webOS, also known as LG webOS and previously known as Open webOS, HP webOS and Palm webOS, is a
Linux kernel
The Linux kernel is a free and open-source, monolithic, modular, multitasking, Unix-like operating system kernel. It was originally authored in 1991 by Linus Torvalds for his i386-based PC, and it was soon adopted as the kernel for the GNU ope ...
-based
multitasking operating system
An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services for computer programs.
Time-sharing operating systems schedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also in ...
for
smart device
A smart device is an electronic device, generally connected to other devices or networks via different wireless protocols (such as Bluetooth, Zigbee, near-field communication, Wi-Fi, LiFi, or 5G) that can operate to some extent interactively and ...
s such as
smart TV
A smart TV, also known as a connected TV (CTV), is a traditional television set with integrated Internet and interactive Web 2.0 features, which allows users to stream music and videos, browse the internet, and view photos. Smart TVs are a techno ...
s that has also been used as a
mobile operating system
A mobile operating system is an operating system for mobile phones, tablets, smartwatches, smartglasses, or other non-laptop personal mobile computing devices. While computers such as typical laptops are "mobile", the operating systems used on ...
. Initially developed by
Palm, Inc.
Palm, Inc. was an American company that specialized in manufacturing personal digital assistants (PDAs) and various other electronics. They were the designer of the PalmPilot, the first PDA successfully marketed worldwide, as well as the Treo 60 ...
(which was acquired by
Hewlett-Packard
The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. HP developed and provided a wide variety of hardware components ...
), HP made the platform
open source
Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...
, at which point it became ''Open webOS.''
The operating system was later sold to
LG Electronics
LG Electronics Inc. () is a South Korean multinational electronics company headquartered in Yeouido-dong, Seoul, South Korea. LG Electronics is a part of LG Corporation, the fourth largest '' chaebol'' in South Korea, and often considered a ...
, and was made primarily a
smart TV operating system for
LG televisions
LG Electronics Inc. () is a South Korean multinational electronics company headquartered in Yeouido-dong, Seoul, South Korea. LG Electronics is a part of LG Corporation, the fourth largest ''chaebol'' in South Korea, and often considered as ...
as a successor to
LG Netcast
NetCast (later Smart TV, then Legacy Platform) is a proprietary firmware by LG Electronics that was preinstalled on their smart TVs between 2007 and 2014. LG has signed partnerships with various companies to provide services on the TV. It inclu ...
. In January 2014,
Qualcomm
Qualcomm () is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Diego, California, and incorporated in Delaware. It creates semiconductors, software, and services related to wireless technology. It owns patents critical to the 5G, 4 ...
announced that it had acquired technology patents from HP, which included all the webOS and Palm patents; LG licenses them to use in their devices.
Various versions of webOS have been featured on several devices since launching in 2009, including
Pre
Pre or PRE may refer to:
Places
*Preston railway station, UK National Rail code PRE
*Prince Edward station, on Hong Kong's MTR
People
*Steve Prefontaine (1951–1975), an American runner nicknamed "Pre"
Arts, entertainment, and media
*Pre (ba ...
,
Pixi, and
Veer
The Veer is an option running play often associated with option offenses in American football, made famous at the collegiate level by Bill Yeoman's Houston Cougars. It is currently run primarily on the high school level, with some usage at t ...
smartphones
A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, which ...
,
TouchPad
A touchpad or trackpad is a pointing device featuring a tactile sensor, a specialized surface that can translate the motion and position of a user's fingers to a relative position on the operating system that is made output to the screen. Touchp ...
tablet
Tablet may refer to:
Medicine
* Tablet (pharmacy), a mixture of pharmacological substances pressed into a small cake or bar, colloquially called a "pill"
Computing
* Tablet computer, a mobile computer that is primarily operated by touching the s ...
, LG's smart TVs since 2014, LG's smart refrigerators and smart projectors since 2017.
History
2009–2010: Launch by Palm
Palm launched webOS, then called Palm webOS, in January 2009 as the successor to
Palm OS
Palm OS (also known as Garnet OS) was a mobile operating system initially developed by Palm, Inc., for personal digital assistants (PDAs) in 1996. Palm OS was designed for ease of use with a touchscreen-based graphical user interface. It is provi ...
. The first webOS device was the original
Palm Pre
The Palm Pre , styled as palm prē, is a multitasking smartphone that was designed and marketed by Palm with a multi-touch screen and a sliding keyboard. The smartphone was the first to use Palm's Linux-based mobile operating system, webOS. The ...
, released by
Sprint
Sprint may refer to:
Aerospace
*Spring WS202 Sprint, a Canadian aircraft design
*Sprint (missile), an anti-ballistic missile
Automotive and motorcycle
*Alfa Romeo Sprint, automobile produced by Alfa Romeo between 1976 and 1989
*Chevrolet Sprint, ...
in June 2009. The
Palm Pixi
The Palm Pixi and Pixi Plus are multimedia smartphones, developed by Palm, which was purchased in 2010 by HP. The device is viewed as a successor to the Palm Centro smartphone and was Palm's second webOS device, after the Palm Pre.
The phones ...
followed. Upgraded "Plus" versions of both Pre and Pixi were released on Verizon and AT&T.
2010–2013: Acquisition by HP; the launch of Open webOS
In April 2010, HP acquired Palm. The acquisition of Palm was initiated while
Mark Hurd
Mark Vincent Hurd (January 1, 1957 – October 18, 2019) was an Americans, American technology executive who served as Co-CEO and as a member of the board of directors of Oracle Corporation. He had previously served as Chairman, Chief Executive ...
was CEO, however he resigned shortly after the acquisition was completed. Later, webOS was described by new HP CEO
Leo Apotheker as a key asset and motivation for the purchase. The $1.2 billion acquisition finalized in June. HP indicated its intention to develop the webOS platform for use in multiple new products, including smartphones, tablets, and
printers
Printer may refer to:
Technology
* Printer (publishing), a person or a company
* Printer (computing), a hardware device
* Optical printer for motion picture films
People
* Nariman Printer ( fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist
* Jame ...
.
![Jon Rubinstein & Todd Bradley](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/Jon_Rubinstein_%26_Todd_Bradley.jpg)
In February 2011, HP announced that it would use webOS as the universal platform for all its devices. However, HP also made the decision
that the Palm Pre, Palm Pixi, and the "Plus" revisions would not receive
over-the-air updates to webOS 2.0,
despite a previous commitment to an upgrade "in coming months."
HP announced several webOS devices, including the
HP Veer
The Veer is a smartphone announced by HP on February 9, 2011. The device uses HP webOS, is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, and has a 2.6-inch screen. The smartphone is notable for its credit card-sized dimensions (and a depth that i ...
and
HP Pre 3
The HP Pre 3, styled as Pre3 , is a touchscreen slider smartphone manufactured by Hewlett-Packard. The device uses webOS, is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, and has a 3.6-inch screen. It is conceptually the successor to the Palm Pre ...
smartphones, running webOS 2.2, and the
HP TouchPad, a tablet computer released in July 2011 that runs webOS 3.0.
In March 2011, HP announced plans for a version of webOS by the end of 2011 to run within
Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
, and to be installed on all HP desktop and notebook computers in 2012. Neither ever materialized, although work had begun on an x86 port around this time involving a team in
Fort Collins, Colorado
Fort Collins is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Larimer County, Colorado
Larimer County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 359 ...
; work was scrapped later in the year.
In August 2011, HP announced that it was interested in selling its Personal Systems Group, responsible for all of its consumer PC products, including webOS, and that webOS device development and production lines would be halted. It remained unclear whether HP would consider licensing webOS software to other manufacturers. When HP reduced the price of the Touchpad to $99, the existing inventory quickly sold out.
The HP Pre 3 was launched in select areas of Europe, and US-based units were available only through unofficial channels (both AT&T and Verizon canceled their orders just prior to delivery after
Apotheker's (HP's CEO at the time) announcement.
Notably, these US Pre 3 units, having been released through unofficial channels, lacked both warranties and carried no support obligation from HP; as a result parts are nearly impossible to come by. HP announced that it would continue to issue updates for the HP Veer and
HP TouchPad, but these updates have failed to materialize for the former, and the latter saw a final, unofficial release called "webOS CE" that contained only open-sourced components of webOS meant for what remained of the developer community rather than a conventional, user-centric update to the operating system. The last HP webOS version, 3.0.5, was released on January 12, 2012.
In December 2011, after abandoning the TouchPad and the proposed sale of the HP Personal Systems Group, HP announced it would release webOS
source code
In computing, source code, or simply code, is any collection of code, with or without comments, written using a human-readable programming language, usually as plain text. The source code of a program is specially designed to facilitate the wo ...
in the near future under an
open-source license
An open-source license is a type of license for computer software and other products that allows the source code, blueprint or design to be used, modified and/or shared under defined terms and conditions. This allows end users and commercial compa ...
.
In August 2012, code specific to the existing devices was released as ''webOS Community Edition'' (CE), with support for the existing HP hardware. Open webOS includes open source libraries designed to target a wider range of hardware. HP renamed its webOS unit as "Gram".
In February 2012, HP released Isis, a new web browser for Open webOS.
Growth and decline of HP App Catalog
The HP App Catalog was an
app store
An App Store (or app marketplace) is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not include the running of the co ...
for apps for the mobile devices running webOS.
On June 6, 2009, webOS launched on the
Palm Pre
The Palm Pre , styled as palm prē, is a multitasking smartphone that was designed and marketed by Palm with a multi-touch screen and a sliding keyboard. The smartphone was the first to use Palm's Linux-based mobile operating system, webOS. The ...
with 18 available apps. The number of apps grew to 30 by June 17, 2009, with 1 million cumulative downloads by June 27, 2009; 30 official and 31 unofficial apps by July 13, 2009; 1,000 official apps by January 1, 2010; 4,000 official apps September 29, 2010; and 10,002 official apps on December 9, 2011.
Subsequently, the number of available apps decreased because many apps were withdrawn from the App Catalog by their owners. Examples include the apps for ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' and
Pandora Radio
Pandora is a subscription-based music streaming service owned by Sirius XM Holdings based in Oakland, California, United States. The service carries a focus on recommendations based on the "Music Genome Project" — a means of classifying indiv ...
. After a Catalog splash screen on November 11, 2014 announcing its deprecation, the HP App Catalog servers were permanently shut down on March 15, 2015. The number of functional apps remaining at that time is unknown but was probably much lower due to the imminent abandonment of the project.
2013–present: Acquisition by LG; open-source edition launch
On February 25, 2013, HP announced that it was selling webOS to
LG Electronics
LG Electronics Inc. () is a South Korean multinational electronics company headquartered in Yeouido-dong, Seoul, South Korea. LG Electronics is a part of LG Corporation, the fourth largest '' chaebol'' in South Korea, and often considered a ...
for use on its web-enabled
smart TV
A smart TV, also known as a connected TV (CTV), is a traditional television set with integrated Internet and interactive Web 2.0 features, which allows users to stream music and videos, browse the internet, and view photos. Smart TVs are a techno ...
s, replacing its previous NetCast platform. Under the agreement LG Electronics owns the documentation, source code, developers and all related websites. However, HP would still hold on to patents from Palm as well as cloud-based services such as the App Catalog. In 2014, HP sold its webOS patents to Qualcomm.
As well as its use as an OS for smart TVs, LG has expanded its use to various
Internet of things
The Internet of things (IoT) describes physical objects (or groups of such objects) with sensors, processing ability, software and other technologies that connect and exchange data with other devices and systems over the Internet or other comm ...
devices. As a starting point, LG showcased a LG Wearable Platform OS (webOS) smartwatch in early 2015.
At CES 2017, LG announced a smart refrigerator with webOS.
On March 19, 2018, LG announced an open-source edition of webOS. This edition would allow developers to download the source code for free as well as take advantage of related tools, guides, and forums on its new open source website to become more familiar with webOS and its inherent benefits as a smart device's platform. LG hopes that this will help its goal of advancing its philosophy of open platform, open partnership and open connectivity.
Features
The webOS mobile platform introduced some innovative features, such as the cards interface or the gesture navigation, that are still in use by
Apple
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...
,
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...
and
Google
Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...
on their mobile operating systems
iOS
iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...
,
Windows Phone
Windows Phone (WP) is a discontinued family of mobile operating systems developed by Microsoft for smartphones as the replacement successor to Windows Mobile and Zune. Windows Phone featured a new user interface derived from the Metro design la ...
, and
Android
Android may refer to:
Science and technology
* Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human
* Android (operating system), Google's mobile operating system
** Bugdroid, a Google mascot sometimes referred to ...
, respectively.
HP/Palm webOS
Multitasking interface
Navigation uses
multi-touch
In computing, multi-touch is technology that enables a surface (a touchpad or touchscreen) to recognize the presence of more than one somatosensory system, point of contact with the surface at the same time. The origins of multitouch began at CER ...
gestures
A gesture is a form of non-verbal communication or non-vocal communication in which visible bodily actions communicate particular messages, either in place of, or in conjunction with, speech. Gestures include movement of the hands, face, or ot ...
on the
touchscreen
A touchscreen or touch screen is the assembly of both an input ('touch panel') and output ('display') device. The touch panel is normally layered on the top of an electronic visual display of an information processing system. The display is often ...
. The interface uses "cards" to manage
multitasking and represent apps. The user switches between running apps with a flick from left and right on the screen. Apps are closed by flicking a "card" up—and "off"—the screen. The app "cards" can be rearranged for organization. webOS 2.0 introduced 'stacks', where related cards could be "stacked" together.
Synergy
Palm referred to integration of information from many sources as "Synergy." Users can sign into multiple email accounts from different providers and integrate all of these sources into a single list. Similar capabilities pull together calendars and also
instant messages
Instant messaging (IM) technology is a type of online chat allowing real-time text transmission over the Internet or another computer network. Messages are typically transmitted between two or more parties, when each user inputs text and trigge ...
and
SMS
Short Message/Messaging Service, commonly abbreviated as SMS, is a text messaging service component of most telephone, Internet and mobile device systems. It uses standardized communication protocols that let mobile devices exchange short text ...
text messages from multiple sources.
Over-the-air updates
The OS can be updated without docking to a PC, instead receiving OS updates over the carrier connection.
Notifications
The notification area is located on the bottom portion of the screen on phones, and on the top status bar area on tablets.
On phones, when a notification comes in, it slides in from the bottom of the screen. Due to the resizable nature of the Mojo and Enyo application frameworks, the app usually resizes itself to allow unhindered use while the notification is displayed. After the notification slides away, it usually remains as an icon. The user can then tap on the icons to expand them. Notifications can then be dismissed (sliding off the screen), acted upon (tapping), or left alone.
Sync
By default, data sync uses a
cloud-based
Cloud computing is the on-demand availability of computer system resources, especially data storage (cloud storage) and computing power, without direct active management by the user. Large clouds often have functions distributed over multip ...
approach rather than using a desktop
sync client. The first version of webOS shipped with the ability to sync with Apple's iTunes software by masquerading as an Apple device, but this feature was disabled by subsequent iTunes software updates.
Third-party applications
On HP webOS, officially vetted third-party apps are accessible to be installed on the device from the HP App Catalog.
As HP webOS replaced
Palm OS
Palm OS (also known as Garnet OS) was a mobile operating system initially developed by Palm, Inc., for personal digital assistants (PDAs) in 1996. Palm OS was designed for ease of use with a touchscreen-based graphical user interface. It is provi ...
, Palm commissioned MotionApps to code and develop an
emulator
In computing, an emulator is Computer hardware, hardware or software that enables one computer system (called the ''host'') to behave like another computer system (called the ''guest''). An emulator typically enables the host system to run so ...
called Classic, to enable backward compatibility to Palm OS apps. This operates with webOS version 1.0. Palm OS emulation was discontinued in WebOS version 2.0. MotionApps disengaged from Classic in 2010, citing HP Palm as "disruptive."
Another source of
applications
Application may refer to:
Mathematics and computing
* Application software, computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks
** Application layer, an abstraction layer that specifies protocols and interface methods used in a c ...
is
homebrew software
Homebrewing mainly refers to small-scale, non-commercial manufacture of a drink, typically beer.
Homebrew or home brew may also refer to:
Computing
* Homebrew Computer Club
* Homebrew (package manager), for macOS and Linux
* Homebrew (video games ...
.
[Precentral (precentral.net)]
Homebrew Apps
Homebrew apps are not directly supported by HP. Programs used to distribute homebrew webOS apps include webOS Quick Install (Java-based sideloader for desktop computers) and Preware (a homebrew webOS app catalog, which must be sideloaded). If software problems do occur after installing homebrew programs, "webOS Doctor" (provided by HP) can restore a phone back to factory settings and remove changes made by homebrew apps and patches.
Developer Mode
Developer mode allows for developer access of the device, and is also used for digital forensic investigations. It can be accessed by typing ''webos20090606'' on the device’s keyboard, or on some devices typing ''upupdowndownleftrightleftrightbastart'' (a reference to the
Konami code
The Konami Code ( ja, コナミコマンド, ''Konami Komando'', "Konami command"), also commonly referred to as the Contra Code and sometimes the 30 Lives code, is a cheat code that appears in many Konami video games, as well as some non-Konam ...
) on the cards view. Once in developer mode, data on the system partition can be accessed freely, even if the device was locked.
LG webOS
Smart TV features
LG has redesigned the UI of webOS, maintaining the card UI as a feature called "Simple switching" between open TV apps. The other two features promoted by the company are a simple connection (using an animated
Clippy
The Office Assistant is a discontinued intelligent user interface for Microsoft Office that assisted users by way of an interactive animated character which interfaced with the Office help content. It was included in Microsoft Office for Window ...
-like character called Beanbird to aid the user through setup), and simple discovery.
Platform
Underneath the
graphical user interface
The GUI ( "UI" by itself is still usually pronounced . or ), graphical user interface, is a form of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and audio indicator such as primary notation, inste ...
, webOS has much in common with mainstream
Linux distribution
A Linux distribution (often abbreviated as distro) is an operating system made from a software collection that includes the Linux kernel and, often, a package management system. Linux users usually obtain their operating system by downloading one ...
s. Versions 1.0 to 2.1 use a patched Linux 2.6.24
kernel
Kernel may refer to:
Computing
* Kernel (operating system), the central component of most operating systems
* Kernel (image processing), a matrix used for image convolution
* Compute kernel, in GPGPU programming
* Kernel method, in machine learnin ...
.
The list of open-source components used by the different releases of webOS, as well as the source code of and patches applied to each component, is available at the Palm Open Source webpage.
This page also serves as a reference listing of the versions of webOS that have been publicly released.
In 2011,
Enyo
Enyo (; grc, Ἐνυώ, Enȳṓ) is a goddess of war in Greek mythology. She frequently is associated with the war god Ares.
Description
She is called the "sister of War" by Quintus Smyrnaeus, in a role closely resembling that of Eris, th ...
replaced Mojo, released in June 2009, as the
software development kit
A software development kit (SDK) is a collection of software development tools in one installable package. They facilitate the creation of applications by having a compiler, debugger and sometimes a software framework. They are normally specific to ...
(SDK).
Hardware
See also
*
List of smart TV platforms and middleware software
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
*
Enyo
Enyo (; grc, Ἐνυώ, Enȳṓ) is a goddess of war in Greek mythology. She frequently is associated with the war god Ares.
Description
She is called the "sister of War" by Quintus Smyrnaeus, in a role closely resembling that of Eris, th ...
*
Mobile platform
A mobile operating system is an operating system for mobile phones, tablets, smartwatches, smartglasses, or other non-laptop personal mobile computing devices. While computers such as typical laptops are "mobile", the operating systems used on ...
*
Access Linux Platform
The Access Linux Platform (ALP) is a discontinued open-source software based operating system, once referred to as a "next-generation version of the Palm OS," for mobile devices developed and marketed by Access Co., of Tokyo, Japan. The platform ...
*
LuneOS
LuneOS is a mobile operating system (OS) based on the Linux kernel and currently developed by WebOS Ports community. With a user interface based on direct manipulation, LuneOS is designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices such as smartphon ...
*
List of WebOS devices
{{Incomplete list, date=February 2011DVRs by Charter communications
LG
* LG Watch Urbane LTE - 2015, single smartwatch known to use webOS, as LG used Android Wear on its other watches
* All LG televisions released in 2015 and onward and some 20 ...
References
External links
webOS Open Source Edition (LG)LG Software SolutionswebOS Developer CenterLG webOS TV Developer CenterwebOS Auto Developer CenterwebOS Internals Wiki
{{DEFAULTSORT:Webos
2009 software
ARM operating systems
HP software
LG Electronics
Mobile Linux
Mobile operating systems
Palm, Inc.
Smart TV
Smartphones
Software based on WebKit
Tablet operating systems