Huawei launches HarmonyOS NEXT and says goodbye to Android on its phones for good
Chinese tech giant Huawei has taken a major step toward its technological independence with the launch of HarmonyOS NEXT, the latest version of its proprietary operating system. The event, held Tuesday in the company’s headquarters in Shenzhen, marks a crucial step forward in Huawei’s path to weaning itself off the Android architecture.
The introduction of HarmonyOS NEXT comes at a pivotal moment, as it has been five years since Huawei was placed on the US “Entity List,” which bars it from doing business with US companies, such as Google, and from accessing the Android operating system. Since then, the company has been working intensively to develop a strong alternative capable of competing in the global market.
During the event, Huawei CEO Yu Chengdong explained that HarmonyOS NEXT is the fifth version of the operating system. Unlike previous versions, this version is developed completely independently, without relying on Android, iOS, or the Linux kernel. The new operating system has its own operating kernel, programming language, and AI architecture that sets it apart from existing platforms.
Over the past year, Huawei has worked with more than 10,000 local partners to develop applications compatible with HarmonyOS NEXT, aiming to boost the innovative IT industry chain. The operating system, which was first released in August 2019, has surpassed Apple's iOS to become the second-largest mobile operating system in the Chinese market.
- What is HarmonyOS NEXT and how is it different from HarmonyOS?
As we just mentioned, Huawei decided to create its own mobile operating system with the aim of relying less on Google. Moreover, its idea was to create a unified operating system for many smart devices, not just smartphones.
Huawei has not been able to completely separate itself from Android, due to app compatibility issues. What has it done? It has developed HarmonyOS through AOSP and also created its own app ecosystem (Huawei Mobile Services). This will be the bridge to the ultimate goal: an operating system completely independent of Android.
Along the way, the OpenHarmony project and its Linux-based microkernel were created. Once HarmonyOS was created and other elements developed, here comes our protagonist: HarmonyOS NEXT.
HarmonyOS NEXT is an operating system that is no longer dependent on Google, as it does not even share its microkernel with Android. It is fully developed by Huawei, and has its own apps bundled with Huawei Ark. In fact, according to Richard Yu (President of Huawei CBG), HarmonyOS NEXT already has 15,000 compatible apps and the number is still growing.
- When will HarmonyOS NEXT arrive on your phone?
At the time of writing, HarmonyOS NEXT is only available in public beta. Additionally, it has only been released for the Huawei Pura 70, Huawei Pocket 2, and Huawei MatePad Pro 11 (2024). Availability towards other devices is expected to gradually increase over the weeks.