Facecook is developing its own OS to control Android and no longer depend on Google for the launch of its future devices.
If Facebook is primarily known for its social network of the same name, the company has increased its activities in recent years. The firm founded by Mark Zuckerberg now manages Instagram and WhatsApp, but also develops its own messaging system linked to Facebook, Messenger. The services are not to be outdone, since Facebook has also announced that it wants to enter the monetary sector with its cryptocurrency, Libra. That's not all, the company is very interested in virtual reality, as evidenced by its acquisition of the Oculus brand in 2014, and has also taken a timid step on the hardware with the Facebook Portal screen.
Facebook is getting more and more involved in the material, even if for the moment it represents only very little of its sales in terms of its advertising activity. In addition to Oculus devices for virtual reality, there are Portal devices focused on video communication. Getting into the hardware industry makes Facebook pretty dependent on Android and its various connected device variants.
Huawei has experienced it hard: Android and the Google services that go with it, are no longer something acquired forever and ever. To avoid being caught off guard, manufacturers must have a plan B (which is the case with Huawei, but HarmonyOS is still far from being as complete as Android). Facebook is not in the same situation as the Chinese manufacturer, however this does not prevent it from wanting to reduce its dependence on the Google platform.
This is why Facebook is currently working on an operating system in order to break free from the constraints of Android, according to a report in The Information. Unlike its first failed attempt in the field, the “Facebook Phone”, the firm is not targeting smartphones this time, but its own virtual and augmented reality devices.
We still know little about the scope and scale of this homemade OS, supervised by Mark Lucovsky. What is certain, however, is that Facebook seeks to cut the maximum number of bridges with Google.
