Tizen

Tizen
Company type	Open source software platform
Industry	Operating systems, software
Founded	April 30, 2012; 14 years ago
Founder	Linux Foundation, Samsung Electronics, Intel
Headquarters	Seoul, South Korea
Owner	Samsung Electronics
Website	tizen.org

Tizen () is an operating system based on Linux, primarily developed by Samsung Electronics with support from the Linux Foundation.

Initially created as an HTML5-centric platform intended to replace MeeGo, Tizen received backing from companies within the Tizen Association. Samsung incorporated its earlier Linux-based OS, Bada, into Tizen, utilizing it mainly for smart TVs and wearable devices until 2021.

While Tizen is predominantly open source software, its software development kit contains proprietary elements from Samsung. Some components of the OS are distributed under the Flora License, which is derived from the Apache License 2.0 and grants patent rights exclusively to "Tizen-certified platforms."

In May 2021, Google revealed a collaboration with Samsung to merge Tizen functionalities into Google's Android-based Wear OS, pledging to adopt this unified platform for upcoming wearable devices. Since then, development efforts on Tizen have concentrated chiefly on Samsung Smart TVs.

History

The origins of the project trace back to mobile Linux, initiated by Intel in July 2007. Moblin 2.0, released in April 2009 and based on Fedora, saw Intel transferring its development responsibilities to the Linux Foundation. Subsequently, this OS combined with Nokia’s Maemo, a Debian-based Linux distribution, resulting in the creation of MeeGo, which was developed mainly by Nokia, Intel, and the Linux Foundation.

Following Nokia’s withdrawal from MeeGo in 2011, the Linux Foundation launched Tizen as MeeGo’s successor, with primary support from Intel and Samsung Electronics, alongside partners such as Access Co., NEC Casio, NTT DoCoMo, Panasonic Mobile, SK Telecom, Telefónica, and Vodafone. Tizen aimed at mobile and embedded sectors—including smartphones, tablets, netbooks, smart TVs, and automotive systems—leveraging HTML5 applications. In May 2012, U.S. carrier Sprint Corporation became a member of the Tizen Association. On September 16, 2012, it was announced by Automotive Grade Linux that Tizen would serve as its reference distribution.

Samsung declared plans in January 2013 to launch several Tizen-powered phones within that year and completed the integration of its Bada OS into Tizen by February. The first Tizen tablet was introduced in October 2013 by Systena as part of a Japan-exclusive development kit.

In 2014, Samsung unveiled the Gear 2 smartwatch running on Tizen, marking a shift away from Android. On May 14, 2014, it was announced that Qt integration would be included with Tizen; however, this initiative was discontinued in January 2017.

Samsung introduced Samsung Connect Auto on February 21, 2016—a connected car device providing diagnostics and Wi-Fi connectivity through the OBD-II port. Later that year, Samsung collaborated with Microsoft to enable [.NET Core] support on Tizen.

By 2018, Strategy Analytics reported that around 21% of smart TVs sold worldwide operated on Tizen, establishing it as the leading smart TV platform globally.

At Google I/O in May 2021, Google announced a partnership with Samsung to incorporate Tizen features into the forthcoming Wear OS update; Samsung committed to adopting Wear OS for future wearable products while continuing to use Tizen for its smart TV lineup.

The Tizen app store ceased operations permanently on December 31, 2021. The final Tizen smartphone released was the Samsung Z4 in 2017. Subsequently, Samsung transitioned its smartwatch lineup to Google's Wear OS 3 platform starting with the Galaxy Watch 4.

Releases

Tizen 1.0: Released on April 30, 2012
Tizen 2.0: Launched February 18, 2013
Tizen 2.1: Issued May 18, 2013
Tizen 2.2: Available from July 22, 2013
- Tizen 2.2.1: Rolled out November 9, 2013
Tizen 2.3: Published February 9, 2015
- Tizen 2.3.1: Released September 3, 2015
  - Tizen 2.3.1 Rev1: Issued November 13, 2015
- Tizen 2.3.2: Available September 3, 2016
  - Tizen 2.3.2 Patch: Distributed December 23, 2016
Tizen 2.4: Debuted October 30, 2015
- Revisions Rev1 through Rev8 released between December 2015 and August 2016
Tizen 3.0: Officially launched January 18, 2017
- Tizen IVI (In-Vehicle Infotainment) version 3.0 released April 22, 2014
- Milestones M1 to Public M4 issued from September 2015 to November 2017
Tizen 4.0: Released May 31, 2017
- Public milestones M1 to M3 rolled out May 2017 through August 2018
Tizen 5.0: Debuted May 31, 2018
- Public M1 and M2 versions launched in May and October of the same year
Tizen 5.5: Published May 31, 2019
- Public releases M1 to M3 spanned from May 2019 to August 2020
Tizen 6.0: Issued May 31, 2020
- Public milestones M1 and M2 launched in May and October respectively
Tizen 6.5: Released May 31, 2021
- Public M1 and M2 updates distributed in May and October of that year
Tizen 7.0: Available from May 31, 2022
- Public M1 and M2 issued in May and October respectively
Tizen 8.0: Launched on May 31, 2023
- Public milestones M1 and M2 rolled out in May and October accordingly
Tizen 9.0: Scheduled for release on May 31, 2024
- Public milestone M1 planned for May with Public M2 set for October 31, 2024

Smartwatches

Camera

Smartphone

The Samsung Z series consisted of affordable smartphones aimed at emerging markets, introduced between the years of 2015 and 2017.

Developer-only unreleased models (codenamed Redwood) included:

GT-i9500 (later assigned to Samsung Galaxy S IV)
GT-i8800/GT-i8805 (Dual SIM variants)
SM-Z9000/SM-Z9005 (Dual SIM models)

Moreover, a specialized Samsung S III model running Tizen (codename RD-PQ) was distributed for developer use in application development.

Television

Samsung Smart TVs starting from the year 2015
Loewe Smart TVs operating on the Tizen platform

Appliances

Family Hub Refrigerators spanning versions from 1.0 through 8.0

LED Wall controllers

SBB-SNOWJ3U

Controversies

On April 3, 2017, Vice published a report revealing that Israeli cybersecurity expert Amihai Neiderman identified more than forty zero-day vulnerabilities within the Tizen operating system codebase. These flaws potentially allowed remote exploitation of Samsung devices such as Smart TVs and smartphones. Following this disclosure, Samsung collaborated with Neiderman to resolve the security concerns.

TizenRT

In December of 2016, Samsung introduced TizenRT—a derivative of the NuttX real-time operating system—specifically designed for IoT devices and smart home appliances.