Huawei Unveils HarmonyOS, Its Android Replacing Operating System

At the Huawei Developer Conference (HDC) in China on the 9th of August, Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei has unveiled the long-rumoured HongMengOS. Called the HarmonyOS for the global market, the new operating system has been positioned as a replacement to Android. While HarmonyOS has been primarily designed for IoT (Internet of Things) products like smart speakers, displays and wearables; the company claims that if it is no longer allowed to use Android in the future, the new operating system can be used for Huawei smartphones.

HarmonyOS

As mentioned above, the HarmonyOS by Huawei is its operating system for IoT devices. Said to be in development since the last few years, the rumours of it started appearing when the company was barred from doing business with any American company in the month of May. In its presentation, the Consumer Business Group CEO Richard Yu revealed that the new software is microkernel-based, which is apt for IoT devices. Huawei claims that HarmonyOS is not only faster than Android, it is also much safer. The new platform is also open source, which means anyone can access, modify or enhance it.

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While it is hard to believe otherwise, the HarmonyOS by Huawei is not aimed at being an Android competitor. The company is placing the operating system against Google’s Fuchsia, which is a similar microkernel-based software in development for a while now. One advantage of the newest platform by Huawei is that it can run on multiple devices, ranging from different screen sizes. It is speculated that the company will launch various products this year featuring the OS, ranging from smart TVs to maybe even a smartphone. However, it has assured that at least for the near future, the Huawei smartphones will continue to support Android, saving HarmonyOS for a rainy day.