Huawei has officially announced HarmonyOS, the operating system which was rumored to replace Android. The HarmonyOS, according to the company is a microkernel-based distributed OS, which can be used in smartphones, smart speakers, wearables and in-vehicle systems to create a shared ecosystem.
ALSO READ: Huawei’s Android Alternative Could Be Called Ark OS
HarmonyOS: An Android Replacement?
HarmonyOS (according to CEO Richard Yu) has been in development since 2017. According to The Verge, Harmony OS will continue to be called HongmengOS in China. While the Harmony OS tag applies to global markets as per previously applied patents.
At the event, Huawei made it clear that HarmonyOS was not meant to replace Android on smartphones but is meant to work across various devices with a focus on security. The goal with the new OS is to provide an open-source platform capable of running on a broad range of devices ranging from smartphones to smart wearables, TVs, tablets, laptops, and even cars.
#HarmonyOS is built with a deterministic latency engine that gives a smooth interactive experience. That means latency is at a minimum; bringing fluid interactive experience to the maximum #HDC2019 pic.twitter.com/p9bnwNHJq6
— Huawei Mobile (@HuaweiMobile) August 9, 2019
In a press release, CEO Richard Yu says that HarmonyOS is “completely different from Android and iOS” because of its ability to scale across different kinds of devices. “You can develop your apps once, then flexibly deploy them across a range of different devices.” The initial focus for the operating system will be China before Huawei expands it to other markets.
Is HarmonyOS Is Similar To Fuchsia OS?
Harmony OS is a microkernel-based operating system that is similar to the Fuchsia operating system (worked upon by Google), which is designed to run on various form-factor.
ALSO READ: Fuchsia OS Might Be The Successor To Android, Might Be!
How Easy Will HarmonyOS Be For Developers?
According to Huawei, developers will be to recompile their apps for this new operating system, with the ability to code once and deploy across multiple devices with different screen layouts, interactions, and more. Huawei says developers will be able to utilize Huawei’s ARK Complier and can compile a range of languages into machine code in a single environment.
A modularized #HarmonyOS can be nested to adapt flexibly to any device to create a seamless cross-device experience. Developed via the distributed capability kit, it builds the foundation of a shared developer ecosystem #HDC2019 pic.twitter.com/2TD9cgtdG8
— Huawei Mobile (@HuaweiMobile) August 9, 2019
Developers will reportedly be able to utilize Huawei’s ARK Complier to build code from multiple programming languages and build apps for Harmony OS. These developed apps would work across multiple devices categories, which can range from televisions to car kits, more personal devices like smartphones and smartwatches.
Devices Running On HarmonyOS?
Huawei is yet to announce a device running the new operating system, but the company is expected to launch a successor to the Mate 20 Pro smartphone in the fourth quarter of this year.
ALSO READ: What Is the NM Card Used In The Huawei Mate 20 Phones? Is It Replacing MicroSD? [Explained]
What About HarmonyOS Updates?
Huawei claims that version 2.0 will be available next year. Harmony OS is open-source and comes with a TEE (Trusted Execution Environment) for improved security across all devices. At the announcement, it was also revealed that Harmony OS would not allow for root access which is a security threat for any device running Android.
Does Huawei Need An Android Alternative HarmonyOS?
At the moment, no, Huawei does not really need HarmonyOS as it is allowed to use the more popular Android OS after the Trump administration eased restrictions on the Chinese telecom giant. Still, Harmony OS is Huawei preparing for the inevitable in case things happen to go south with the US, Huawei can switch to Harmony OS in about 2 days if needed.
Well, there are a lot of promises made, but how well it is going to be is a question, especially when it rivaling against Android and Android Open Source Project (AOSP).
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