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That extra button on Nothing’s new phones might not be 100% free in the future (APK teardown)
This would be a bold move considering Essential Space is currently locked to budget phones and has limited features.
- Essential Space is a new AI-powered app on the Nothing Phone 3a series, triggered by pressing a new hardware button.
- An APK teardown of the latest version of the app suggests Nothing could soon charge a subscription fee for using Essential Space.
- One string of code suggests a price of $120, although it’s possible this could be an annual or even lifetime fee.
When Nothing launched the new Phone 3a and Phone 3a Pro, we were surprised to see the phones come with a new button called the Essential Key. Pressing this button interacts with the new Essential Space app, an AI-powered tool that can create reminders and do other productivity-based functions using audio recordings and screenshots. While this is still a beta feature at the moment, the existence of a fully dedicated hardware key for its use heavily suggests that Nothing is all-in on the concept (even if the placement of that key is controversial).
However, when these phones launched, Nothing made no mention of Essential Space costing money. Now, though, we have evidence to suggest that at least some parts of Essential Space could require a paid subscription in the future.
