Everything we know about Tizen OS, an alternative to Android that can even be installed on smart TVs.
Samsung’s Tizen OS is one of the most underrated operating systems I’ve come across.
It is open source and above all very multiplatform, that is to say that it can be installed on any device including those that you have just made.
In this post we will go into detail to talk about Samsung’s Tizen operating system.
We will start by presenting Tizen OS and its crispy origin and if you are a developer, we will give the advantages that this Samsung OS can offer us.
Further, we will show that most of you are using the OS without knowing it.
Tizen OS – 12 things you don’t know about this all-purpose system! Even on TV!
Tizen OS – History
1- Tizen OS is based on Linux
Tizen is an open source operating system based on Linux. It was developed by Samsung as a logical evolution of Bada. The old operating system used in its first smartphones.
What makes Tizen special is that this operating system is essentially based on HTML5. Initially it was designed to bring web applications to our mobile phones, smart watches and other IoT (Internet of Things) devices.
Tizen in Android’s starting hours was developed by Samsung to extend the operating system across all these platforms and its future devices.
2- Tizen OS was an alternative to android
The OS was officially released in 2012 and was initially seen as a powerful alternative to Android devices.
Samsung’s operating system was on smartphones, smart watches and all Samsung devices that had a screen.
This did not last because the system did not have enough software developed on Tizen and users with this system had very few games and applications.
3- All Samsung smartphones based on Tizen have been withdrawn from the market
The first smartphones based on Tizen OS were Samsung Z series. The absence of Google service (like Google Playstore) on Tizen had created a big gap in the adoption of the operating system in Samsung smartphones.
Which forced the latter to close its sales of smartphones based on Tizen OS worldwide.
Samsung Z smartphones were the only ones that had Tizen as their OS. The last smartphone in Samsung’s Z series was released in 2014 under the name Z4. There have been 5 versions of smartphones in total that have the Tizen OS. They are: Z, Z1, Z2, Z3, Z4.
4- Tizen still remains on some smartwatches
Then there was the development of smart watch commonly called smartwatch. The first smart watch was less developed than what we know today.
Despite the fierce competition from smartwatches, Samsung’s were recognized for having the best user interfaces thanks to Tizen OS.
5- Google enters into a partnership with Samsung to reproduce the Tizen OS interface on the Google Watch.
The Tizen OS user interface was so popular that even Google partnered with Samsung to integrate it into its Android system for smartwatches.
Today we have the choice between smart watches based on Android, and those based on Tizen OS at Samsung.
6- Tizen OS has been in Samsung’s digital cameras
Samsung also entered the digital camera market with 3 cameras including the NX1, NX200 and NX300.
All with their own OS. Although well designed to compete with its rivals, sales have not been successful due to the reputation of the big players in the field such as Canon, Nikon and Sony, which are well positioned in the minds of regulars.
When you want to buy a camera, very few people think of Samsung first.
Tizen OS is not very well known for being in smartphones or cameras. Tizen has seen more popularity with smart TVs. Which comes down to the 7th fact that you may be unaware of Tizen Os.
7- Tizen OS dominates smart TV market with Samsung smart TV
Now the fact that Tizen has not been successful on smartphones, digital cameras and quite a bit on smartwatches and other devices has not led Samsung to stop supporting its OS.
The following infographic traces the history of Samsung’s smart TV from 2010 to 2021. There is even an art store to buy and enjoy digital artworks in Tizen according to the infographic. I invite you to read it.
Go to this link if you don’t see an image: https://img.us.news.samsung.com/us/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/15143612/Tizen-OS-for-Samsung-Smart-TVs-Infographic.png
The Tizen OS interface is so well designed that Samsung has won the smart TV market. If the user experience wasn’t good, we’d all be at its competitors right now.
It should be remembered that the latter is open source and open to the public even if Samsung is still the main developer?
Who says open source, says that it is possible to modify it, redistribute it and make it your toy for your machines. In the following, let’s discover Tizen for developers.
Tizen OS for Developers
This operating system is for me an untapped oasis in the world of mobile and embedded development.
In their website tizen.org you will find detailed documentation and the possibility that Tizen OS offers in the development of embedded applications.
The most used programming language to create Tizen applications are:
- C/C++ for the Native aspect
- Web language (html5 / css / javascript….)
- Microsoft’s .NET still in web development.
Visual Studio is the preferred code editor for application development on this OS.
8- Tizen OS can be ported to Raspberry Pi
I discovered in the Tizen documentation that it is possible to create web applications intended to run on Raspberry Pi.
If you have the sense and nerves of a hacker, you will quickly see the possibilities available to you with this operating system that can be installed on embedded devices such as the Raspberry Pi or other Internet of Things devices.
Tizen OS is an open source operating system and still remains supported until today although the last developer conference around the system stopped since 2019.
9- Tizen OS is still open to developer
If you want to get into TV or watch app development, I think you should integrate Tizen OS into your development plan because their market can be relatively larger than Android.
Where can you find Tizen devices?
It was shown above that the majority of Samsung’s Tizen devices have been withdrawn from the market, but that doesn’t mean all is lost for this open source operating system.
Nowadays there are still devices widely used in the world that run on Tizen OS. To my knowledge these are more Samsung brand devices.
If you have a Galaxy Watch, it is very likely that its operating system is based on Tizen.
In fact, the Samsung smartwatch continues to carry the operating system even until this year 2022.
In addition to smart watches, commonly called Smart Watches or wearables, there are Samsung smart TVs.
These smart TVs are also mostly based on the Tizen operating system. If you have a Samsung TV, it’s sure that you are on Tizen unless you have the Android logo on its box.
To check whether one of your devices is on Tizen OS or not, simply:
- read on the box of your device.
- The second option would be to go to the settings section of your machine, go to about and then see software or operating system information .
We conclude this section by saying that nothing is yet lost for this opensource OS.
Android vs Tizen
This section is not intended to pit Android and Tizen OS against each other, but rather to outline the relationships between the two most similar operating systems.
10- Android and IOS applications could be installed in Tizen
One of the advantages that Tizen had at the time of its release was that it was completely based on HTML 5.
This means that Android and IOS applications created with web technologies could be easily ported to Samsung’s operating system.
There were many rumors that it was even easy or possible to launch Android applications commonly called Apk on Tizen platforms (today it becomes Bundle instead of apk).
This has raised many motivations of Android developers and the community interested in this new system.
With some research, you will see for example that it is possible to launch Android applications on Tizen thanks to an application called Acl for tizen.
Look no further, Acl for Tizen has been removed from the Tizen Os store as of the latest news.
11- Google Play movie and TV is removed from Samsung Tizen
Unfortunately, today the application, as well as the mobile store of this Tizen OS have been officially removed. Which makes it really impossible to install Android applications without going through the hack tutorials.
The latest news is that we even learn that Google Play Movie and TV has been removed from Samsung Tizen since the end of 2021.
12- Is it still possible to create applications for Tizen OS?
We have previously said that Tizen OS based smartphones have been retired by Samsung in favor of Android based smartphones from the same brand.
Today what remains are smartwatches and smart TVs. The applications that exist are numerous and in my opinion are sufficient for the needs of the device that has the OS.
If we take the case of Samsung TV, you will always have access to the Apple TV, BBC sport, Facebook Watch, and especially Netflix applications … In short, all streaming and music services like Spotify are always at your service.
Conclusion
We conclude by summarizing this long post about our open source operating system. In short, here is what you need to know about Tizen OS:
1- Tizen OS was an evolution of the Bada system
2- Tizen OS was an alternative to android
3- All Samsung smartphones based on Tizen have been withdrawn from the market
4- Tizen still remains on some smartwatches
5- Google enters into a partnership with Samsung to reproduce the Tizen OS interface on the Google Watch.
6- Tizen OS was in Samsung’s first digital cameras
7- Tizen OS dominates smart TV market with Samsung smart TV
8- Tizen OS can be ported to Raspberry Pi
9- Tizen OS is still open to developer
10- Android and IOS apps could be run in Tizen
11- Google Play movie and TV is removed from Samsung Tizen
12- Is it still possible to create applications for Tizen OS?
The system has not completely disappeared from the market and can be used to do a little more hacking.
Sources
https://www.tizen.org
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tizen
https://news.samsung.com/us/six-advantages-of-tizen-os-on-samsung-smart-tvs
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