Amazon ready to say goodbye to Android on Fire TV: Vega OS is coming by the end of the year

It had been in the air for some time, but now the rumors begin to become more concrete: Amazon is preparing to abandon Android as a software base for Fire TV devices, introducing one New owner platform called Vega OSwhose debut (according to what reported in the past few hours) should take place by the end of 2025 with a first streaming device.

A strategic and certainly ambitious move, which marks a possible turning point in Amazon’s multimedia ecosystem but which, at the same time, raises questions about compatibility, transition and future support for existing devices.

Vega OS, Amazon’s new operating system is almost reality

Already in the past the first traces of an internal project called “Vega” had emerged, an operating system developed by Zero by Amazon to gradually free itself from the addiction to Android which, also in its open source version (AOSP), still represents a platform controlled by Google.

According to what emerged in the last hours, the works on Vega OS are proceeding far from the spotlight and The first device based on this operating system should arrive by the end of the year; It would be a new generation Fire TV product, designed specifically to perform the new OS and incompatible with the current Android apps, unless these are rewritten by Vega.

In this regard, Amazon would have already started courting the main publishers and content suppliers, with the aim of guaranteeing the availability of the essential apps at the time of launch; a delicate phase, in which the platform will have to demonstrate that it is already mature and competitive to day one.

The change of course might seem sudden, but it is actually the result of a long -term strategy, dictated by technical and commercial reasons: Vega OS in fact, it will offer Amazon greater control over the entire platformfrom the management of updates to the monetization of the contents, passing through the integration with Alexa and the owners.

Despite everything, it remains to be understood how the passage for existing devices will be managed, currently based on Fire OS (a strongly customized version of Android). Completely replace an operating system present in devices already on the market, often used daily by millions of users, it is not a simple or immediate enterprise; It is therefore likely to imagine a temporary cohabitation, The new products could be equipped with Vega OS, while the existing ones would continue to receive updates on Android based.

A theory also supported by another news that emerged recently, Amazon would have released a technical documentation relating to a new update of Fire OS on Android base, a signal that seemed to deny the imminent arrival of Vega; However, the work ads and the parallel developments of the apps suggest that the two paths are proceeding in parallel, at least for now.

Another open front concerns smart TVs with integrated Fire TV, increasingly widespread on the market and produced in collaboration with different brands: it is not yet clear if Vega OS will also be extended to these models (and in what time), but adoption on TV could further complicate the transition process, especially because of the hardware fragmentation.

From the point of view of development, Vega will require dedicated apps, applications must be written from scratch for this new platform, and this requires a significant effort to the developers, who will have to be encouraged by a large user base and a solid ecosystem.

Amazon’s move, however courageous, is part of the wake traced by other big techs, which in recent years have been trying to reduce dependence on external platforms and build completely owner software ecosystems, easier to control and monetize.

Users, at least for the moment, will not have to worry about sudden updates or support cuts, The transition will be gradualbut it is still worth observing the evolution of Vega OS carefully, which could become the new beating heart of the Fire TV experience in the coming years.