Nothing Phone 1 gets unofficial Android 13 with first custom ROM build

The Nothing Phone 1 quickly became popular for two reasons, despite being the new company’s first smartphone. These key pillars were fresh design and clean software. While the Nothing Phone 1’s design is no secret by now, the clean, stock Android skin that powers the phone might be a little too bare for power users who want a bit more customization.

To fix this, the Paranoid Android team, which has been making custom ROMs for a long time, has now released its first alpha version for the Nothing Phone 1. The custom ROM brings all the new features of Paranoid Android Topaz, based on Android 13, to the Nothing Phone 1.

For the uninitiated, a custom ROM is basically a third-party Android skin modification that can be used on an Android phone to replace the original skin of the operating system that the phone comes with. While installing custom ROMs is not exactly a basic procedure that is reserved for users with some Android experience, the benefits could include a completely changed user experience.

The Nothing Phone 1 custom ROM can be downloaded from the developer thread on XDA Developers or directly from the Paranoid Android website. The installation process is simple and includes a few commands in addition to the process of unlocking the bootloader of your Nothing Phone 1 if you haven’t done it yet.

Note that the build is likely to come with a number of critical bugs considering that this is literally the first test ROM build for the phone. Some of these bugs are also mentioned in the developer thread.

The custom ROM is also the first taste of Android 13 for the Nothing Phone 1, which is yet to get the official Android 13-based Nothing OS build, its own skin. The company revealed earlier this year that the phone should see a beta version before the end of the year and a stable update to Android 13 by early 2023.