The now-Google-owned KaiOS was one of the selling points of the JioPhone being the most selling featured phone in the country. A month after investing into the miniature mobile OS, Google has been working on bringing smartphone-like features to the KaiOS interface which will be rolled out as an update to the JioPhone.
The original JioPhone which was launched at around the same time last year will now be greeted with support for newer Google products, the first of which is the Google Maps app. Users will be able to download the Maps App from the JioStore which comes pre-installed on any JioPhone but that will only be possible if the device is ported to the latest KaiOS update.
JioPhone users will thus be greeted with many features including the ability to find places, explore, get directions and traffic. However, it’s to be noted that advanced services like real-time traffic and the 360-degree panoramic street view will be a far-fetched thought, simply owing to the lack of significant hardware.
Reliance’s original JioPhone already boasts support for Google Assistant which is touted to be one of the reasons behind the rapid growth of the virtual assistant in the country. The device is also expected to support WhatsApp in the near future since it’s successor, the JioPhone 2 will be offering apps for Facebook, YouTube, and WhatsApp.
Once the rollout of the new KaiOS update commences, we can expect the same to be ported to the Nokia 8110 4G phone which runs on the same firmware build.