing CEO Carl Pei went on the document to name that concept “cringe“), however it nonetheless does what the LED lights of yesteryear did. For instance, on a Nothing Telephone 1 or Telephone 2, you may select customized ringtones in addition to customized Glyphs — “mild tones,” because it had been — that correspond to a particular contact. That manner, once you get a name out of your dad, the sunshine pulses and sounds will probably be completely different from those you get for calls out of your partner.

That is actually useful when utilizing Flip to Glyph, a function that additionally seems on each Nothing telephones. A not-so-subtle tackle Google’s Flip to Shhh, Flip to Glyph places the telephone into silent mode once you place it face down on a flat floor. That is excellent for once you don’t need to hear notifications however nonetheless need to know, via visible cues, after they arrive.

The Nothing Telephone 2’s Glyph takes issues just a few steps additional.

The brand new Glyph Composer means that you can create totally personalized Glyphs, together with sound. You faucet on the offered interface and hash out a novel “tune,” which you’ll be able to then save and apply to contacts simply as you’d a standard ringtone. It is a enormous step up over the 21 pre-made Glyphs Nothing gives for you.

You can even share these customized Glyphs fairly simply. After you create one, you may ship it via the Android share sheet, similar to you’d share a photograph with somebody. It is going to be actually cool to see how the Nothing neighborhood makes use of this function.

There aren’t any sensible limits to what you do with this software, both. When you had the time and inclination, you could possibly create a novel Glyph for each single one in all your contacts. You probably have an important reminiscence, you’ll have the ability to know who’s messaging you even from throughout the room.

One other nice new function is Important Glyph. With this, you may set particular notifications from apps as “important.” When an alert comes via for that app, the diagonal mild within the prime proper nook of the telephone turns stable white and stays that manner (see picture above). The one solution to flip this mild off is to learn or dismiss the important notification.

The best solution to set it up is to long-press a notification once you obtain it. You possibly can then tick the Important Glyph toggle and choose both the app itself or the particular contact inside that app. That’s it: that notification is now deemed “important,” and future notifications will mild up the diagonal strip. You are able to do this for as many contacts/apps as you want.

That is extremely helpful, because it’s a easy visible cue that somebody you’ve got deemed extra vital than the remainder is contacting you. After all, you shouldn’t go utilizing this function willy-nilly. In any case, if all the pieces is important, then nothing is.

Likewise, this function works nice with Flip to Glyph. When you’re hanging at a bar with some associates, for instance, you could have been distracted when your partner’s customized silent Glyph went off. With this function, the sunshine received’t go away till you test your telephone, so that you’ll by no means miss an vital message once more.

Clearly, this function will negatively have an effect on battery life to a point, particularly if the sunshine is on for hours straight. Ideally, although, you’ll test your telephone rapidly once you get this notification. That’s the purpose, !

On the Nothing Telephone 2 Glyph, 16 of the 33 LED zones are inside only one strip: the curved one instantly underneath the diagonal strip within the higher proper nook. As a result of there are such a lot of zones inside this one strip, you should utilize it as a visible software for 2 capabilities.

The primary is a timer, appropriately generally known as a Glyph Timer. As an alternative of setting a timer utilizing the Clock app, you may set it via a tile inside Fast Settings. Simply choose how a lot time you want and set your Telephone 2 face down on a flat floor. The Glyph will pulse to indicate the timer has began, after which the LED strip will begin to slowly fade out, sort of like a reverse progress bar. When the timer completes, the LEDs will flash and, if you happen to’ve set it up as such, a sound will blare.

The same function is Glyph Progress. Utilizing the identical LED strip, you may get visible cues as to the progress of an app operate. It’s already built-in with Uber, so if you happen to order a experience, The Glyph will countdown the period of time left earlier than your driver arrives. With a fast look behind your telephone, you’ll have the ability to see how a lot time you’ve got left earlier than you’ll want to greet your driver.

Sadly, Uber is the one third-party accomplice within the US that works with Glyph Progress, however the firm guarantees to announce extra partnerships quickly.

Do be aware that, since these two options depend on the 16-zone LED strip, they are going to be Nothing Telephone 2 exclusives. They’re not coming to the Telephone 1 because it lacks the {hardware} to make this work.

As cool as these options are, there’s nonetheless a variety of room for enchancment. Because the {hardware} is already there, Nothing might very nicely proceed so as to add and enhance options via software program updates.

An instance of one thing lacking is the flexibility to set a contact as an Important Glyph fairly than a particular individual inside a particular app. Let’s fake you need to set your dad’s telephone quantity as an Important Glyph. The probabilities are good that he contacts you thru a number of apps, such because the telephone app, Messages, WhatsApp, and so forth. All these apps most likely use his telephone quantity as a signifier. Sadly, Nothing OS doesn’t know this, so that you would want to set your dad’s quantity as “important” inside all of these apps individually. This isn’t practically as “set it and neglect it” as it will be if you happen to might set a contact as important.

One other factor lacking right here is the flexibility to regulate what occurs once you use Flip to Glyph. As of now, utilizing this software merely places the telephone into silent mode so that you see mild pulses for notifications however don’t hear any sounds. You’ll nonetheless get mild notifications for each app alert, in different phrases. Why can’t we put it into one thing like “Important Mode” so solely our Important Glyph contacts come via? This may be nice for folk who’re finding out, working, or digital detoxing. It could permit them to securely ignore their telephone however nonetheless know when somebody vital is making an attempt to get via.

Lastly, the Glyph Progress function is absolutely cool, however it wants extra help from each first- and third-party programs. Uber is a superb begin, however there are such a lot of alternatives right here for companies like meals supply, for instance. There are additionally some cool issues you could possibly do with your folks, like sharing a progress timer for when your on-line gaming session goes to start. The sky is absolutely the restrict.

Individuals who known as The Glyph a gimmick when the Nothing Telephone 1 landed weren’t totally unsuitable. The sunshine-up again was a novelty with few use instances on the time. In the present day, although, each the Nothing Telephone 2 Glyph and the unique have a variety of cool options that make the telephones uniquely highly effective.

Granted, a extra helpful Glyph isn’t more likely to sway Nothing detractors within the different path. The telephone total continues to be lacking some vital particulars, corresponding to a telephoto lens on the again, super-fast wired charging, Gorilla Glass Victus, and a full IP68 ranking. However for these folks on the market who can look previous these lacking items and need a telephone that does issues somewhat otherwise, The Glyph actually is kind of interesting.

Time will inform, after all, whether or not or not Nothing is able to put its cash the place its mouth is in terms of these funky lights. The corporate must repeatedly innovate and ship new options. Up to now, it’s completed nicely, however who is aware of what the following few years maintain.