Amazon is developing an in-house replacement for its Android-based Fire OS, codenamed "Vega," designed for easier app development.
The development of Vega reportedly began in 2019, with the core development mostly completed, and the focus now on an SDK and developer outreach.
Vega is intended to replace the Fire OS on devices such as Fire TV sticks, televisions, Kindle Fire tablets, and other Amazon devices.
Vega is based on "a flavor of Linux" and uses the JavaScript-based React Native as an application framework, potentially simplifying development for various platforms.
Fire OS, the current system, is a fork of Android based on the Android Open Source Project (AOSP), but Amazon's frustrations with rebuilding AOSP led them to develop Vega in-house.
Vega could start shipping on Fire TV devices as early as next year and may extend to Echo smart displays, Fire tablets, and other Amazon efforts like in-car entertainment systems.
Amazon's custom OS could provide better control over the deployment of advertising and paid services on a wide range of inexpensive devices.
Amazon's move to develop its OS has larger implications, potentially allowing the company to decouple from Android's obligatory open source offerings.
Google previously sought to prevent the use of forked versions of Android, like Fire OS, in other devices through contracts, but Amazon and Google struck a deal.