Will next Spring's Huawei P Series phones use Harmony OS instead of Android?
ASSOCIATED PRESSIs Huawei about to ditch Android for its smartphones? It was already known that this was happening but it looks like things are accelerating rapidly.
Huawei’s latest smartphones are already using just an open-source version of Android, lacking the Google Mobile Services which power Google Maps, Gmail, YouTube and the Google Play Store. Even though the company has found powerful alternatives to some of these, including a dazzling replacement for Google Maps, and has the excellent Petal Search which aims to make things as easy as possible for users looking for apps, Huawei has made clear that its own OS would be a more practical solution, if it really can’t go back to using full Android.
Now, a report claims that Huawei is almost ready to release its system, called Harmony OS, to developers, perhaps as soon as December.
Notebook Check reports that Huawei may send Harmony OS in the form of smartphones running Harmony instead of Android to the developers.
A year ago in Shenzhen, I saw the production line making the latest Huawei smartphones. A super-slick operation, the visit was just days after Huawei announced Harmony OS as its own operating system. I asked how long it would take to reprogram the assembly line to make phones with the new OS on them instead of Google’s Android. The answer was that it would take hours, not days, to switch from one to the other.
In which case, phones toting Harmony OS seems a manageable task. Even a year ago, Huawei was bullish about how much more efficient than Android Harmony (also known as Hongmeng OS) would be.
Harmony OS 2 has just been announced, but version 1, when it was revealed last year, has already been used on other devices, just not phones. Huawei said at the time that it had been devised to work on multiple machines, especially Internet of Things gizmos.
By sending Harmony OS to developers, Huawei is hoping that apps can be optimised for the new operating system, and even to allow third-party devices to run on Harmony. Huawei, it seems, is hoping to have new devices running the OS as soon as next year.
The most obvious place to put the new OS will be next year’s P series phones, likely to be launched in the Spring. And it will also put Huawei in the same position as Apple, that is, a company that makes both the hardware and software for its products, with the advantages in streamlined simplicity this brings.
Will the next Huawei operating system look very different from Android?
David PhelanBut, of course, it’s hard to challenge the vise-like grip Android has on the world of mobile phones, especially outside China.
One thing is sure, the phone software won’t look that different. That’s because on top of Android sits Huawei’s EMUI interface which, I’m told, is designed to look the same whether it’s on top of Android or Harmony.
Look more closely and those important Google-dependent apps will still be missing. But if Harmony OS is a success, maybe many of the app developers whose key products aren’t available on Huawei phones now will look again at making them available.
Follow me on Instagram by clicking here: davidphelantech and Twitter: @davidphelan2009
The Link LonkOctober 01, 2020 at 10:00PM
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