What you need to know
- Apps may be on their way out, with Carl Pei betting on AI agents as the next smartphone paradigm.
- Pei says the current app-heavy experience is cluttered, fragmented, and overdue for a rethink.
- He sees a future where AI agents would handle tasks like booking rides, shopping, and messaging end-to-end.
Smartphone apps have shaped the last decade, but according to Carl Pei, their time is almost up. The CEO of Nothing isn’t just predicting a shift; he’s putting his company’s future on the line.
At SXSW 2026 in Austin, Pei outlined a big change (via TechCrunch). He said the app-based smartphone experience is fading, soon to be replaced by AI agents that handle tasks for you. Instead of tapping icons or switching between apps, you just say what you want and the system figures out the rest.
Pei starts with something many people already feel: apps are getting overwhelming. Modern smartphones rely on dozens or even hundreds of apps, each with its own interface, login, and system. If you want to book a trip, that’s one app. Ordering food is another. Even messaging someone means picking a platform.
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This system works, but it’s fragmented. Pei notes that smartphones haven’t really changed how we use software in years. Touchscreens and app grids are still the main way we interact, even though AI is quietly getting more advanced behind the scenes.
Enter AI agents
Instead of opening apps, Pei imagines a future where you just tell your phone what you want, and an AI agent takes care of it.
Here’s an example: instead of opening a ride-hailing app, comparing prices, and booking yourself, you’d just say, “Get me a ride home.” The AI would check the options, choose the best one, and confirm it for you. The same idea applies to shopping, scheduling, messaging, and more.
Pei describes this shift as moving from app-centric to intent-centric computing, where the interface fades into the background and outcomes take center stage.
This idea isn’t just theoretical. The timing matches the direction AI is taking. We already see early versions of this with AI assistants that can summarize emails, book reservations, or automate tasks. But for now, these assistants still work on top of apps; they don’t replace them yet.
Pei’s vision takes things a step further. He wants AI to control the whole experience, not just help out.
This would require reimagining the entire smartphone interface. There would be no more home screens full of icons and no more app stores as we know them. Instead, one intelligent system would connect services and handle tasks smoothly.
What Nothing plans to do
Pei didn’t share a full product roadmap, but he made it clear that Nothing is actively moving in this direction.
The company is looking for ways to build AI more deeply into its devices, not just as a feature but as the main experience. This could lead to new types of interfaces, smarter automation, and stronger system-level AI control.
It’s important to remember that this kind of change won’t happen quickly. Apps are deeply rooted, and developers still depend on them to reach users. But if AI agents become reliable enough, people will have more reason to skip apps entirely.
Android Central’s Take
I can see why this idea is appealing. Letting my phone handle tasks for me, instead of switching between several apps, sounds convenient. It could save time, cut down on clutter, and make smartphones feel smart again. Still, there are downsides. Giving so much control to AI means trusting it with decisions, data, and context, and I’m not sure it will always get things right. If apps go away, we lose more than just icons — we also lose some control and transparency. I wonder if ‘no apps’ just means one big app we can’t see or question.
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