Building apps has always been a complicated process reserved for a select /few with the necessary knowledge, but that’s now changing. Thanks to the rise of generative AI, more people can use relatively simple tools to build things, which sometimes work. Nothing is taking that idea and harnessing it in a new way that could change our idea of mobile apps. Instead of something pre-made that we download, why don’t we just vibe code whatever we need at the moment?
Nothing’s Essential Apps Playground allows you to vibe code mini apps
Nothing kicked off an early beta for its Essential Apps Builder, which allows users to create personalized mini apps. Essential Apps are essentially AI-generated interactive widgets and mini apps, which can be shared through the Nothing Playground platform.
Essential Apps supports only three permissions for now: Location, Calendar (read only), and Contacts. That allows users to build things like location-based widgets, personalized agenda views, countdowns, and one-tap contact widgets. Capabilities such as camera and microphone access, network fetching, notifications, vibrations, calling, and Bluetooth will be added in the future.
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Create apps shaped exactly around your specific needs and context.
That's what Essential Apps are.
You describe what you need. AI builds it. It appears on your phone's home screen, ready to use.
The company says the early beta is limited to the Nothing Phone (3) as it provides the performance to run multiple Essential Apps. As the software improves, it will be rolled out to devices running Nothing OS 4.0 and above, including CMF devices. Nothing has launched an early alpha version of the Essential Apps Builder in October as an internal and limited community release, which has helped it validate the idea.
Build it yourself
Nothing's Playground app with the Essential Apps Bulder. | Image Credit – Nothing
Nothing’s AI-powered Apps Builder lives inside the web-based Playground app. To use it, you just need to describe the app you want in plain language while minding the existing constraints. When you edit your apps, the Builder will update only the necessary parts of the app, keeping the apps stable and improving their reliability over time. There’s also an option to restore an earlier version if something goes wrong.
Deploying apps happens with the tap of a button, which sends them instantly to the home screen of the phone.
What do you think about Nothing’s idea?
Nothing says that it will expand the Essential Apps capabilities with an OS update in late February. That update will add activity recognition, usage statistics, sensor data, and system Weather API capabilities to the apps. The company also says a native Playground app is coming soon.
Later this year, the company plans to move Essential Apps to a public release. The company says it wants to make sure system integrations are stable and to confirm the device compatibility before making the move. Meanwhile, the platform “will continue to gain deeper system integrations, expanded design capabilities and broader device support.”
You get what you ask for
Building your own app sounds nice, but it can be a little more complicated than mindlessly tapping your great app idea. In fact, the most difficult part of properly using AI tools is learning how to write good prompts. They need to be detailed and specific, otherwise you risk getting underwhelming results.
Once that’s settled, it could be exciting to have your personal app on your home screen, but I doubt that’s the future of mobile apps. I do have some weirdly specific app ideas, but I’m also happy with what those knowledgeable app developers have been offering me so far.
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Ilia, a tech journalist at PhoneArena, has been covering the mobile industry since 2011, with experience at outlets like Forbes Bulgaria. Passionate about smartphones, tablets, and consumer tech, he blends deep industry knowledge with a personal fascination that began with his first Nokia and Sony Ericsson devices. Originally from Bulgaria and now based in Lima, Peru, Ilia balances his tech obsessions with walking his dog, training at the gym, and slowly mastering Spanish.
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