Amazon poised to ditch Android OS for new smart home devices

Amazon could be ditching Android for the launch of its new OS for its smart home products, according to a new report.

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

According to a report, Amazon is actively hiring resources to develop the new operating system, and a now-deleted job listing more or less confirms this. The new OS is claimed to run on “React Native” and would require new apps to be built from scratch.

The role description said the hopeful must “Implement and deliver features on the Fire TV client codebase as it transitions from FOS/Android to native/Rust and React Native.” This more or less confirms the impending switch.

While the listing doesn’t specifically mention the name VegaOS, it is evident by the listing that the new OS might be different from the existing OS.

At this point, we’re not sure about the timeline of this switch. However, it seems that Amazon has already transitioned its smart speaker – Echo Show 5, to the new OS. A peek at the device’s settings denotes an “OS 1.1” moniker, confirming that a new OS powers the device.

Should users be worried?

Amazon

A software change is inevitable as even Google silently moves its smart devices to the new Fuchsia OS. It allows Amazon to fork out new software from scratch and gradually shift its devices to an in-house platform.

However, we can expect that the end-user experience will not be impacted; there could be some teething issues, which include giving permissions to various apps and services – a one-time exercise.

Last but not least, the current Fire TV devices support sideloading of Android applications. This could be the most significant impact as the new OS might turn Amazon devices into a walled garden, limiting third-party app installation.