Google makes available Fuchsia OS for Nest Hub Max

Google has started releasing Fuchsia for the Nest Hub Max. A small group of users participating in the Preview Program will be the first to receive the software. It does not differ in functionality from the Android Things implementation.

According to Google, the eventual distribution of Fuchsia OS to all owners of a Nest Hub Max should go more smoothly than that to the Nest Hub last year. That 2018 smart display was the Nest device that was ported to Fuchsia OS. The first devices received the software in May, and in August Google began making the software available to all users.

The Nest Hub Max has a larger screen than the Nest Hub and a camera. According to 9to5google, the presence of a camera increases pressure on Google for the update run smoothly, because of the role the device can play in home security.

In any case, users should not notice much of the switch to Fuchsia OS, since it concerns the underlying OS and no new functions are added. Google released the Nest Hub and Nest Hub Max with Android Things, a special, stripped-down version of Android for internet-of-things devices.

Fuchsia was not developed around a Linux kernel, but the Zircon kernel developed by Google itself. Google wants to use the software as a general-purpose OS with a focus on security, updates and performance for multiple devices.