Nothing just dropped Playground, an AI-powered app creation platform that lets users build custom smartphone apps from simple text prompts. The London startup is positioning this as their "first step towards an AI-native operating system," though it's really more of an interface layer sitting on top of Android. Still, the concept is genuinely intriguing - imagine designing a mood tracker that syncs with your playlist or an outfit picker based on your calendar, all without touching a line of code.
Nothing just made app development as simple as sending a text message. The London startup's new Playground platform launched today with a bold promise: anyone can now build smartphone apps using nothing but written prompts, no coding required.
CEO Carl Pei is calling this Nothing's "first step towards an AI-native operating system," though that's stretching things a bit. Playground is actually an app store filled with user-created, AI-generated apps, and it's built entirely on Google's Android. But beneath the marketing hyperbole lies something genuinely exciting - a glimpse of smartphones that adapt to users rather than forcing users to adapt to them.
The centerpiece is Essential Apps, an AI-powered tool that can build simple applications from written descriptions alone. "We're basically democratizing app creation," Pei told The Verge during an exclusive interview. Users can request anything from a mood tracker that syncs with music playlists to a receipt-to-expenses pipeline or an outfit selector based on wardrobe and calendar appointments.
Right now, the platform only creates widgets rather than full applications, which obviously limits functionality. Apps must be designed on a web platform before being installed on Nothing phones or shared through Playground. The service works exclusively with Nothing devices, though the original Phone 1 is excluded since it no longer receives major updates.
Pei envisions this evolving into something much more seamless. "Over time, this process will take place directly on the phone itself, perhaps just by speaking," he explained. The company plans to expand beyond widgets to full-screen apps comparable to traditional smartphone applications.
What's particularly interesting is the potential creator economy emerging around this concept. Playground allows users to remix and build upon apps others have created, similar to how open-source communities collaborate today. Despite Nothing's criticism of the "moats" that Apple and Google have built around their app stores, Pei says he's not focused on monetization yet.