Amazon poised to discontinue Android OS for new smart home devices

❘ issued: 2024-02-01T10:35:22 ❘ Has been updated: 2024-02-01T10:35:33

Amazon could ditch Android and launch new products The company’s smart home products will be getting a new OS, according to a new report.

Rumors have previously hinted that Amazon is already developing a new operating system to replace FireOS on Android. VegaOS, developed by Amazon, is reportedly being developed in-house and will likely be available on Fire TV devices first.

Amazon is reportedly actively hiring people to develop new operating systems, and now-deleted job postings more or less confirm this. The new OS is said to run on “React Native,” which means new apps will need to be built from scratch.

The role description states that applicants will need to “implement and deliver functionality to the Fire TV client codebase as it transitions from FOS/Android to Native/Rust and React Native.” This more or less confirms that a switch is imminent.

Although the name VegaOS is not specifically mentioned in the list, it is clear from the list that the new OS may be different from the existing OS.

At this time, we do not have a timeline for this changeover. However, it looks like Amazon has already migrated its Echo Show 5 smart speaker to the new OS. If you peek into your device’s settings, you’ll see the moniker “OS 1.1,” which lets you know your device has a new OS.

Should users be concerned?

Amazon

Even Google has quietly migrated its smart devices to the new Fuchsia OS, so software changes are inevitable. This allows Amazon to fork new software from scratch and gradually migrate devices to its in-house platform.

However, you can expect the end-user experience to be unaffected. There may be some initial issues, such as granting permissions to various apps and services. This is his one-time job.

Last but not least, current Fire TV devices support sideloading Android applications. This could be the most significant impact, as the new OS turns Amazon devices into walled gardens and can restrict the installation of third-party apps.