Google always has many projects up its sleeve, but only a few, special ones get the honor of being carried over for commercial development. One such special project is Fuchsia OS, which has been out in the public since 2016 but has only had little to no interest from consumers. It is an operating system which is meant to unify the entire ecosystem of gadgets under a single umbrella. Fuchsia OS is designed to work on not only smartphones or desktops, but also operate any smart device part of an IoT network and Google seemingly wants to offer you a similar unified experience across all platforms just like Apple. And, this will be even more effective with the rise of faster mobile communication through 5G.
With Fuchsia OS, Google might be planning to wipe Android from the face of the Earth – or at least the memories of the gen-Z, but the biggest and the most sought after role for the OS is to provide a consistent and unwavering experience on all the devices, irrespective of their specifications, size, or utility.
Why Fuchsia?
Apple might be best known for its iPhones and the Mac, but it has many more software tricks up its sleeve than it is revered for. It’s the exclusivity of its software that has not only helped Apple maintain a strong lead in the industry but also aided it to bounce back after the management stand-off that resulted in founder Steve Jobs being fired from his own company. Now, Google is trying to achieve that but it is doing so differently i.e. by swearing by the principles of open source.
While having a greater monopoly over its software be great for Google financially, another major reason for choosing infant Fuchsia over an amended version of Android is that the new OS will be focused on interactions that leverage a voice-based experience, instead of one relying on touch. This means that Fuchsia will even be suitable for devices with displays that may or may not support a touch interface – or even a display.
Android was designed primarily with smartphones with QWERTY keyboards and later evolved to suit touch control. It is now a decade old and supports a host of devices, not just smartphones or tablets, but it’s still largely dependent on touch interactivity. So, if Google desires to prepare for the challenges of the next decade, starting ground-up from scratch appears to be a better way than re-modifying Android to suit new needs.
Apart from this, Google might also be trying to distance itself from the Oracle lawsuit. The two software giants have been in a battle of nerves over the issue of royalty relating to Google’s use of open-source Java application program interfaces or APIs while creating the early version of Android. The two giants have been at loggerheads since 2010 and as per the last court order, Google was asked to pay $8.8 billion to Oracle – an order which it has challenged and is currently preparing for a review petition.
Part of the fresh approach that Fuchsia is a product of is the new kernel used for the operating system. This kernel is called Zircon and is coded in C++, instead of C which is used to write Linux kernels. Essentially, Zircon is a microkernel which, in layman terms, will manage software-hardware interactions better and offer more efficiency in terms of utilization of resources such as processing power and network speeds.
Zircon will also be updated on a regular basis, unlike a Linux kernel, which is only written to meet the requirements of the hardware, so that devices are instantly compatible with the latest updates.
Fuchsia uses a modular approach which means that instead of being one big stack of code, it will be segmented into building blocks or “packages”. Everything, including system files, will be made up of these smaller chunks aka packages, which, in turn, can also be made up of even smaller “components”. These components will comprise only the code needed to accomplish a single task. By itself, a component cannot accomplish much but when grouped with other components, the cadre will be able to execute a process. Further, there will two types of components – “agents”, which work in the background, and “modules” which will be visible to the users. Modularity in Fuchsia OS; Courtesy: 9to5Google
Fuchsia OS currently supports a handful of filesystems such as :
- read-only
- temporary in-memory (for RAM)
- a persistent filesystem for storing files permanently
- an integrity-verifying package storage filesystem (for data encryption), and
- a typical FAT storage system
With modularity at its core, Fuchsia’s architecture is flexible and can receive support for additional filesystems in the future.
Real-time Updates
Android is the leader when it comes to userbase but despite that, it lags behind in the area of updates. While user experience can be subjective, many still prefer iOS over Android when taking factors such as the long software support and the former’s uniform experience across different devices into consideration. While Google was earlier reported to be mulling splitting update packages at the vendor and the Android framework levels, this would only help slightly faster security updates to Android. Fuchsia, however, adds this functionality to the entire operating system.
In an attempt to make Fuchsia more humanly, the OS will come with a feature called Ledgers which will maintain data related to the usage per device. This will allow users to start working on a new device straight from where they left off on the previous one. The feature will not just sync data from individual app separately but the entire interface as a whole. All this information will be stored on a common network allowing users to have a seamless experience while switching devices.
Filling Gaps
The name Fuchsia is derived from the color of the same name, which in turn is derived from the flowers of the eponymous fuchsia plant that has more than 110 species. Although the name is not very common, you might identify with this color very easily (HEX: ). Easily confused for pink by many, fuchsia can actually be visualized as a hybrid between pink and purple. But the name goes beyond explaining a combination of color and has an underlying metaphor associated with it. The flower of fuchsia plant
The web is slowly being taken over by progressive web apps or interfaces which run directly off the web to offer an app-like experience without any installation. While there is limited information about Fuchsia apps available as of now, by looking at the connected future one can safely speculate that the OS will be designed for a web-first experience, much like the Chrome OS.
Fuchsia Interface Definition Language (FIDL)
Fuchsia could be an interesting proposition for end-users, but it is equally exciting for developers. Google wants to ensure that irrespective of your strengths in programming languages, you should be able to contribute to the development of Fuchsia. To ensure this, engineers working on the project have developed FIDL, short for Fuchsia Interface Definition Language, designed to merge commonly used programming languages.
User Interface
While Fuchsia OS is far from being commercially available, thanks to a few good Samaritans, we have some insight about how it looks. From the various leaks and tips related to Fuchsia OS’ appearance, we know that it will be a card-based interface with an uncanny resemblance to Google Now. But there are a score of elements which appear to be inspired by Chrome OS and even iOS, with a heavy dose of Google’s Material Design 2. Older Fuchsia OS interface for desktop
Not much is known about these user shells, but Dragonglass is apparently the same interface as available on smart displays like the Google Home Hub. It has different cards for different actions or apps instead of icons, hinting that Google aims to offer users a better experience than one in which they spend a lot of time finding the right option on a touch screen. Instead, the OS appears to be ready for the fast-paced world of the future and is likely to reduce dependency on touch.
Fuchsia OS is designed to truly leverage the power of sharing, letting you enjoy a uniform performance of the interface as well as the apps on all devices irrespective of their shape or size. But more importantly, Fuchsia OS will allow Google to use Apple’s rich application ecosystem by allowing easy porting of applications.
Flutter, the SDK developed by Google, can be used to create identical apps for iOS and Android, although it is also the sole SDK platform to develop Fuchsia apps as of now. The SDK recently moved out of beta, suggesting that Google is not only serious about not letting Android users feel like they’re not far behind iOS users in terms of user experience, but also wants more developers to try a hand at Fuchsia apps. Even the core user shells of Fuchsia have been built using Flutter.
In foresight, Fuchsia OS can be seen replacing Android and there are some reasons that point to it. Fuchsia surely feels like it has been inspired by Android despite not being exactly visually identical. With Fuchsia, Google is cutting its dependency on other software giants but it also seems to have taken due care to make sure that both users and developers feel at home. Here are some of the reasons that ensure it.
- Single Navigation Button: Fuchsia does not necessarily appear similar to Android Pie but it feels that the latest version of Android is meant to prepare users to move to the new ecosystem. The foremost example of this is the single home button and Google’s recent decision to restrict Google Pixel 3 users from opting out of the new navigation bar. It appears to be a step towards conditioning users for Fuchsia’s navigation.
- App Actions & Suggestion: Secondly, Fuchsia’s suggestions which can be seen in the demo interface resemble Android Pie’s “App Actions” which are suggested actions per app based on a user’s preferences and usual choice of actions. Android Pie uses machine learning to curate these options and with the advent of smarter and more intelligent systems, these suggestion are not only likely to get more accurate, but also eliminate the need to touch the screen to perform them – which is one of the core objectives of Fuschia.
- Modularity of Apps: The third and final similarity between Android and Fuchsia is to with modularity. Google recently introduced something called an “App Bundle” which is an alternative file format that developers can use while uploading their apps to the Google Play Store. By now, you might have guessed it but if you haven’t, App Bundles allow developers to break their apps in smaller chunks so that downloading becomes easier (don’t you hate it when you have to download a large app or game again from the beginning when you lose internet connectivity in between?). Furthermore, besides easing the download process for users, App Bundles also allow developers to add extra on-demand features to their apps without forcing users to download additional packages.
Google Already Working on Fuchsia Prototypes
Google has already been working on certain software and hardware products indicating active participation from Google, which is not just exciting for developers but also consumers. Back in July last year, Google was reportedly working on a YouTube app for Fuchsia OS apart from some random developments like a game of Tic-Tac-Toe.
In terms of hardware, Google was recently found to be blowing resources on a device – codenamed “Sherlock” – most likely to be a digital camera, and suspected to be the successor to Google Clips. This device uses a Sony IMX277 sensor and while it has the highest potential of being a digital camera, it could also be a security camera, considering the investigative nature of the name.
This last point might be too speculative but is still worth noting. The Fuchsia OS logo looks a lot like the letter “Q” and this wouldn’t be very striking unless Android Q was the next version of Android. So, does Google plan to replace Android Q with Fuchsia, or is it too soon? Similarity between Fuchsia OS logo and letter “Q”
Now that we’ve learned about the past and the present of Fuchsia OS, a valid question to ask concerns the future of Fuchsia OS. Taking the words of Travis Geiselbrecht, a member of the Fuchsia team at Google, the company is not going to dump Fuchsia and seems to be pretty serious about it. With the developments like a separate SDK, special programming languages, a fresh kernel, and strong opposition to Linux, Fuchsia appears poised to take over the entire ecosystem of Google products – be it smartphones, laptops, or merely connected devices like Google Home and Google Home Hub. Fuchsia is an operating system to rule them all.
