Nothing's Carl Pei Says Your Smartphone's OS Will Replace All of Its Apps
- Reference: 0177820753
- News link: https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/25/05/28/0316239/nothings-carl-pei-says-your-smartphones-os-will-replace-all-of-its-apps
- Source link:
> Pei says that Nothing's strength is in "creativity," adding that "the creative companies of the past" such as Apple "have become very big and very corporate, and they're no longer very creative." He then dives into what else but AI, explaining that Nothing wants to create the "iPod" of AI, saying that Apple built a product that simply built a better user experience: "If you look back, the iPod was not launched as 'an MP3 player with a hard disk drive.' The hard disk drive was merely a means to a better user experience. AI is just a new technology that enables us to create better products for users. So, our strategy is not to make big claims that AI is going to change the world and revolutionize smartphones. For us, it's about using it to solve a consumer problem, not to tell a big story. We want the product to be the story."
>
> Pei then says that he doesn't see the current trend of AI products -- citing wearables such as smart glasses -- as the future of the technology. Rather, he sees the smartphone as the most important device for AI "for the foreseeable future," but as one that will "change dramatically." According to Pei, the future of the smartphone is one without apps, with the experience instead just revolving around the OS and what it can do and how it can "optimize" for the user, acting as a proactive, automated agent and that, in the end, the user "will spend less time doing boring things and more time on what they care about."
[1] https://www.wired.com/story/carl-pei-thinks-the-phone-of-the-future-will-only-have-one-app/
[2] https://9to5google.com/2025/05/27/nothing-carl-pei-smartphone-future-without-apps/
Show, don’t tell (Score:2)
If you’re going to rag on Apple as having ossified, it helps if you can *show* your product being the change you describe, rather than telling it. Until then, until I can pay my gardener or check my car’s charge or listen to BBC Radio 4 etc with the OS and not apps, I think of this as just posturing, rather than delivering a better experience. And I’m unclear what part of the experience is so badly broken in the first place, that gets solved through using the OS instead of apps.
Re: (Score:3)
A lot of "ideas people" these days really have the same idea "Something.. it doesn't matter what it is really, whatever... that will make me enourmously rich" and investors love that idea and give them money because they'll get rich too, right? And they do because there's a greater fool investor who will buy their shares!
The real idea is making a ton of money, not in actually doing anything.
Full self driving is one of these things, I've never heard of anyone who is excited about it besides investors. A lot
Re: (Score:3)
> unclear what part of the experience is so badly broken in the first place, that gets solved through using the OS instead of apps.
The part where the OS manufacturer does not have a monopoly in all of the use cases of a smartphone.
Handheld advertising delivery device (Score:3)
Sadly, this is probably true. I still use my phone as a communications device but it's slowly getting harder and harder to use like that. Google (and Apple although I've not used it much other than to try when Google first broke always on VPN and discovered that Apple has the same problem without the option of a custom rom) are focused on tracking and advertisment delivery (AKA money extraction).
I use always on VPN (to a private server), that way there's no information in my IP about where I am, everything comes from a handful of IPs. Sure, websites etc can (probably) know it's me each time but the don't get any information about where I might be.
But both apple and google have (IMO deliberately) broken this. I don't know of any way to have always on VPN working on Apple and receive things like whatsapp because the phone going to sleep disables the vpn. On Android it's still possible[1] on a rooted device with a custom rom but you do have to accept that a significant proportion of apps won't work on a rooted phone - so you end up needing a second phone to use the first phone as a hotspot.
[1] I suspect that one day Whatsapp will refuse to run on a rooted phone.
Re: Handheld advertising delivery device (Score:2)
App authors are under no obligation to support rooted phones and if they deal with your data they probably wont on security grounds.
As for phones becoming harder to use for communication, no idea wtf you're talking about. Calls, sms and email work fine for me. Dont use WhatsApp because I dont want Zuckerberg having my data. Kind of ironic you run a rooted phone and use vpns yet also use meta.
Re: (Score:2)
Let's see will it work in practice...
Me: "AI, send this message via the Wazap/Line/Viber/Telegram channel to XYZ!"
AI: "Sorry, no Line app installed and no Line account available"
Now, let's try it for one of the tick-tocks:
Me: "AI, apply that cool filter and send this spider-stung-while-eating-wasp video to my audience"
AI: "Sorry, no tick-tock app installed, can't help"
I somehow think the app and service providers may have a problem with the OS maker baking their service in the OS and eliminating them altoge
Re: (Score:3)
> I somehow think the app and service providers may have a problem with the OS maker baking their service in the OS and eliminating them altogether.
And the users might have a problem with it too: if the phone comes preloaded with every app that any market sector might want to use then that's a lot of useless bloat which costs me money for storage and reduces the findability of the apps I do care about; and if I can't install weird niche stuff then I don't have the general-purpose device which I expect a phone
Past examples on Linux phones (Score:2)
> And the users might have a problem with it too: if the phone comes preloaded with every app that any market sector might want to use {...} and if I can't install weird niche stuff
The way this class of problem has been solved in the past on Linux phones is by trying to handle accounts with a standardised API.
Palm/HP's WebOS had the very advanced Synergy, and Jolla's SailfishOS has a simplified version as Accounts.
It's these system's job to handle logging into servers on one side (Google Account, etc.), and exposing standard APIs to apps on the phone on the other side (mail, contact list, messages, upload of photos, etc.) Phone used to come with a set of standard account plugin (Goog
Re: (Score:2)
> is by trying to handle accounts with a standardised API
Pidgin (dunno about Linux phones, haven't seen such a beast live) worked by handling it via plugins for all available APIs.
This always worked in parts and broke often, because the APIs were incomplete and changed often.
Re: (Score:2)
Of course, I for one would not like a remote AI-cobbled something to read my private messages as a starting point.
Microsoft Windows was centuries ahead (Score:2)
incorporating every little piece of nonsense in their OS.
Aesthetics (Score:2)
There is a certain aesthetic pleasure in the selection and use of the appropriate tool. This proposal is the antithesis of that ideal. It is using a nuke to swat a fly. It works; but, at what cost?
{O.O}
Apple is way ahead of him (Score:2)
There's even a term for Apple making independent apps obsolete by adding that functionality to the OS, it's called getting "Sherlocked" because the first app to noticeably happen there was called Sherlock.
Somewhat right (Score:2)
Installing LineageOS has replaced all of Google's apps. So only if you are Google, he is right.
I'll believe it when I see it. (Score:1)
Sounds great on ePaper, but the devil's usually in the details. Current AI hiccups way too often.
Re: (Score:2)
When I look at all the new "apps" I've installed on my phone in the last year, there is only one: the Android port of Balatro.
I suppose AI could give me a fake Balatro, complete with animations and whatnot, but that sounds a lot more resource-intensive than just running reasonably well-written software.
What is the collective noun for AI Con Merchants? (Score:1)
Is it a bollocks or a bullshit ?
Rename article (Score:1)
"Nothing Carl Pei Says sounds useful or plausible"
Paywalled source (Score:2)
How can I verify anything that's in this summary if it's illegal for me to read it?
Re:Paywalled source (Score:4, Funny)
This is Slashdot. You're not supposed to read or verify anything.