Fuchsia spotted running on Google Home Hub via Bluetooth qualification listing

Well, this is an interesting development – Google’s ‘secret operating system’ that’s not exactly a secret has appeared as the OS installed on a Google Home Hub via a qualification listing on Bluetooth SIG (Special Interest Group) first spotted by Kyle Bradshaw of 9to5Google. Though it was opened up to the public for development back in December and has even been seen running on the Hub before (and the Pixelbook too!) it’s interesting to see it pop up yet again after a few years – especially so close to Google I/O.

If you check out the image below, the listing shows that the “Software version number” for the device is ‘Fuchsia 1.0’. You may notice that I didn’t say it’s running on the Google Nest Hub. The Home Hub is from 2018 – it’s the original iteration of the device. Originally, this device ran what is called the Google Cast platform – the same operating system found in Chromecasts, though modified to be more visual.

We always come back around to this question, and I think it’s important to ask – what exactly does this mean for you? Well, at this time, it means absolutely nothing. I know that’s anti-climactic, but it’s true. You can’t get Fuchsia to run on your existing Google Home Hub or Nest Hub, and even if you could, it’s still in development, so it wouldn’t be very useful.

On top of that, it hardly has an identity or a purpose in the public eye. We think that it could be Google’s IoT platform that’s meant to scale over time, but the company has made pretty much nothing about its plans for Fuchsia public yet. I’m a bit of a dreamer, so I would like to believe that it means our adventure into the future is about to begin. If Google can make one operating system (Zircon, not Linux) that’s able to replace Android on Pixel devices, Chrome OS on Chromebooks, Wear OS on smartwatches, Android Auto for vehicles, the platforms built into smart home technology like refrigerators, washing machines, vacuums, and more, then I would be over the moon.

One operating system built one way across everything, and its interface unified and fluid between devices – that’s the dream. Well, it’s my dream at least, even though it could be a decade away. Anyway, we’ll have some more thoughts regarding this at some point later today, so keep an eye out for that. What do you hope for the future of Fuchsia? Let us know in the comments section!