BharOS: Key aspects you should know about 'Made-in-India' smartphone OS

BharOS promises to offer better user privacy security and also does not come with any pre-loaded third-party apps

Earlier in the month, the Indian Institute of Madras (IIT-M)-backed JandK Operations Private Limited (JandKops) unveiled the indigenous mobile operating system titled BharOS.

Here are key aspects you should know about BharOS:
1) BharOS is actually developed from the source code of Google's Android Operating System Package (AOSP). But, it does not come pre-loaded with apps, thus freeing more space in the phone and consumers can install apps that they really want to use, which is not the case with the Android and iOS platform

2) BharOS software can be side-loaded to most of the Android phones available in the market, and for obvious reasons, it cannot be installed on Apple iPhones

3) BharOS can run most of Android apps, but cannot run iOS apps. Users can side-load any APKs (Android Package Kits) of Android apps.

4) BharOS offers more control to users over the permissions that apps have on the device. He/she can choose to only allow apps that they trust to access certain features or data on their device.

5) JandKops developers claim that phones with BharOS can be updated to the new version with the latest security patch via Over-The-Air, like any other smartphones in the market

6) Unlike Google Play Store (for Android) and Apple App Store (for iOS devices), BharOS-based Phone users can access trust-worthy apps from organization-specific Private App Store Services (PASS). The latter offers access to a curated list of apps that have been thoroughly vetted and have met certain security and privacy standards of organisations.

7) For now BharOS is not available to the public just yet. As noted above, private organisations, which emphasise security and user privacy for communication purpose, can approach JandKops to get access to BharOS

8) JandKops is incubated by IIT Madras Pravartak Technologies Foundation. It is backed by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, under its National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NMICPS).

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