At a conference in China, Huawei introduced its mobile operating system. Called HarmonyOS, it could eventually replace Android on all smartphones brand.
It’s now official. At a conference in China this morning, Huawei unveiled its mobile operating system. Known until then as HongMeng, the OS is actually called HarmonyOS. A name that has been chosen to show the world that the builder seeks harmony, rather than discord when he is banned in the United States because suspected of espionage. The arrival of this OS comes when in three months, Google should no longer be able to provide Android to the Chinese manufacturer because of US sanctions against him.
Like Android, HarmonyOS will be available in open source and can be used on any smartphone brand. For once, US sanctions could hurt Google, especially in the Chinese market. The OS that was originally intended to animate connected objects (IoT) will actually be a unified operating system. It will work equally well for smartphones , watches, speakers or connected TVs.
Compatible with Android apps
While he wants to keep his partnership with Android, if the sanctions against him do not falter, Huawei announced that he would be forced to deploy HarmonyOS on all of its mobiles. Unlike Android, the OS does not rely on a Linux kernel, but on a new micro-kernel. With this base, the OS should consume far less RAM than Android according to Huawei.
There remains a vital problem for applications. Still, according to the brand, the OS will be compatible with all applications in Java, JavaScript HTML5, C and C ++, or Kotlin. But above all, Huawei said that Android applications will also be supported. The only downside is that it will not be possible to go through the Play Store to install them.
At first, HarmonyOS should make its debut, this year, on a television subsidiary Honor, and then land on all connected objects produced by the manufacturer.