The release of the open platform webOS Open Source Edition 2.27 has been introduced, which can be used on various portable devices, boards, and automotive infotainment systems. The Raspberry Pi 4 boards are considered the reference hardware platform. The platform is developed in a public repository under the Apache 2.0 license, and the development is supervised by the community, adhering to a collaborative development management model.
Key changes in the new release:
- The browser engine has been updated to Chromium version 120 (previously version 108 was used). The application implementing the Enact browser has been transitioned to using the Browser Shell concept instead of the App Shell, which has expanded functionality and flexibility in content handling. The App Shell architecture implies the use of a custom user interface rendering web content, while the Browser Shell architecture focuses on using the standard user interface elements of the base browser.
- Additional capabilities for standalone web applications (PWA, Progressive Web Application) have been added, such as support for navigation with 'forward' and 'back' buttons, more convenient scrolling, and the ability to display push notifications.
- The efficiency of the build process has been improved. The file extensions for images to be run in the emulator have been changed from '.wic.vmdk' to 'wic.vmdk.gz'.
- In the API com.webos.service.mediacontroller, which forms the playback control interface, a method setSupportedActions has been added to specify the list of supported operations (play, pause, next, previous, mute, unmute).
- The system service luna-sysservice has been freed from its dependency on Qt.
- The Qt framework has been updated to version 6.7.2.
- The ability to change colors used in the configuration app (Settings application) has been added.
The webOS platform was originally developed by Palm in 2008 and was used on the Palm Pre and Pixie smartphones. In 2010, after acquiring Palm, the platform came under Hewlett-Packard's control, which then attempted to use the platform in its printers, tablets, laptops, and PCs. In 2012, HP announced the transition of webOS into an independent open project and began releasing the source code for its components in 2013. In that same year, the platform was acquired from Hewlett-Packard by LG and is now used in over 70 million LG TVs and consumer devices. In 2018, the webOS Open Source Edition project was established, through which LG aimed to return to an open development model, attract other participants, and expand the range of devices supported by webOS.
The webOS system environment is formed using the OpenEmbedded tools and base packages, as well as the build system and metadata set from the Yocto project. Key components of webOS include the System and Application Manager (SAM), which is responsible for running applications and services, and the Luna Surface Manager (LSM), which creates the user interface. The components are written using the Qt framework and the Chromium browser engine.
Rendering is done through a composite manager using the Wayland protocol. For developing user applications, it is recommended to use web technologies (CSS, HTML5, and JavaScript) and the Enact framework based on React, although it is also possible to create programs in C and C++ with a Qt-based interface. The user interface and built-in graphical applications are mainly implemented as native programs written using QML technology. By default, the Home Launcher interface is offered, optimized for touch screen navigation and featuring a concept of interchangeable cards instead of windows.
Data is stored in a structured format using JSON with the DB8 storage system, which uses LevelDB as the backend. Initialization is done through bootd based on systemd. For multimedia content processing, the uMediaServer and Media Display Controller (MDC) subsystems are available, and PulseAudio is used for sound. server For automatic firmware updates, OSTree and atomic partition replacement are used (two system partitions are created, one of which is active while the other is used for updating).
Source: opennet.ru
