Nest Hub 2nd Gen gets Fuchsia OS update from Google

Google is pushing Fuchsia OS to yet another Nest product. The Nest Hub 2nd Gen is the latest device to get a switch from Cast OS to Fuchsia. The company has already updated the first-gen Nest Hub (originally Google Home Hub) and Nest Hub Max to the new operating system.

The Fuchsia rollout for the Nest Hub 2nd Gen began earlier today, 9to5Google reports. The company told the publication that the OS switch for the 2021 smart display, which comes with a Soli radar sensor for sleep tracking, will take place slowly. Like in the past, it will begin with a small percentage of users enrolled in the Preview Program in the Google Home app. Google will likely use those devices for public testing. Once it confirms that everything’s fine, the update should reach everyone around the world.

For users, it will all go relatively unnoticed. The Fuchsia OS update will not change anything on the Nest Hub 2nd Gen. It will only switch the operating system of the device, which shipped with Cast OS out of the box. The feature set will mostly remain the same, and so will the UI and everything else. If you want to check whether your smart display has been updated to Fuchsia, you can go to the Technical information page in Settings. If you see a “Fuchsia version” here, your device has received the update.

Google has a long-term vision for Fuchsia

Fuchsia is an open source non-Linux operating system that has been in development since at least 2016. After years of work, Google publicly released the new OS for the first-gen Nest Hub in August 2021. The Nest Hub Max started picking up the OS change in June 2022. The company took several months to complete the rollout for both devices. It is now taking a similar approach with the Fuchsia rollout for the Nest Hub 2nd Gen.

With this rollout, Google has updated all three of its recent smart displays to Fuchsia. However, as noted by 9to5Google, the timing of this update is curious. The company is gearing up to release the Pixel Tablet as an Android-powered alternative to the Nest Hub series. It’s also in the process of dropping support for several Assistant-powered apps and games on the Nest Hub devices, while third-party smart displays have already lost update support.

By the looks of it, Google wants to use Fuchsia-powered Nest devices as the stepping stone for the platform’s next major milestone. Fittingly, there are also hints of Next speakers getting a switch from Cast OS to Fuchsia. But the long-term plan is to develop Fuchsia into a “general-purpose” operating system, like Windows, Linux, and macOS. The company is working on a way to natively run Linux and Android apps on the new OS to ensure a strong app ecosystem.

“Fuchsia is a long-term project to create a general-purpose, open source operating system, which we have been developing in the open for years,” a Google spokesperson told 9to5Google in a statement following the release of the Fuchsia update for the Nest Hub 2nd Gen. “This is part of those continued efforts and fuchsia.dev will have the latest information on the team’s work.”