People have rumoured that Samsung is going to get rid of Android and start using the open-source Fuchsia OS in its new phones. In the past, the company helped to make Fuchsia OS. A new report says that the company might stop using Android in the future to use the new OS.
Fuchsia is a Google-developed open-source OS that is now available as part of the search giant’s Nest brand of smart speakers (used to be called Google Home). Fuchsia isn’t like Google’s other operating systems, Android and Chrome OS, which are both built on the Linux kernel. Instead, it’s built on a new kernel called Zircon.
Samsung makes the most Android phones, but the phone manufacturer isn’t using Google’s operating system on its TVs. For its smart TVs, however, Tizen OS is used instead of Android TV. This is because the company wants to be unique. Last year, Samsung shifted to Wear OS for its Galaxy Watch 4 smartwatches after using Tizen for its previous models.
Dohyun Kim, a go-to tech enthusiast on Twitter, alleged that Samsung is getting ready to ditch Android in favour of Fuchsia OS in its upcoming handsets. Nonetheless, the shift may take “a few years” and not come soon. No word yet on a time frame, but a well-known confidential informant called Ice Universe said “yes” to Kim’s tweet, which means they have also heard similar stories from their sources.
That Samsung may move to Fuschia isn’t new. When tipster Ice Universe said that it was “very possible” that Samsung might use the new platform in the future, similar rumours began to circulate in May. In addition to Samsung’s plans with Fuchsia, Google was said to be mulling over the idea of moving its Pixel phones to the new platform at some point. That’s what a report from Bloomberg said back in 2018.
It said that the company might move its phones and smart speakers to Fuchsia. As it turns out, Google has already switched to Fuchsia for its smart speaker line-up. It’s still not clear what will happen to Android in the future.
Progress with Fuchsia OS has been going on for a long time now, since before Google launched its codebase to the public in late 2020. In addition, the company has already incorporated a large amount of code into the new operating system, including snippets relating to “the Flash-Friendly File System,” or F2FS, which is a flash file system developed by Samsung and found in some of its most recent Galaxy devices.
When it comes to Samsung and Google, switching to Fuchsia would be a good move for both of them. Even though this news isn’t very surprising, it would still be a good move for both companies.
