It is designed for smart cars and Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and it had been used as a mobile operating system.

[5][6] In October 2017, Alibaba Group decided to upgrade its operating system strategy to focus investment on the burgeoning Internet of Things sector.

According to the company, AliOS will feature cloud-based e-mail, Web search, weather updates, and GPS navigation tools.

In addition, the AliOS services will synchronize and store call data, text messages, and photos in the cloud for access across other devices, including personal computers.

[10] In the meantime, AliOS Things, as a lightweight IoT embedded operating system for the IoT field, would be suitable for all kinds of small loT devices, and can be widely used in smart home, smart city, new travel and other fields.

[16] In November 2015, following Chinese State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television's policy, dozens of third-party applications installed by users on their own YunOS set-top boxes were automatically removed and blocked from re-installation.