What is Fuchsia OS?
Fuchsia OS, named after the color of a vivid-purplish flower, is Google’s vision for a single operating system for all devices irrespective of their form factors. The platform is expected to be highly updatable, tackling one of the biggest problems Android is facing – outdated devices. Moreover, the OS is being designed to offer the users a seamless experience even when they are switching their devices. Although, the publicly available emulator offers a rudimentary interface. Past demonstrations have shown Fuchsia OS running on smartphones, in which the home page is completely ditched for faster app switching. The tech giant has been working on the project since 2016 and has also released its update on Google’s first-generation smart display device Nest Hub.
Samsung's decision to ditch Android and give Google’s new open-source operating system can be seen in the context of growing relations between the two companies. In May this year, Google and Samsung merged Samsung’s Ti zen OS and Google’s Wear OS into a unified wearable platform. Samsung, if it chooses to adopt Fuchsia over Android, might give the developing OS the head start it needs.
The leak claims that it might take a few years before the replacement takes place. Samsung’s involvement with the brand-new OS became clear when the company started contributing to the open-source project run by Google.
Fuchsia OS made its debut on the Google Nest Hub earlier this year :
Google has been building Fuchsia OS from the ground up since 2016 while utilizing a new microkernel called Zircon. By comparison, Android utilizes the Linux kernel. So there are some core differences between the two operating systems. Fuchsia made its way to the 1st gen Nest Hub earlier this year.
The current plan is to use it on IoT products, wearables, computers, etc. So it’s not far-fetched to assume that it would eventually make its way to tablets and smartphones as well. All of this depends on the eagerness of Google to switch to Fuchsia in the future.
Google posted new job listings in October, suggesting an expansion of the new OS to “additional smart devices and other form factors.”
The job listing went on to say that the new team would be “responsible for making sure we can successfully apply the Fuchsia platform to real-world products that make a difference to Google and our users.”
Since Fuchsia OS already exists on a smart display (Nest Hub), the next step could be to bring it to Google’s smart speakers. As for Samsung’s involvement with Fuchsia, we learned in May that the company is contributing towards the OS.
For now, Samsung is focused on developing One UI for its smartphones and tablets. Speaking of which, the rollout of One UI 4 has been far from smooth so far. After halting and restarting the update, the company has stopped the rollout again, citing issues with the Google Play Store.
Samsung had recently collaborated with Google to launch the Galaxy watch 4 and ditched its in-house operating system in favor of Wear OS. This move will not only help Google garner support for the operating system for wearable devices but will also help Google in the long run when it plans to switch to Fuchsia.
Theoretically, Fuchsia will help Google roll out software updates quickly and easily. Which in turn will help OEM distribute new features and OS on their devices seamlessly. Since Samsung is eager about foldable, Fuchsia OS comes with built-in support for large, screened devices, thus reducing the workload of device makers.
Did You know??: Harmony OS is the operating system that is developed by Huawei and is also microkernel-based just like Fuchsia
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