CMF Phone 2 Pro Problems: Apps Crashing, Updates and Fixes

You tap an app, the screen flashes white, and you’re back on the home screen. Then a second app does the same. Crashing apps top the list of CMF Phone 2 Pro problems in Nothing’s community changelog threads, followed by glitches after Nothing OS updates, faster drain, slow charging and camera complaints.

Nearly all of it is software, and most of it clears up without a reset.

What you’re working with

The CMF Phone 2 Pro, from Nothing’s budget brand CMF, runs MediaTek’s Dimensity 7300-series chip. It launched in 2025 on Android 15 with Nothing OS 3.2 and has since moved to Nothing OS 4 (Android 16) builds. Notebookcheck’s review praised the bright OLED and roughly two-day battery life, and criticised the missing optical image stabilisation, limited front-camera video and a less modular design than its predecessor. As BGR explains, CMF phones reach their prices with simpler materials and mid-range chips, so the odd slowdown in a heavy app is expected rather than a fault.

Apps close on launch or freeze

An app that shuts as soon as it opens, or freezes and drops you to the home screen, is usually that app. Several apps crashing at once points to a system component, and the usual suspect is Android System WebView.

1. Restart by holding the power button for about 10 seconds.
2. Force stop the app in Settings › Apps › [app] › Force stop and open it again.
3. In the Play Store, tap your profile › Manage apps & device and install every update, especially Android System WebView and Chrome, since many apps depend on them.
4. Install any pending system update in Settings › System › System update.
5. Clear the app’s cache in Settings › Apps › [app] › Storage & cache › Clear cache. If that doesn’t work, use Clear storage and sign back in.
6. Keep at least a few gigabytes free. Apps crash more often when storage is nearly full.
7. Uninstall and reinstall the app from the Play Store.
8. Last resort: Settings › System › Reset options › Erase all data (factory reset). Back up first, then add apps back one at a time to find the one causing it. Our guide to factory resetting properly has the full steps.

Updates that won’t install, or break something

Nothing’s community thread for build B4.1-260415-1710 (April 2026) shows the mixed picture. One owner said camera lens-switching lag had been fixed. Others said screen recorders could no longer capture internal game audio after the Android 16 update, that some wallpaper effects had gone, and that the download failed with a network error. A few felt performance had dipped. These are individual reports, not confirmed bugs.

If the download fails, switch between Wi-Fi and mobile data and retry. Charge above 50%, free several gigabytes, restart, and check Settings › System › System update again. Still failing? Wait a day. Nothing releases updates in stages, and the servers can be busy at launch.

If something stopped working after the update, give it two or three days for app optimisation to finish, then update the affected app and clear its cache. Nothing often follows a big build with a quick fix, so keep checking for a new patch.

Drain since the update, and charging that crawls

Some owners in the changelog thread said the battery drained faster after updating. Open Settings › Battery and look at usage by app since the last full charge. For apps that don’t need to run in the background, go to Settings › Apps › [app] › App battery usage › Restricted. Turn on Adaptive Battery, bring brightness or refresh rate down, remove widgets that refresh constantly, and review location permissions.

Charging is often slow for a simple reason. The phone supports 33W wired charging but ships without a charger, so plenty of owners are using whatever adapter they had lying around. Use a USB-PD charger rated 33W or more and a decent USB-C cable. One community user suggested turning off Smart Charging to speed things up. That feature manages the last part of the charge to reduce battery wear, so only switch it off when you need a quick top-up. If the cable feels loose, clean the port gently.

Charging only at a certain angle, getting very hot on the charger, or losing 20% in an hour while idle after a reset are hardware signs. Contact Nothing support for a repair.

Dull low-light photos and flicker on a dim screen

Owners have complained about low-light photos that look flat or have odd colours, and about features such as depth effects arriving late or not at all. Some of this is image processing, which updates can improve or change. Keep the camera app and Nothing OS updated, and clean the lenses, because a smudge is the most common reason for hazy shots. There’s no optical stabilisation, so in low light use Night mode, hold still and brace your hands.

Some people get headaches or see a faint flicker when the screen is turned right down. Notebookcheck measured the panel and noted that its PWM dimming frequency isn’t ideal at low brightness. OLEDs dim by switching pixels on and off very quickly, and slower switching bothers sensitive users. It isn’t a defect and won’t be repaired under warranty. Keeping brightness a little higher and using Extra dim (in accessibility settings) or a dark theme helps more than dragging the slider to the bottom. Turn on the blue-light or night mode in Settings › Display in the evening, and look through the display settings after each update, since manufacturers sometimes add PWM or anti-flicker options later.

Flicker at every brightness level, or lines and tinted patches, is a display fault and a warranty case.

No signal or patchy mobile data

1. Toggle Airplane Mode, then restart.
2. In Settings › Network & internet › SIMs, check that mobile data is on and the preferred network type includes 4G/5G.
3. Make sure the APN matches your carrier’s settings, or reset it to default.
4. Reset Wi-Fi, mobile and Bluetooth under Settings › System › Reset options.
5. Put the SIM in another phone. If the CMF fails with every SIM, check that an IMEI appears under Settings › About phone. A missing IMEI means a fault that needs service.

Buying one second-hand

Low prices make CMF phones popular on the used market, grey imports included. Confirm model and region with a manufacturer and model check, make sure the IMEI is clean with a Verificação de blacklist GSMA, and see the Google account removed before you pay. Test charging, the camera and mobile data with your own SIM.

Reporting a bug so Nothing can fix it

Nothing’s engineers need logs to reproduce a problem, and a forum post alone rarely gives them that. Search Settings for “Feedback” to open the built-in feedback tool, describe what happened and when, and attach the logs it offers. For camera colour problems, include sample photos and say which build they were taken on. Then add a short note to the changelog thread for your build on the Nothing Community, so others with the same issue can confirm it.