Let’s talk about that new Google OS
You probably know what Fuchsia is (not the color), or you have heard of it. If you don’t, it’s not a big deal — for now. Fuchsia OS, being developed by Google, is a brand new operating system designed for mobile devices. So, what’s different from Android or iOS, you may find yourself asking: Fuchsia is not designed by yesterday’s needs and standards, which included a low resolution display, unoptimized chips, and a user that didn’t know what an app is. This new take is supposedly designed for today’s modern hardware and users, and it seems like that’s the case, considering the absence of an app list or the multitasking and back buttons. If you watch the numerous videos showcasing the OS on the internet, you can also see that a portion of the display is dedicated to app suggestions and search. Google believes the future of mobile stands on actions and smooth, one page scrolling simplicity, instead of apps or widgets.
Some see this as a replacement of Android, but it seems like that’s not entirely the case. Android was not created by Google. A group of three people including Rich Miner, Nick Sears, and Andy Rubin (who has his own company Essential making Android phones now) created the most popular OS to date. Later, it was purchased by Google in 2005, although at that time it was running in the phones with chunky plastic keyboards. Shortly after the iPhone, Android came to touchscreen devices with the HTC Dream G1. But it still had a keyboard.
This acquisition was flawed as it was beneficial to Google. An open OS, belonging to the most popular search engine company, could mean many things. It could make Google a tech giant; it could be customized by the OEMs, and it could run on many types of devices. With so many advantages came one huge anchor of a drawback though: fragmentation. It still continues to be the biggest problem with Android. Although Google has had many attempts to give updates to all users at the same time, they always failed. Project Treble, the latest attempt, could be different; but it’s already unsupported on millions of devices that will run Oreo. Google found the only solution with making its own line of products that would receive the updated directly, but people have different tastes on hardware just like software.
‘Where is Fuchsia in this equation?’ you may ask. And the answer is Google itself. With Fuchsia, Google is removing Java and Linux from its mobile platform, and instead developing its own. While doing that, it’s also introducing a new software development kit called ‘Flutter SDK’ which should make apps compatible with iOS, Android, and Fuchsia. Maybe that’s how you port the best of iOS and Android apps to your new OS, Google? Probably. But then again, what is Fuchsia made for? Is it another redundant OS with a color development name or just an experiment from Google? It doesn’t look like it is, considering all that effort to make it a garden without walls, and all the secret development in the vaults under Googleplex.
Personally, I believe Fuchsia is going to be a big part of future #madebygoogle products. It already runs like butter with minimal optimizations. It would be the software, and the hardware, that Google would control completely, considering that they have hired some Apple chip engineers, but that’s for another article. And what that would mean is, you would get the full ‘Google experience’ whether it is good or bad. Google wants to be the new Apple, and it’s not stoppable unless Fuchsia becomes the new Windows Phone. There are no details that I am yet aware of regarding the desktop aspect of this operating system, so the ‘Andromeda’ dream would have to wait a bit longer. Considering that Google extended the OS support for Pixel 2 to three years, maybe we’ll see it first on these phones. Either way, Google’s taking a risk, which could backfire or be the ‘next big thing’. Until the next time, make sure you follow theROM. and tell us what you think about Fuchsia!
