Developer | KaiOS Technologies (Hong Kong) Limited (with TCL as largest shareholder) [1] |
---|---|
Written in | HTML, CSS, JavaScript, C++ |
OS family | Linux (Unix-like) |
Working state | Current |
Source model | Source-available (except for the binary blobs) |
Initial release | October 2017 |
Latest release | January 2023 |
Marketing target | Feature phones |
Available in | 88 languages [2] |
List of languages Afrikaans, Albanian, Arabic, Armenian, Assamese, Azerbaijani, Basque, Belarusian, Bengali (Bangladesh), Bengali (India), Bodo, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dogri, Dutch, English (United Kingdom), English (United States), Estonian, Filipino, Finnish, French (Canada), French (France), Galician, Georgian, German, Greek, Gujarati, Hausa, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Italian, Kannada, Kashmiri, Kazakh, Khmer, Konkani, Lao, Latvian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Maithili, Malay, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Norwegian, Oriya, Pashto, Persian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Punjabi, Romanian (Moldavia), Romanian (Romania), Russian, Sanskrit, Santali, Serbian (Latin and Cyrillic alphabet), Simplified Chinese, Sindhi, Sinhalese, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish (Latin America), Spanish (Spain), Swahili, Swedish, Tajik, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Traditional Chinese (Hong Kong), Traditional Chinese (Taiwan), Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Vietnamese, Xhosa, Zulu | |
Package manager | KaiStore |
Platforms | ARM |
Kernel type | Monolithic (Linux) |
Default user interface | Graphical |
License | Proprietary, Linux kernel patches under GPLv2, B2G under MPL [3] [4] [5] |
Preceded by | Firefox OS, Nokia Asha |
Official website | www |
KaiOS is a mobile Linux distribution for keypad feature phones based on the Firefox OS open-source project. [6] It is developed by KaiOS Technologies (Hong Kong) Limited; a company based in Hong Kong, whose largest shareholder is Chinese electronics conglomerate TCL Corporation. [7] [1] KaiOS runs on feature phones or wireless home phones made with low-power hardware and low power consumption (and therefore long battery life). KaiOS supports modern connectivity technologies like 4G LTE, VoLTE, GPS, and Wi-Fi. KaiOS runs HTML5-based apps. KaiOS supports over-the-air updates and has a dedicated app marketplace called KaiStore. [8] Some applications are preinstalled onto the phone, including Facebook and YouTube. [9] As of 1 April 2020 [update] , there are 500+ apps in KaiStore. The mobile operating system is comparatively lightweight on hardware resource usage, and is able to run on devices with just 256 megabytes (MB) of memory. [10]
The operating system was first released in 2017, and is developed by KaiOS Technologies Inc., a Hong Kong-based [11] company headed by CEO Sebastien Codeville, with offices in other countries. In June 2018, Google invested US$22 million in the operating system. [12] That same year, India-based telecom operator Reliance Jio also invested $7 million through its sister concern, Reliance Retail for a 16% stake in the company. [13] [14] In May 2019, KaiOS raised an additional $50 million USD from Cathay Innovation, and previous investors Google and TCL Holdings. [15]
In market share study results announced in May 2018, KaiOS beat Apple's iOS for second place in India, [16] while Android dominates with 71%, albeit down by 9%. KaiOS growth is being largely attributed to the popularity of the competitively-priced JioPhone. [17] In Q1 2018, 23 million KaiOS devices were produced. [18]
In March 2020, Mozilla and KaiOS Technologies announced a partnership to update KaiOS with a modern version of the Gecko browser engine, and more closely aligned testing infrastructure. This change should give KaiOS four years worth of performance and security improvements and new features, including TLS 1.3, WebAssembly, WebGL 2.0, Progressive Web Apps, new video codecs like WebP, AV1, and modern JavaScript and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) features. [19] [20]
Devices that are installed with KaiOS include (KaiStore may not be included, if device vendor removed it): [21]
All KaiOS devices have T9 keypads, except the Jiophone 2 and Ghia GQWERTY, which have QWERTY keypads.
As of February 2018 [update] , KaiOS Technologies has partnered with Mozilla, Airfind, Avenir Telecom (Energizer), Facebook, Google, Bullitt, Doro, HMD Global, Micromax, NXP, Spreadtrum, Qualcomm, Jio, Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Orange S.A. [45] [9] [46]
In March 2020, KaiOS Technologies partnered with Mozilla to bring the modern version of Gecko browser engine to future KaiOS builds. [19] [47]
version | announced | new features | mobile phones |
---|---|---|---|
1.0 | March 2017 | First KaiOS smart feature flip phone with Gecko 37 [48] | Alcatel OneTouch Go Flip (OT-4044) |
2.0 | July 2017 | Major core upgrade to Gecko 48 | |
2.5.0 | November 2017 [49] | Services and 3rd party apps | Nokia 8110 4G |
2.5.1 | July 2018 [50] | KaiStore, KaiAccount, and advanced features, WhatsApp | |
2.5.1.1 | September 2018 | Minor system updates | |
2.5.2 | December 2018 | KaiAds and SIMbased cust. | Nokia 2720 Flip, Nokia 800 Tough |
2.5.3 | July 2019 | Major service upgrades, location service enhancement | |
2.5.3.1 | February 2020 | Minor system updates, notification enhancement | |
2.5.3.2 | May 2020 | Device Financing Program, Dual SIM LTE support | Gigaset GL7 |
2.5.4 | August 2020 | LF 1.6 integration, North America requirement | Nokia 6300 4G, Nokia 8000 4G |
3.0 | September 2021 | Major platform Upgrade, Gecko upgrade [51] from version 48 (2016) to version 84 (December 2020). [52] Older apps require that their developers adapt the apps to this OS version and publish an update to the store. WhatsApp not available anymore for KaiOS v3. | Nokia 2760 Flip |
3.1 | March 2022 [53] | Minor system updates | Nokia 2780 Flip |
With the release of the Nokia 8110 4G, an active community (colloquially known as Banana Hackers) around both KaiOS and the phone arose and released the first version of a jailbreak. This gave users the ability to use apps outside KaiStore including old Firefox OS apps on KaiOS devices, as well as flashing their devices with community-created ROMs, such as GerdaOS. [54] [55]
Some models can also be rooted, giving the user further control over the device. [56]
A mobile operating system is an operating system used for smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, smartglasses, or other non-laptop personal mobile computing devices. While computers such as typical/mobile laptops are "mobile", the operating systems used on them are generally not considered mobile, as they were originally designed for desktop computers that historically did not have or need specific mobile features. This line distinguishing mobile and other forms has become blurred in recent years, due to the fact that newer devices have become smaller and more mobile unlike hardware of the past. Key notabilities blurring this line are the introduction of tablet computers, light laptops, and the hybridization of the two in 2-in-1 PCs.
In telecommunications, long-term evolution (LTE) is a standard for wireless broadband communication for mobile devices and data terminals, based on the GSM/EDGE and UMTS/HSPA standards. It improves on those standards' capacity and speed by using a different radio interface and core network improvements. LTE is the upgrade path for carriers with both GSM/UMTS networks and CDMA2000 networks. Because LTE frequencies and bands differ from country to country, only multi-band phones can use LTE in all countries where it is supported.
Gigaset AG, formerly known as Siemens Home and Office Communication Devices, is a German multinational corporation based in Bocholt, Germany. More active in the area of communications technology, it manufactures DECT telephones.
Firefox OS is a discontinued open-source operating system – made for smartphones, tablet computers, smart TVs, and dongles designed by Mozilla and external contributors. It is based on the rendering engine of the Firefox web browser, Gecko, and on the Linux kernel. It was first commercially released in 2014.
Jolla Oy is a Finnish technology company; vendor and developer of Sailfish OS. Headquartered in Tampere, Finland, Jolla has its own research and development offices in Helsinki, Tampere and Cyberport, Hong Kong. Jolla was founded in 2011 by former Nokia staff of the MeeGo project team to use the MeeGo opportunities and its "endless possibilities".
Mozilla is a free software community founded in 1998 by members of Netscape. The Mozilla community uses, develops, publishes and supports Mozilla products, thereby promoting exclusively free software and open standards, with only minor exceptions. The community is supported institutionally by the non-profit Mozilla Foundation and its tax-paying subsidiary, the Mozilla Corporation.
The Nokia Asha platform is a discontinued mobile operating system (OS) and computing platform designed for low-end borderline smartphones, based on software from Smarterphone which was acquired by Nokia. The platform inherits UI similarities mostly from MeeGo "Harmattan", and replaced Series 40 on Nokia's low-end devices. The user interface design team was headed by Peter Skillman, who had worked previously on webOS and the design of MeeGo for the Nokia N9.
Firefox OS is an operating system for use on certain specific mobile devices. This page lists and compares hardware devices that are supplied with a Firefox OS operating system.
Series 30+ is a software platform and application user interface used for Nokia-branded, then HMD-branded mobile devices since 2024. The platform was introduced by Nokia in September 2013, first appearing on the Nokia 108, and has been the main Nokia feature phone operating system after the end of the Series 30 and Series 40 platforms in 2014. Despite the similar name and user interface, the S30+ is technically completely different and unrelated to the S30.
Here WeGo is a web mapping and satellite navigation software, operated by HERE Technologies and available on the Web and mobile platforms. It is based on HERE's location data platform, providing its in-house data, which includes satellite views, traffic data, and other location services. Maps are updated every two or three months.
Jio is an Indian telecommunications company and a subsidiary of Jio Platforms, headquartered in Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra. It operates a national LTE network with coverage across all 22 telecom circles. Jio offers 5G, 4G and 4G+ services all over India and 5G service almost All Over India. Its 6G service is in the works.
A progressive web application (PWA), or progressive web app, is a type of application software delivered through the web, built using common web technologies including HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and WebAssembly. It is intended to work on any platform with a standards-compliant browser, including desktop and mobile devices.
Human Mobile Devices (HMD), formally HMD Global, is a Finnish mobile phone manufacturer. The company is made up of the mobile phone business that the Nokia Corporation sold to Microsoft in 2014, then bought back in 2016. HMD began marketing Nokia-branded smartphones and feature phones on 1 December 2016. The company has exclusive rights to the Nokia brand for mobile phones through a licensing agreement. The HMD brand was initially only used for corporate purposes and does not appear in advertising, whereas the name "Nokia Mobile" is used on social media. As it was launched, the abbreviation HMD stood for Hon Hai Mobile Devices. This was in reference to the main shareholder at the time of its creation: the Taiwanese group Foxconn. In January 2024, HMD rebranded to 'Human Mobile Devices', and will use their own branding on future devices alongside that of Nokia.
Firefox Focus is a free and open-source privacy-focused mobile browser by Mozilla, based on Firefox. It is available for Android and iOS smartphones and tablets. Its predecessor, Focus by Firefox, was released in December 2015 as a tracker-blocking application which worked only in conjunction with the Safari mobile browser on iOS. It was developed into a minimalist web browser in 2016 but retained this background blocking functionality. The Android version of the browser was first released in June 2017 and was downloaded over one million times in the first month. As of January 2017, it was available in 27 languages. The version released for German-speaking countries has telemetry disabled and is named Firefox Klar to avoid ambiguity with the German news magazine FOCUS.
The Nokia 8110 4G is a Nokia-branded mobile phone developed by HMD Global. It was announced on 25 February 2018 at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2018 in Barcelona, Spain, as a revival of the original Nokia 8110, which was popularly known as the "Matrix phone" or "banana phone". The phone is Dual SIM capable even though it is limited to 2G in one slot, while running both SIM cards. It runs on an operating system based on KaiOS.
The Nokia 2720 Flip is a Nokia-branded flip phone developed by HMD Global. The 2720 Flip was created, as an updated version of the Nokia 2720 Fold, which debuted in 2009. It was unveiled at IFA 2019 together with the Nokia 110 (2019), Nokia 800 Tough, Nokia 6.2, and Nokia 7.2. It runs the KaiOS operating system, a web-based operating system based on B2G OS.
The Nokia 800 Tough is a Nokia-branded mobile phone developed by HMD Global. It was unveiled at IFA 2019 together with the Nokia 110 (2019), Nokia 2720 Flip, Nokia 6.2, and Nokia 7.2. It was preceded by the Nokia 2720 Flip.
The team behind KaiOS currently numbers more than 280 people and continues to grow rapidly. Headquartered in Hong Kong, Kai has offices around the world, including the U.S., China, India, and France."; "KaiOS is a Hong Kong based company.
Nokia 8110 4G, running KaiOS, received […] firmware version 17.00.17.01, with KaiOS 2.5.1.