Google is testing its Fuchsia OS on the original Nest Hub
Google started developing its Fuchsia OS as an open-source operating system for many platforms back in 2016, but for the longest time there haven’t been any news abut it.
Well, Fuchsia is now the official OS for Google’s original Nest Hub, formerly the Google Home Hub. The team behind Fuchsia is replacing the Nest Hub’s limited Cast OS with Fuchsia, but on the surface the device should look and behave as before.
The move from Cast OS to Fuchsia OS will take several months and begin with users in the Preview Program first.
Fuchsia OS is designed to support smart devices such as Chromebooks, smartphones and others and Google has described it as a secure, updatable, inclusive and pragmatic operating system.
It appears Google wants to test the OS thoroughly, hence the month-long rollout to the Nest Hub.
You don’t ship a new operating system every day, but today is that day.
— Petr Hosek (@petrh) May 25, 2021
Still, this move leaves questions as to what exactly is the point of Fuchsia OS on the Nest Hub, given that it will look identical to Cast OS. And it doesn’t offer any meaningful insight into Google’s plans for Fuchsia.
Google previously said that Fuchsia isn’t a replacement for Android, but it will be able to run Android apps natively. The main difference between Fuchsia and Android is that the former isn’t based on a Linux kernel, but a microkernel of its own, called Zircon.
We’ll have to wait and see what Google does with Fuchsia going forward.
