there's no message. there's no notification. you just know.
what it is
a quiet little thing that pairs two nothing phone 3s and lets them share a small led pattern in real-time. when one person updates the pattern, the other's glyph matrix reflects the change, within a second.
that's it. no chat, no presence indicator, no notification layer. just shared light — whenever one of you remembers to press a button, the other sees a soft flicker of something.
how it works
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two devices pair using a shared code.
the code becomes a firebase database key — nothing public, nothing discoverable.
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both devices listen on the same path:
/pairs/{code}/pattern.when the value changes, the listener fires.
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when one side writes a pattern, the other renders it on the glyph matrix within a heartbeat.
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last write wins. no history, no read receipts, no confirmation.
if you missed it, you missed it. that's the point.
set it up
this isn't on the play store — it's an open-source sketch you build yourself. if you've ever shipped an android app, none of this will be new:
- create a firebase project with realtime database enabled (free tier is fine).
- configure database rules to restrict read/write to paired devices.
- drop your firebase api key into
gradle.properties. - build and sideload the apk via android studio.
- pair with someone using the same code.
what to know
- nothing phone 3 only for the native glyph matrix experience.
- older nothing phones use different glyph systems — would need custom mapping.
- pattern data is stored as plaintext in firebase; anyone with console access can read it.
- no accounts, no hosted backend beyond firebase.
it just quietly exists.
a note before you fork.
this project isn't maintained. it's an open-source release, not a product — no ongoing bug fixes, no updates, no play store.
feel free to fork it, remix it, or just read the code. the point was always that it exists, not that it's polished.