Harmony OS

2023: No support for Android apps in OS

In mid-November 2023, Huawei announced preparations for the release of a new version of the proprietary HarmonyOS operating system - the HarmonyOS Next platform. It will completely lose support for Android, so users will not be able to install the corresponding applications on their smartphones and other gadgets.

It is noted that HarmonyOS Next was developed from scratch by Huawei: this operating system lacks the traditional AOSP (Android Open Source Project) code. Therefore, it will not be possible to download and install Android applications in Apk format. Instead, HarmonyOS Next will only support Hap installation packages.

HarmonyOS Next

However, the problem is that the ecosystem of HarmonyOS's own applications is poorly developed as of November 2023. Against this background, Huawei is actively looking for developers to write programs for its OS. Some large Chinese companies, such as NetEase, Meituan, TouTiao.com and DingTalk, have also started posting HarmonyOS-related jobs. We are talking about the development of software for mobile gadgets, embedded devices, etc. In addition, qualified software testing employees are required. Moreover, the proposed level of wages for such specialists is often higher than the market average. More than 75% of open vacancies require a bachelor's degree or higher and more than three years of experience.

Huawei is forced to actively develop its own ecosystem around HarmonyOS amid sanctions from outside. USA Unable to license Android and major services, Google the company is developing its own alternatives. Huawei aims to make HarmonyOS a universal operating system capable of running on smartphones, wearables, car computers, laptops Internet and gadgets of things.^[1]

2021

Huawei MatePad Pro tablet announcement with Harmony OS

In early June 2021, Huawei introduced the first tablet computer in its range on its own OS, which, according to the manufacturer, is "faster and safer" than Android. We are talking about the HarmonyOS 2 software platform and the Huawei MatePad Pro device. Read more here.

Ars Technica: HarmonyOS sloppy Android 10 fork

Operating system HarmonyOS, being developed, Chinese Huawei turned out to be a fork Android and is practically no different from mobile. operating system Google This became known on February 3, 2021. According to Ron Amadeo, editor of Ars Technica, the OS is not an alternative at all, but just a careless fork of Android 10.

The source recalled that earlier there were suggestions on the Web that the release of the mobile version of HarmonyOS 2.0 would be based on Android. In this regard, the president of the consumer software division of Huawei, Wang Chenlu, decided to refute these theories and said that the Harmony OS operating system (formerly known as Hongmeng OS) is not a copy of Android or iOS.

Chenlu's words were an encouraging promise that losing access to American enterprises would not stop Huawei from innovating, but Amadeo's testing of the OS beta revealed some disappointing discoveries:

• The developer's access requires a two-day biographical check, data which includes sending Huawei copies of the passport, ID and. credit card
• In fact, the user does not launch the beta version of the OS in its emulator. Instead, the emulator is streamed over a 720p network, supposedly conducted from a mobile device in China.

After gaining access to HarmonyOS through a rather difficult registration process, launching the SDK and emulator, as well as studying the developer's documentation, I cannot come to any other conclusion - Harmony OS is essentially a fork of Android. The way Huawei describes the OS in the press and developer documentation doesn't seem to be relevant to what the company actually delivers, "Ron Amadeo explained.

As the editor noted, the developer's documentation seems to be deliberately written in such a way as to confuse the reader. Any piece of real OS code that the user looks at looks like Android with minimal changes^[2].

2020: Introducing HarmonyOS 2.0 beta for smartphones

On December 17, 2020, Huawei officially unveiled the beta version of its own HarmonyOS 2.0 operating system for mobile devices. The release marked an important stage in creating a comprehensive intelligent ecosystem of device interaction. Mobile application developers can take part in OS testing by registering on the official HUAWEI Developer website.

Third-party developers have gained access to the extensive system capabilities of HarmonyOS, including many APIs and powerful tools such as the optimized DevEco Studio simulator, which made it easier to create effective applications for smartphones running the operating system. HUAWEI hopes to attract as many partners as possible to expand the intellectual ecosystem in order to give users access to all the benefits of smart services for work, entertainment, communication, sports and everyday household chores.

HarmonyOS is changing the way users interact with each other and their mobile devices in a wide variety of everyday situations, said Wang Chenglu, president of the HUAWEI Consumer Business Group software development department. - Devices and services are now not limited to any specific scenarios, and users can easily customize them for their needs. The advent of HarmonyOS will lead to the creation of special devices that support special applications and services that change people's lives.

Contributing to the creation of products by combining the software and hardware resources of physically independent devices, HarmonyOS has everything you need to implement a fully connected and interconnected ecosystem. HarmonyOS ensures that the products included in the ecosystem will instantly respond to any user request and will be able to work in any scenarios.

HarmonyOS opens up a wide range of opportunities to create intelligent solutions for travelers. For example, when calling a taxi, the clock screen will display the current location and license plate of the car in real time. Other scripting scenarios are becoming possible: buyers will be able to view goods in baskets with each other in order to make decisions on joint purchases, receive additional discounts and discuss goods.

More than 120 app developers, including JD.com, China UnionPay, Youku Video and iFlytek, have already chosen HarmonyOS as their priority operating system.

When selecting IoT products available on the market, most are loosely interconnected, and different types of devices have their own operating systems. This makes it difficult to develop applications, as they need to be adapted to different platforms and screen sizes before being released. HUAWEI opens up unified HarmonyOS platform frameworks and tools for developers.

As of December 2020, more than 15,000 APIs are available to them, including distributed system services and software and hardware capabilities. At the same time, HarmonyOS helps to create innovative and competitive applications that are compatible with any type of device and focused on all use cases. The distributed UI structure supports all screen sizes, simplifying deployment and improving development efficiency.

More than 100,000 developers have already joined the HarmonyOS ecosystem, evaluating the benefits of expert support, a variety of training courses, educational materials and open developer communities.

HarmonyOS is transforming the hardware vendor business, helping them turn their products into intelligent services. Software innovations expand the capabilities of connected devices. Combining the hardware resources of all devices within the ecosystem will allow partners to benefit more from their services on an ongoing basis, not limited to one-time sales of products. More than 20 hardware suppliers have already joined the HarmonyOS ecosystem.

HarmonyOS implements a seamless relationship between different types of devices at the lowest hardware level, where the connection is not affected by any software or hardware differences. The user can, for example, just touch a smartphone with a household device for instant connection and displaying information about this device on the screen.

HarmonyOS will receive open source for even more devices in the near future.

2019

The release of Honor Vision - the first device based on Harmony OS

On August 10, 2019, Huawei unveiled the Honor Vision TV, which became the company's first device on its own Harmony OS operating system. Read more here.

Operating System Announcement

On August 9, 2019 Huawei , she presented her own mobile. operating system The competitor Android was named Harmony OS.

The OS is designed for use in smartphones, tablets, personal computers, as well as in smart devices such as smartwatches, speakers and automotive electronics.

HarmonyOS provides secure interaction between devices of various types in a common ecosystem. This is achieved through the use of Trusted Execution Environment technology.

Huawei unveils Android competitor

As the head of the Huawei consumer product promotion division, Richard Yu, said at the presentation, the operating system will allow you to "share" the properties of one device with another, for example, if there is no camera on the watch, then you can use the camera of your smartphone with their help.

We came to the conclusion that it is important to have an operating system with improved cross-platform capabilities. We needed an OS that supports all scenarios that can happen on a wide range of devices and platforms and that can meet consumer demand. Such were our goals when creating HarmonyOS, he said.

According to the top manager, applications for the operating system can be developed once, and then flexibly deployed on different devices.

Richard Yu also noted that Harmony OS could appear on the company's smartphones at any time. However, for now, Huawei wants to continue using Android because of Google's vast OS ecosystem. At the same time, Harmony OS is faster than Android, a representative of the Chinese company concluded.

He stressed that Android has 100 million lines of code, the OS kernel code is over 20 million lines. But in reality, no more than 8% is used. This affects both the flexibility of the OS and its responsiveness.^[3]

Notes