Summary
- Nothing has released a new discreet phone call recording widget for its smartphones.
- This widget will be part of the Nothing OS 2.5.3 update, which also carries a few other minor improvements.
- Users are recommended to exercise caution before using this feature, given the differing phone call recording laws around the world.
The Nothing Phone 2a is now official and reaching customers, but it’s only available as part of a developer program in the US, missing out on standard retail availability via Amazon, Best Buy, etc. Hot on the heels of the phone’s global release, Nothing CEO Carl Pei has announced the rollout of a new “discreet” recorder widget for all three of its phones — the Phone 1, Phone 2, and the Phone 2a.
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Announcing the addition on X, Pei revealed (via Android Authority) that “many” users have asked for a discreet way to record phone calls, with a subsequent tweet revealing what the widget looks like. In another tweet responding to a user query, Pei said that this feature was added as a safeguard “against bad players.”
The Nothing account on X has already announced the Phone 2a’s first software update in the form of Nothing OS 2.5.3, which includes the new Recorder widget. The same Nothing OS 2.5.3 update has also reached the Phone 1 as of yesterday, so the Phone 2 shouldn’t be far away from getting the new software.
While the ability to record phone calls discreetly may sound harmless on the surface, there are some laws against its use across the globe. In the US, a total of 11 states require two-party consent for recording phone calls, which means that everybody in the conversation should consent to being recorded. On the other hand, a bulk of the US states follow a single-person consent law wherein only one individual needs to be aware that the call is being recorded.
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In Europe, countries like France, Germany, and Spain follow a two-party consent system for recording phone conversations, while Belgium, Sweden, and the Netherlands allow single-party consent. With this in mind, we recommend checking the local laws before using this newly released Recorder widget on your Nothing smartphone.
We haven’t heard from the company about how it will manage these differing laws across regions where its products are available. While the Nothing Phone 1 and Phone 2a aren’t available through popular retail channels in the US, last year’s Phone 2 was an exception.
