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Operating Systems Linux

Amazon Fire TV Devices Expected To Ditch Android for Linux in 2025 (arstechnica.com) 24

Posted by msmash from the shape-of-things-to-come dept.
Amazon Fire TV devices will run the company's Linux-based Vega OS starting in 2025, according to a job listing that Amazon subsequently edited after press inquiries. The software development manager position originally sought someone to oversee "the Vega OS experience" and "the dedicated Prime Video app on Vega OS" launching in 2025. Amazon removed references to Vega after a reporter contacted the company for comment.

The proprietary OS already powers the Echo Hub, Echo Show 5 third generation, and Echo Spot, running on Linux kernel 5.16 according to Amazon's source code notices. Current Fire TV devices won't receive Vega updates. The shift from Android would eliminate Google's influence over Amazon's streaming hardware business and remove smartphone code unnecessary for TV devices.

Amazon Fire TV Devices Expected To Ditch Android for Linux in 2025 More | Reply

Amazon Fire TV Devices Expected To Ditch Android for Linux in 2025

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  • android is... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by ole_timer ( 4293573 ) on Friday September 26, 2025 @01:25PM (#65685294)
    ...well, linux

    • So long as I have root or sudo, I'm happy with it.

    • Re:android is... (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Targon ( 17348 ) on Friday September 26, 2025 @01:48PM (#65685356)

      Android isn't JUST Linux, but it uses Linux as a base. Without the "Android" part, compatibility with a lot of apps will disappear. Needing customized versions of apps could cause a lot of headaches.

      • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

        by Valgrus Thunderaxe ( 8769977 )
        Linux is a kernel that both Android and GNU/Linux use, so the notion of "ditching Android for Linux" is nonsensical. It's nonsensical, because "ditching Android for Linux", means you're ditching both the Linux kernel and the Android user-space to only replace them with just a Linux kernel.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by shoor ( 33382 )

          I think what they meant to say was that they are ditching Android for their own custom version of linux.

        • Re:android is... (Score:4, Insightful)

          by Targon ( 17348 ) on Friday September 26, 2025 @02:19PM (#65685446)

          Of course it is, but when the apps that you are running on a Firestick/Firecube are an Android version, no changes are really needed for the app to make the phone version of the app work. Without the "Android" part, it remains to be seen how good the compatibility will be with the different apps, from HBO Max, Starz, Netflix, etc. Suddenly, you can't install just any Android app, because it's no longer Android based.

          The majority of these apps are not written with "Linux" in mind, they are written for the stuff that Android has that sits on top of GNU/Linux.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

          This is really the only time such terminology like GNU/LInux make sense.

          You could say the FireTV is ditching Android/LInux for something else/LInux. Maybe it's GNU/Linux with their own UI layer, maybe it's Tizen/Linux, maybe it's their own environment altogether.

          Just like you can have Android/kBSD as well. Debian has GNU/kFreeBSD, for example.

          Just like common vernacular of "Linux" implies GNU/Linux, and "Android" is Android/Linux, but sometimes you have to break out the specifics.

      • Android isn't JUST Linux, but it uses Linux as a base. Without the "Android" part, compatibility with a lot of apps will disappear. Needing customized versions of apps could cause a lot of headaches.

        For the FireTV platform(s), the list of fully supported (streaming) apps is somewhat limited, and Amazon has been reportedly working with those vendors. And most of those app vendors have needed to create customized variants for the FireTV platform in the past as it is not a Google Android certified platform anyway. Those app vendors also need to build for a number of alternative media player platforms (iOS, tvOS, macOS, Windows, (Google) Android, (Amazon) Android, various TV manufactures platforms, RDK,

      • Android isn't JUST Linux, but it uses Linux as a base

        So, exactly as any other Linux distribution does then.

    • Re:android is... (Score:5, Informative)

      by Hadlock ( 143607 ) on Friday September 26, 2025 @01:49PM (#65685360) Homepage Journal

      Not using Android means you don't have to put everything in a java wrapper first, and you're not limited to whatever "it seemed like the right decision" decisions Google made to support phones fifteen years ago when they couldn't/wouldn't fund the team better. You can join an android phone to a network using bluetooth (PAN-U), but that feature is missing from android because it was too much work and not enough people used it. Android was useful 15 years ago because it had a convenient touch UI/UIX/API but if you're not planning on letting users run games on your system, it doesn't really matter. Unity runs just as fine on Linux as Android these days with both being platinum level platforms for support.

    • But... this will be AMAZON Linux. AMAZON makes everything better! /s

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by allo ( 1728082 )

        Amazon Linux exists since quite some time. But I don't think it has a GUI.

        • It does. You can install all the standard desktops on it and access them over various remote desktop systems. It's basically another system built on top of Enterprise Linux like Rocky Linux, AlmaLinux or Oracle Linux.

  • mixed (Score:3)

    by drinkypoo ( 153816 ) <drink@hyperlogos.org> on Friday September 26, 2025 @02:04PM (#65685396) Homepage Journal

    The shift from Android would eliminate Google's influence over Amazon's streaming hardware business

    True

    and remove smartphone code unnecessary for TV devices.

    Eh, not really. You can already remove pieces of Android if you want when you're making a device. The thing it's going to lose presumably is the ability to run Android apps, which means that new apps will have to be made for all the services, and the support will be poorer than Android. I got a Google TV specifically because it has the best app support.

  • firestick (Score:5, Interesting)

    by gary s ( 5206985 ) on Friday September 26, 2025 @02:59PM (#65685510)
    The only reason people use the firestick as it can use android APK's for whatever software you want to install.

  • I have a question (Score:3)

    by rossdee ( 243626 ) on Friday September 26, 2025 @03:13PM (#65685542)

    What is going to happen to (Kindle) Fire Tablets

    • What is going to happen to (Kindle) Fire Tablets

      Fire tablets are rumored to move to a pure Google Android platform (which also means they will be Google Play certified, and that will mean a lot of apps should just work, rather than needing to develop an Amazon unique variant of the app). But that is not yet confirmed (by Amazon).

  • Why on earth Amazon is using the Linux kernel for a propiertary OS?
    Go the Sony and Nintendo route and use *BSD

    - If you want to keep the development fully open you can do so.
    - If you decided to keep the code and development fully open, but something/someone somewhere along the chain prevented the code from being released, no drama.
    - If you want to contribute money and code Upstream but not open your code, you can do so too.
    - If you want to be a jackass, take the PR hit, and leach, taking the code, but not op

    • I wonderful why most embedded device run Linux if what you say is true. Windriver tried 20 years ago to push FreeBSD but failed miserable. Maybe Linux wins over xBSD on features, drivers and supported software. Or maybe on community. Then the GPL license doesn't matter that much anymore.

  • This "news" is 2 years old:

    https://arstechnica.com/gadget... [arstechnica.com]

    Fire OS is an Amazon-led fork of Android. Vega is an Amazon-led fork of Linux that does not contain Android. This has been planned and worked on since 2023.

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