Images of the new Fuchsia UI surfaced online

May 8, 2017 18:53 GMT  ·  By

Last year in August, Google was rumored to be working on a new operating system that could one day replace Android. Now, ArsTechnica has come across images that reveal the UI for the new OS and it appears that it won’t be based on Linux.

Both Android and Chrome OS are based on Linux, but it seems that Fuchsia will be built on a new Google kernel, one that carries the name Magenta. The recent images reveal Google’s progress on the new OS, showing that a user interface was added, together with a card-based design.

The user interface carries the name Armadillo and will serve as “the default system UI for Fuchsia,” as it was built on Google’s Flutter SDK, which is used for developing cross-platform code that runs multiple OSes like Android, iOS and even Fuchsia. This means that Armadillo can be compiled and run on an Android device.

Fuchsia OS is created for smartphones and tablets

The images and the video by Kyle Bradshaw at Hotfix show that Fuchsia is designed for both smartphones and tablets, incorporating a card-based system for managing various apps. Users will be able to drag cards in split-screen or tabbed interface mode, while some suggestions similar to Google Now can also be provided.

Armadillo UI for Fuchsia OS
Armadillo UI for Fuchsia OS

The images also seem to suggest that Fuchsia will allow users to run up to four apps at once, making it much easier to multitask on smartphones. In addition, Fuchsia resembles Android in some respects, as tapping on an image would bring up a menu that’s very similar to Android’s Quick Settings.

The report also mentions that there’s no real evidence that Fuchsia will actually replace Chrome OS or Android entirely. The move to another operating system surely implies a great deal of time and effort, while Fuchsia seems to be at the early stages of development now.

Google is expected to host its annual Google I/O event this month and perhaps the company will shed some light on this project then. But the tech giant could also choose to stay silent and only reveal Fuchsia when more progress has been made. ArsTechnica seems to suggest that Fuchsia could see the light of day in 2020.

Images showing Google's Fuchsia OS (5 Images)

Google's UI for Fuchsia
Armadillo UI for Fuchsia OSFuchsia OS
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