Of course, having an advanced OS for the years to come is all well and good, but no one uses an OS on its own. If they have, more often than not it's thanks to the Trump-vs-Huawei headlines that have …, Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei's consumer business group, struggled to contain his frustration while being questioned about apps by reporters at the Mate 30 series launch today in Munich. Huawei wants to unleash a new kind of OS. Crucial components like Huawei’s plans for a Harmony OS app store are still a total mystery and aside from the ability to seamlessly switch devices while using the same app, we’ve not seen any other practical, headline-grabbing features. Do you think it’ll be a success? Opening the door to third-party smart home devices is an even bigger step into incompatibility city. With the Play Store a complete no-go — at least for now — Huawei is turning to its own App Gallery which hosts over 45,000 apps and has 390 million monthly active users. External links may earn us a commission. Hide Apps on BLU Phones. We’ll delve a little further into the technical side shortly, but the bigger picture begins with the “for all scenarios” part. A closer look at Huawei’s Android skin. A low-end smartphone purchase in 2011 brought me to the forums, and it's been a journey filled with custom ROMs ever since. It’s all too tempting to paint Harmony OS as Huawei’s hastily constructed “plan B” for its smartphone business. The devices that are eligible to install Harmony OS 2.0 developer beta include Huawei P40 and P40 Pro, Mate 30 series, and MatePad Pro lineup tablets. Next April, the company plans on releasing an open-source version of the OS … Harmony OS is an incredibly tough sell for consumers in its current state. ©2021 Android Authority | All Rights Reserved. The idea that major smartphone OEMs could walk away from Android — demonstrably the most popular OS by market share — for Huawei’s pet project sounds pie in the sky, but it may well get some support from its pals in China. For starters, it’s supposed to mirror the look of EMUI 10, the latest version of Huawei's interface that sits on top of Android, so at least it will feel familiar to existing users. Early adopters have also mentioned that (translated) “Android development ideas can be applied to Hongmeng (Harmony OS) development, greatly speeding up the development of Hongmeng“, which makes sense, though we haven’t dug into the new OS or documentation to verify how true this statement is. When compared with Samsung’s dabbles with Tizen or Microsoft burning billions with the ill-fated Windows Mobile, Huawei’s decision to look beyond just smartphones is undoubtedly a savvy move, but in the consumer tech sphere the phone is, to quote that famous Avengers villain, inevitable. Here are some helpful links if you are interested in getting started: A lot of the documentation currently is in Chinese, and the source code has not yet been released, so there is a fair bit of exploration left on this end. Whether by force or by choice, Huawei’s new OS is on a collision course with Android one way or another. Huawei's new OS is on a collision course with Android. There’s no ubiquitous OS for IoT devices and Huawei has a huge opportunity to cement its place at the head of the table. Huawei talks about Harmony OS as the next step in connecting the end user to the ever-changing digital world. Huawei Technologies, the world’s biggest smartphone maker, says it is preparing to switch from Google’s widely-used Android operating system to Harmony OS for all of its smartphones next year. The potential benefits are numerous, but the example Huawei presents is switching between one device to the other while using a single app without any downtime. It is an Open-source project, so developers will be able to create apps using ARK Compiler. The message is clear: Huawei wants other OEMs to carry the Harmony OS torch in not just the smart home sector, but the mobile market too. LG Harmony 3 case covers. A sweet, feature-filled launcher with a beautiful UX. That’s a strange statement to make in light of Harmony OS’ announcement. Yordan, 13 November 2020. All this and the advanced security enabled by the micro-kernel environment between devices adds up to an enticing picture for end users, developers, and, perhaps most importantly, Huawei itself as a company that wants to lead the charge in this new age of connected tech. While there have been fairly loose rumors that a budget Harmony OS phone is in the works, Huawei has been steadfast in its apparent desire to stick with Android for its smartphone business. Harmony OS is a much easier sell for the Internet of Things market where fragmentation is a rife. New plans were announced at HDC 2020 earlier this year, but today, the company has begun recruiting developers for the first Harmony OS 2.0 beta for mobile devices. The “8” represents equally familiar connected devices such as laptops, tablets, smartwatches, desktops, smart speakers, and more. Today the company officially revealed the 2.0 developer beta of its Android Q and iOS 13 rival. HUAWEI is finally dropping the popular Android operating system from all of its new smartphones starting in April, and giving existing phone owners … The solution? A great deal of mystery still surrounds Huawei's new Harmony OS software. You need devices. Harmony OS was officially unveiled one and a half years ago, with the company showcasing the Honor Vision smart TV as the first device with its first-party operating system. It is possible to roll back to official EMUI 11 based on Android, but the rollback will expectedly delete all user data. Gauden also noted that Harmony OS is backwards compatible, so existing wearables like the Watch GT could theoretically transition away from Lite OS to the new platform. Facebook apps like WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook itself are already confirmed for the Mate 30 via the App Gallery, and more will no doubt be announced soon. Huawei has attempted to distill Harmony OS’ essence in a single tagline: “A micro-kernel based, distributed OS for all scenarios.” Just rolls off the tongue doesn’t it? Huawei's smartphone shipments may be taking a beating from the US trade dispute, but the company's 5G deployment ambitions are plowing ahead unhindered. Why not zip it over to your car’s dash while you’re driving or your tablet or TV when you get home. You’ll also be able to easily share and broadcast content from your phone directly to the TV. This all comes together to form what Huawei has dubbed “seamless AI life” — a convergence of next-gen technology that it believes will span all of our devices in the home and on the go for decades to come. Harmony OS Vs Android Comparison It isn’t based on Linux kernel The fundamental thing that differentiates HarmonyOS from Android is the fact that it doesn’t include Linux at its core. Huawei’s Harmony OS unveiled Table of Contents Huawei’s Harmony OS unveiledAMD EPYC “Rome” 7 nm server CPUs launchedNow Stream PC games to Your Note 10Amazon Deploys Scout Robots To Deliver ShipmentsSamsung Announces PCIE-4.0 SSD, Industry’s Highest Performance Guaranteed.HP Introduces Chromebook x360Xiaomi About To Launch 34 Inch QHD+ Curved … We know Android apps aren’t directly compatible too. Huawei says that by removing redundant code and adopting a more efficient scheduling model based on a real-time “Deterministic Latency Engine” that reallocates resources in real-time, Harmony OS represents a step above monolithic and hybrid kernel architectures like Linux and Android, respectively. HarmonyOS, Huawei’s new cross-device operating system, has been announced by its CEO, Richard Yu at HDC 2019, the company's Developer Conference in Dongguan, China. Huawei officially reveals Harmony OS, its first party operating system In the city of Dongguan, China, Huawei finally took the wraps off its long-rumored, first-party operating system. Peppered with inquiries regarding Google Play …. Let us know in the comments. Getting all of these products to play nice with each other is already tricky even if you just count Huawei products. While HMS’ brief showcase in Munich almost appeared to be a weak hand wave over the lack of Google apps on a $1,000+ phone, it’s highly likely that the drive to bring developers into the HMS ecosystem is also groundwork for when Harmony OS enters primetime. Yesterday Huawei officially unveiled HarmonyOS 2.0 and confirmed that it will power smartphones in 2021. Harmony OS is not just for the smartphone but it is compatible with various devices including Tablets, Computers, Smartwatches, Smart TVs, Smart speakers, In-vehicle systems and more. The info comes from a developer who tested a simple app targeted for an older Android Hongmeng, or Harmony OS in its international form, is a multi-device OS currently based on Linux that’s open source, compatible with Android … The fact that Chromecast, likely the search giant’s best selling physical product, is built on Cast and not Android TV is telling. Google may even choose to restrict access to its immensely popular app family in an attempt to weaken a potential rival if Huawei fully abandons Android. Huawei confirmed that Harmony OS will begin powering some devices from April, which means there will soon be much less reliance on Google and its Android software. Open source or not, it’s a seismic power play from the Shenzhen firm as it looks to establish itself as the de facto mobile hardware, software, and infrastructure firm in China. Much of Huawei’s confidence stems from its belief that it is one of the few tech companies that has the infrastructure already in place to match its ambitions — and it’s hard to argue that’s not the case. Huawei officially reveals Harmony OS, its first party operating system. We’ll delve a little further into the technical side shortly, but the bigger picture begins with the “for all scenarios” part. There’s a massive, hulking elephant in the room, however, as there’s one product category that was nowhere to be seen on the Harmony OS roadmap: the smartphone. Our resident expert-on-everything Gary Sims will be examining all the technicalities in a deep dive video very soon, but the TL;DR version brings us back to that unwieldy tagline. A new mobile operating system would be forced to start from scratch. Huawei talks about Harmony OS as the next step i… Huawei begins its long-shot transition from Android with a Harmony OS beta for select smartphones and tablets, I am a tech journalist with XDA since 2015, while being a qualified business-litigation lawyer with experience in the field. Technical jargon and vague promises of better performance and functionality aren’t enough. Huawei says it looked beyond individual devices and isolated hardware features and instead determined a pool of combined capabilities and traits to create a virtualized hardware level. Huawei says that Harmony OS 2.0 comes with “over 15,000 APIs” to support development across smartphones, wearables, cars, larger displays, and many more use cases. In 2021, Huawei says this could expand to speakers and other audio devices, and beyond 2022 we’re into the realm of VR glasses and beyond. The new Huawei Harmony OS launcher is now available for preview on your existing Android smartphone too. The Harmony OS 2.0 beta version will be launching today for bigger screens, smartwatches, and automobiles, with the smartphone iteration launching in December 2020 and full support arriving in 2021. While on a much smaller, less ambitious scale, it shows Huawei does have a least some pedigree in the software stakes.