Country’s indigenous mobile operating system BharOS

Published
27th Jan, 2023

Context

The Ministry for Communications, Electronics and Information Technology tested 'BharOS', the recently-unveiled indigenous operating system developed by the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT).

What is BharOS?

BharOS is India’s first homegrown mobile operating system.
It is Linux kernel-based operating system that is designed to be secure and powerful.
Developed by: The BharOS was developed by JandK Operations Private Limited (JandKops), which has been incubated by IIT Madras Pravartak Technologies Foundation, a Section 8 (Not for Profit) Company established by IIT Madras.

Important Features

Key features of the new made-in-India OS:

No default apps: BharOS does not include any bloatware or default apps, giving users more storage space. Without any default apps, users are also not forced to use any app they may not trust.
NOTA updates: BharOS offers "Native Over The Air" (NOTA) updates, similar to Android, which means the software updates will be automatically downloaded and installed on the device.
Access to PASS: The new OS will also provide access to Private App Store Services (PASS), which offer trusted apps from specific organisations.

A PASS provides access to a curated list of apps that have been thoroughly vetted and have met certain security and privacy standards of organisations. This means users can be confident that the apps they are installing are safe to use and have been checked for any potential security vulnerabilities or privacy concerns

Need

Because all smartphones either run on Android or on iOS, there has always been a pervasive uneasiness about how these companies collect, store and use the data that is generated by Indian smartphone users.
- BharOS tries to address these issues.

Comparison of BharOS & Android

Similarity

Difference

Technically, BharOS is very similar to Android because they share the same basics. Because BharOS uses AOSP or Android Open Source Project, the functionalities and the methodologies both OS use are essentially the same.

What sets BharOS apart from Android, is that it is free from Google Services and Apps.

Google has used its preinstalled apps and services to collect data, sometimes without explicitly asking a user.
Similarly, other apps from Google’s PlayStore share data with third-party services.
BharOS does not come with any

Which is better BharOS or Android?

BharOS sure has its benefits especially when we speak of security and privacy. However, Android has a few legacy advantages that will be hard for people to give up.
Android actually supports a wide range of devices and hardware, ranging from a basic smartphone worth Rs 6000-7000 or even lower to a complex, and expensive, a foldable smartphone that costs north of Rs 1,00,000.
- We don’t know what sort of devices BharOS will support.
Another advantage is that Android has a very wide user base so bugs and issues are quickly reported and resolved.
- Very rarely do we get to see bugs in the Android OS – most bugs crop up when OEMs try to lay their own UI on top of Android.
- We also don’t know how frequently will BharOS receive updates, security or generational.