14 DAY TRIAL // Fuchsia is an operating system developed by Google that managed to spawn all kinds of theories regarding the future of Android. The company finally talked about it, and it turns out that it’s not what people might think.
When the company that makes the operating system for almost 80% of all mobile devices starts working on a new type of OS, people take notice. Add to that the fact that Google hasn’t really commented on the existence of that OS, it’s easy to see why rumors started to spread online.
The operating system in question is called Fuchsia, and it’s been around for a few years. What makes it special is the fact that it’s designed to work pretty much on anything, including mobile phones, desktops, and smart devices.
To be fair, this is not a new idea. Canonical, the makers of Ubuntu, have tried for years to make this happen; they wanted a single operating system for the phone and the desktop. Because they didn’t have the power of Google behind them, the project failed, but it seems that the direction is correct.
Unfounded speculation
The main speculation about Fuchsia was that it’s going to replace Android, and eventually, provide a proper experience on desktops. In theory and according to Google, this where things are heading, but Fuchsia is not the future.
Hiroshi Lockheimer, vice president of Android and Chrome, talked with The Verge after the Google I/O event and put a dent into the rumor mill.
“We’re looking at what a new take on an operating system could be like. And so I know out there people are getting pretty excited saying, ‘Oh this is the new Android,’ or, ‘This is the new Chrome OS … Fuchsia is really not about that. Fuchsia is about just pushing the state of the art in terms of operating systems and things that we learn from Fuchsia we can incorporate into other products,” said Lockheimer.
From the looks of it, Google is using Fuchsia as a testing playground for the idea of a unified OS, but it’s not going to take it further. On the other hand, whatever useful parts are working, they will be folded into Android and other products.
That’s not to say that Fuchsia won’t evolve to be much more than that. At one point, it was reported that the OS was incorporating a new type of kernel, not the Linux flavor. For now, Fuchsia is exciting, and it’s a space worth watching because some pretty interesting things are going to happen there.