Amazon’s Fire TV might be getting a new Linux-based OS, suggests report

Is Fire TV going Linux? Vega OS rumors spark developer concerns. Learn about the potential new OS, its features, and app development challenges.

Fire OS 8 with revamped UI (Image credit: Amazon)

Amazon’s Fire TV runs on Fire OS, built on top of the Android Open Source Project (AOSP), which is a barebones version of commercial Android released by Google. According to the latest job listing by Amazon, the company is looking for a new talent in the role of “Fire TV Experience Software Development Engineer,” indicating that the company might be working on developing an operating system of its own.

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According to a report by aftvnews, Amazon’s job description indicates that the candidate will be responsible for “implementing and delivering features on the Fire TV client codebase as it transitions from FOS/Android to native/Rust and React Native.” However, the job listing was taken down after a while, indicating that the company might have found the talent it was looking for.

Several reports suggest that Amazon might announce its brand new Fire OS based on a self-developed Linux-based operating system called “Vega OS.” This new OS is likely to offer a more streamlined experience across devices such as Fire TV Stick, Fire Tablets, Fire TV Edition, and even Alexa Echo Show devices, all of which run on a customized version of Fire OS. In this scenario, the biggest challenge for Amazon is to promote app makers to develop native apps for this new platform.

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Vega OS, the upcoming operating system developed in-house by Amazon, is said to be based on the React Native software framework—an open-source and cross-platform compatible framework. This choice should allow Amazon to develop an operating system that is feature-rich and efficient, tailoring it for specific use cases.

Currently, Fire OS 8 is the latest operating system based on AOSP, and the next version—Fire OS 9—could be based on Vega OS. This new OS might be made available with the newer versions of Amazon hardware such as upcoming Fire TV devices. However, this new software experience might not be extended to already existing devices. Nevertheless, the company is likely to continue supporting Fire OS 8-powered devices until their end of life.

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Amazon Fire Stick