These days as much as big tech companies are all trying to work together, they also want to do things their own way. This is especially true when it comes to having to build technology on the foundation of another and thereby place your company’s future partially in the hand of another. And when you want to be the biggest company in the world, that is not what you want.
It appears Facebook is looking to make some big moves in their continued quest for market growth as a new report by The Information that the company is developing its own operating system that could one day reduce the company’s reliance on Google’s Android. Development is currently being led by Mark Lucovsky, a Microsoft veteran who co-authored the Windows NT operating system.
The report provides limited information about how the planned operating system could be used, though it doesn’t appear as if Facebook is looking to take on Google on the mobile OS market (at least not yet) as the article notes that both Facebook’s Oculus and Portal devices currently run on a modified version of Android. So, it entirely possible that Facebook could be looking to build the OS to run on their hardware and control all aspects of the feature set and no longer needing to rely on what Google’s Android offers.
Wit Virtual Augmented reality big part of Facebook’s future, this move makes a lot of sense, especially if they want to establish a template for others to follow. Nothing does that better than having a purpose-built OS that will not only allow you to build the features you want but also allow others to consume as well.
Facebook has tried their hand at the OS market before when back in 2013 they release a forked version of Android that ran on an HTC-produced phone. That OS though would flood a phone with Facebook’s social feed and so quickly proved unpopular with users. Hopefully, Facebook has learnt their lesson this time around will build something that can operate on its own and not merely serve as a platform to get people to consume their other content.
Last Updated: December 20, 2019
