In August 2019, HarmonyOS was announced to hit the market for the first smartphone and tablet when the 2.0 update was released.
HarmonyOS is related but not quite the same as Huawei Mobile Services (HMS), the replacement for Google apps that the company is working to get around the Huawei ban. This is the application that will appear on its smartphones such as Huawei P40 or Mate 40.
HarmonyOS (formerly known as HongMeng) is a platform designed for a wide range of devices. It started appearing on IoT devices like smart displays or smart devices, then TVs, and now on phones, tablets, and smartwatches.
With the Huawei ban, the relationship situation between the US and China has impacted Huawei’s access to Android over the past year. It’s no surprise that the brand is taking a confident and defiant stance.
Harmony OS price and release date
HarmonyOS will be free to use, as long as your device runs this operating system. The price of Huawei equipment is affordable, so users can easily own it.
According to some sources, HarmonyOS will launch on June 2, 2021 along with two tablets and two smartwatches. It will then appear on all future Huawei products, including the long-awaited Huawei P50. It is even possible on Android devices that are not made by Huawei.
How does HarmonyOS work?
Huawei claims that, with the proliferation of IoT devices, a more efficient operating system is needed. These IoT devices require less memory and storage than the best smartphones. For 100 lines of Android code, you can only have one line of HarmonyOS code. Even so, HarmonyOS can still access “healthy” functionality across devices.
By using a “single kernel across devices approach”, Huawei’s aim is to create an integrated and shared ecosystem across devices, bypassing silos and saving time for users. developers. An application that can be deployed on car devices, smart watches, sports devices and speakers, works flawlessly.
HarmonyOS started out as a TV operating system to make devices run more smoothly. Thus, users can video call on the phone and transfer data to the TV anywhere in the house, switching from one smart speaker to another.
HarmonyOS is coming to watches, speakers and cars. HarmonyOS will also be an open source platform, so developers will be able to provide apps for the platform, and even other smartphone manufacturers can choose to use the operating system. this.
Is HarmonyOS set to replace Android on phones?
Regarding smartphones using HarmonyOS, Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei’s Consumer Business Group, clearly shared Huawei’s current stance when HarmonyOS was announced: “When can we bring it to the phone? We can do it at any time, but for Google’s cooperation and efficiency, preference will be given to Google Android operating system… If we can’t use it. it in the future, we may switch to Android”.
Going forward, the chances of Huawei phones using Android again are getting smaller and smaller, so it’s increasingly likely that HarmonyOS will launch on phones and tablets in 2021.
According to Yu, the transition will be “quick and easy” and the partnership between Huawei and Google will be good, at least for the time being.
Following her announcement, Yu limited her commitment to moving from Android to HarmonyOS. It seems Joy Tan, Huawei’s President of Global Communications, agrees, and suggests that HarmonyOS won’t be replacing Android on Huawei phones any time soon.
“A viable alternative to the Android operating system will take years to complete,” says Ms. Tan. The claims may seem contradictory when HarmonyOS launches, but it just shows that there are no immediate plans. immediately make HarmonyOS available on Huawei phones.
