We’ve known for about a year now that Google’s been working on a new OS named “Fuschia”. Unlike Android or Chrome OS that are based in Linux, Fuchsia is built on a one-of-a-kind Google-built microkernel that is simply called “Magenta”.
First discovered by Ken Bradshaw at Hotfix, the user interface called is called Armadillo and is said to serve as “the default system UI for Fuchsia”. Armadillo, along with other Fuchsia apps, is built in Google’s Flutter SDK, which is used to create cross-platform code that can run multiple operating systems like Android, iOS and now Fuchsia. All that boils down to is that you are able to compile Armadillo and run it on an Android device right this very second.
Fuchsia
Google’s come a long way from the pile of code when it was first unveiled in August of last year. According to Ars Technica, Fuchsia ditches the traditional Linux code at the heart of Android. It uses something new called “Magenta”.
Google has since added an early user interface, featuring a card-based design.
As you can see in Bradshaw’s video, Fuchsia seems to be smartphone and tablet-focused. Armadillo is built with a largely card-based system for managing apps. You’re able to drag them around to split-screen or have multiple tabs open. There are some Google Now-style aspects as well.
This has a lot of people wondering what the future of Chrome OS and Android will be. Will it replace them both?
If not, what is Fuchsia for?
So far, there’s no real indication for what Google plans to do with it. There have been a number of suggestions that the system could be used to unify Chrome OS and Android into a single operating system. Others say it could be used to power hardware like Google’s OnHub router or third-party IoT devices