In August last year, reports emerged that Google was working on a unified OS for phones, tablets, PCs, and IoT. Now, we can take another look at the rather interestingly codenamed «Fuchsia» OS.<\/b>
\nBack in August of last year, reports emerged that Google was working on a brand-new OS codenamed Fuchsia, which would run on computers, phones, tablets, and IoT devices. Now, we\u2019 re getting another peek at the operating system, complete with placeholder graphics.
First and foremost, for those not familiar, Fuchsia is Google\u2019s attempt at essentially dumping the Linux kernel and creating its very own in-house solution. Reportedly running on either its LK or Magenta microkernel, depending on the specifications of the device, Fuchsia OS\u2019 interface and apps are coded using Google\u2019s Flutter SDK. Flutter can output cross-platform code, with apps using the SDK being written in Dart, Google\u2019s answer to JavaScript. We also know that for the OS to properly showcase the firm\u2019s Material Design interface, it makes use of the Vulkan-based graphics renderer codenamed Escher.
According to HotFix, the UI of Fuchsia is currently known as Armadillo (artist\u2019s rendering above) . You can compile your own version of Fuchsia, which HotFix has done. Though still in its early stages, this is how the UI looks like in action:
A readme on the project\u2019s Github page reveals that the OS\u2019 vertically-scrolling home screen would include a single white circle as a home button, and a profile picture in the middle of the screen, complete with a date, city, and a battery icon. This would be flanked on the top by individual \u201cStory\u201d cards \u2013 roughly equivalent to recent apps \u2013 as well as Story clusters, which make use of a \u201cnon-Widget class\u201d called Panel to track the \u201csize and position of a Story’s window in its StoryCluster’s StoryClusterWidget.\u201d These Story cards — apps, in essence — are sorted by \u201clast opened\u201d, meaning the most recent apps would be at the bottom of the list, where they\u2019 re easiest to access by the user.
The Google Now \/ Google Assistant integration is also present, as just below the profile picture you\u2019 ll find a list of \u201csuggestions\u201d, much like today\u2019s Google Assistant is offering. As described by the company, \u201cConceptually a suggestion is a representation of an action the user can take to augment an existing story or to start a new one\u201d. It is worth noting that this part of the system UI also has a search bar, which when tapped, brings up a keyboard that\u2019s different from what we have today on Android, and sports a custom, darker, Fuchsia interface. Long-pressing to access symbols or settings does not work at this time, however.
Speaking of settings, a quick settings-like UI can be revealed when you tap on the profile picture, giving access to connectivity indicators, sliders for volume and brightness, as well as toggles for airplane mode, do not disturb, and auto-rotate. At the very bottom of this panel that pops up you can see buttons labeled \u201cmore\u201d and \u201clog out\u201d which, like the others described in the previous sentence, do not actually do anything at this time.
As pointed out by Ars Technica, perhaps the most curious (or potentially interesting) feature in Fuchsia is its ability to take \u201cStory\u201d cards and display them in split screen. You can either do a 50\/50 split vertically or horizontally or a 33\/33\/33 split horizontally, as well as being able to display a 50\/50 vertical split next to a full height app. The UI seems to be capable of going even further in terms of multitasking customization, since it allows you to drag in four apps which would be split 25\/75 on one side, and 75\/25 on the other. You\u2019 re even allowed to display tabs for the various opened apps in split screen, and when going back to the Story cluster, you\u2019 ll see that the layout of the split screen view is reflected in the image of the Story card. Needless to say, you are currently able to keep adding apps to the split screen view until the whole thing crashes, so it might need some reigning in.
In essence, Fuchsia is Google\u2019s attempt at controlling every part of the software experience, no matter how small. It\u2019s probably how the search giant would\u2019 ve approached building Android all those years ago if it had the knowledge it has now about maintaining the OS and pushing it out to the over one billion users it currently has.
It\u2019s reasonably clear that this might one day replace Android and Chrome OS. Ars Technica points out that Android had been cooking on low heat inside the company for five years before it was unveiled to the public, so maybe we\u2019 ll see a more fleshed out Fuchsia in 2020. Then again, it\u2019s also possible that the OS will remain pretty obscure well past the half-decade mark, much like Microsoft\u2019s Midori.
Take a look at some of the placeholder UI elements currently present in Fuchsia via the gallery below, and sound off in the comments about Google\u2019s mysterious universal operating system.
Source and images: Ars Technica, HotFix<\/p>\n

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