Android could be replaced with a new mobile operating system that Google are working on right now, according to shock new claims.
Android is one of the most used pieces of software in the world.
At the Google I/O developer conference in 2017 it was revealed that more than two billion devices use Android each and every month.
But despite the huge number of people that use Android worldwide, sources are claiming that Google are busy working on a successor already.
And one insider has claimed that it’s hoped the in-development mobile OS, known as Fuchsia, will replace Android within the next five years.
For more than two years a group of engineers at Google have been working on the software they hope will succeed Android.
More than 100 engineers are currently working on the project which is intended to be used across all in-house Google gadgets, Bloomberg reported.
The OS is reportedly intended to work on Pixel phones and smart speakers as well as third party-devices that use Android and Chrome OS.
Fuchsia will reportedly be designed to better accommodate voice interactions and frequent security updates across a range of devices.
The latter will be music to Android users’ ears.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai has reportedly pointed the tech giant towards this vision of AI services that can reach consumers everywhere.
One source said Google engineers are hoping that Fuchsia will be embedded on home devices within the next three years.
It will then move onto larger machines such as laptops with the ultimate goal reportedly being Android getting eventually replaced by Fuchsia.
But Bloomberg said Pichai and Hiroshi Lockheimer, an Android and Google Chrome bigwig, have yet to sign off on a road map for Fuchsia.
Android was developed when smartphones were just beginning to use touchscreens.
It’s allegedly hoped Fuchsia will handle the type of voice-enabled apps that Google sees as the future of computing.
Speaking to Express.co.uk, a Google spokesperson said: “Fuchsia is one of many experimental open source projects at Google.”
While talking to CNET another spokesperson for the tech giant said there was not a five-year plan for Fuchsia.
The news comes after the European Commission (EC) earlier this week handed Google a whopping fine over Android.
The Brussels regulator insisted the tech giant had used Android illegally to “cement its dominant position” in user searches.
It was argued that Google requiring Android phone manufacturers to pre-install its Chrome browser and Search app had allowed it to gain an unfair advantage over potential rivals.
As a result Brussels issued Google with a record €4.34billion (£3.9billion) fine.
Following the decision, Google CEO Mr Pichai said: “The free distribution of the Android platform, and of Google’s suite of applications, is not only efficient for phone makers and operators – it’s of huge benefit for developers and consumers.
“If phone makers and mobile network operators couldn’t include our apps on their wide range of devices, it would upset the balance of the Android ecosystem.
“So far, the Android business model has meant that we haven’t had to charge phone makers for our technology, or depend on a tightly controlled distribution model.”
Google have said that they intend to appeal the record-breaking EC fine.