The realm of Google’s third-largest operating system, Fuchsia, is expanding a bit today. 9to5Google reports that Google has completed the rollout of Fuchsia for the Google Nest Hub Max. Along with the original Nest Hub/Google Home Hub that puts two of Google’s three smart displays on the new OS, one of them being the 2nd generation Nest Hub. The Nest Hub Max is the first device with Fuchsia that Google is currently selling – the Home Hub only received the Fuchsia after it was discontinued.
Google’s smart display user interface is written in Flutter, Google’s programming language designed for portability that runs on Android, iOS, Fuchsia, and the weird broadcasting platform commonly used by Nest Hub. So it’s wrong to describe the UI as “similar”after an OS swap – it’s exactly the same code because Flutter runs on just about everything. However, you get a slightly newer version of the code, and it comes with a Bluetooth menu. If you dive into settings and click on “About Device”, you’ll see a “Fuchsia Version”box that says something like “6.20211109.1.3166243”.
It’s a bit odd to switch an entire operating system to the futuristic, secret project Fuchsia and then have next to nothing to show (or say) about it in terms of obvious performance or security improvements. You can dive into the details of Fuchsia’s source code, but it’s still a mystery in terms of what practical benefits it offers to consumers. Google never talks about Fuchsia, so little is known about exactly what Google is doing here.
Smart displays find a good home
Part of this OS switch may just be necessary. Google smart displays have historically not had a solid operating system in-house, so perhaps Fuchsia represents a way to integrate smart displays with a viable Google platform. Google’s first smart displays were third-party and they ran Android Things, a stripped-down version of Android designed for IoT devices and smart displays. Android Things was shut down in early 2021, so it’s no longer an option for smart displays.
Does Cast OS have a future at Google? It doesn’t look like the product’s original hardware, the Chromecast, will want to do anything with it in the future. If Google wants to compete with Roku, that means even the cheapest Chromecast needs to run a full version of Android TV and have a remote control. Android TV still has all the benefits of the Chromecast’s simplicity—you can just cast media to it with the push of a phone button—but it also adds installable media apps and games. If Chromecast abandons its namesake OS, then the only thing that will support Cast OS will be smart speakers. Cast OS could disappear entirely, or it could be reduced to a zero user interface, built-in OS for smart speakers.
Fuchsia is interesting in that it is one of the few non-Linux based operating systems. The core is called “Zircon”and the Fuchsia project describes itself as “a new open source operating system built at Google from the core to meet the needs of today’s growing ecosystem of connected devices.”Fuchsia originally said it would run on smart displays, speakers, laptops, and smartphones someday, but as shown above, the operating system roadmap on Google’s margins can change very often. It’s hard to imagine any project that will supplant Android or Chrome OS, but Google isn’t afraid of product duplication.