HarmonyOS

HarmonyOS (Chinese: 鸿蒙; pinyin: Hóngméng) is a family of operating systems developed by Huawei. It is designed for smart devices such as smart TVs and it has been used as a mobile operating system. It is expected to become an open-source, free, and microkernel-based distributed operating system. [1]

Not to be confused with Harmony (operating system).
HarmonyOS
DeveloperHuawei
Written inC, C++, Java
OS familyUnix-like (Linux)
Working stateCurrent
Source modelClosed source, will become open source when officially released
Initial releaseAugust 9, 2019 (2019-08-09)
Latest release1.0.1.66SP3 / October 20, 2020 (2020-10-20)
Latest preview2.0.0.612 / December 16, 2020 (2020-12-16)
Marketing targetSmartphones, Smart TVs
Official websitewww.harmonyos.com/en/home
OpenHarmony
DeveloperHuawei
Written inC, C++
OS familyLiteOS
Working stateCurrent
Source modelOpen source
Initial releaseSeptember 10, 2019 (2019-09-10)
Latest release1.0 / September 10, 2020 (2020-09-10)
Marketing targetInternet of Things
Official websitewww.harmonyos.com/en/home
HarmonyOS
Simplified Chinese鸿蒙
Traditional Chinese鴻蒙

Unveiled on 9 August 2019, the platform is designed primarily for Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Version 1.0 of HarmonyOS was first adopted in September 2019 in its smart screen products launched only in China. Version 2.0 of HarmonyOS was then announced in September 2020 with support for smartphones, head units, watches and smart TVs. Its first developer beta was released to selected developers on 16 December 2020 via OTA updates, which also allows developers to roll back their phones to EMUI 11.

History

Origins

Reports surrounding an in-house operating system being developed by Huawei date back as far as 2012. They intensified in May 2019 after Huawei was subjected to export restrictions by the United States government for alleged violations of United States sanctions against Iran. Huawei executive Richard Yu described an in-house platform as a "plan B" in case it is prevented from using Android on future smartphone products.[2][3][4]

Prior to its unveiling, it was originally speculated to be a mobile operating system that could replace Android on future Huawei devices (in response to financial sanctions imposed on Huawei by the United States government in May 2019), but by July 2019, some Huawei executives were describing Harmony as being an "industrial" embedded operating system designed for IoT hardware, discarding the previous statements for it to be a mobile operating system. These details were confirmed upon the official unveiling of the platform in 2019, with Huawei listing use cases such as smart TVs, in-car entertainment, and wearable devices.

Some media outlets reported that this OS, referred to as "Hongmeng OS", could be released in China in either August or September 2019, with a worldwide release in the second quarter of 2020.[5][6] On 24 May 2019, Huawei registered "Hongmeng OS" as a trademark in China.[7] The name "Hongmeng" (Chinese: 鸿蒙; lit. 'Vast Mist') came from Chinese mythology that symbolizes primordial chaos or the world before creation.[8] The same day, Huawei registered trademarks surrounding "Ark OS" and variants with the European Union Intellectual Property Office.[9] In July 2019, it was reported that Huawei had also registered trademarks surrounding the word "Harmony" for desktop and mobile operating system software, indicating either a different name or a component of the OS.[10]

In June 2019, Huawei communications VP Andrew Williamson told Reuters that the company was testing HongMeng in China, and that it could be ready "in months". However, in July 2019, chairman Liang Hua and senior vice president Catherine Chen stated that Hongmeng OS was not actually intended as a mobile operating system for smartphones, and was actually an embedded operating system designed for Internet of things (IoT) hardware.[11][12][13] In July 2019, Huawei chairman Liang Hua stated that the OS was intended for "industrial" use and that Huawei "[had not] decided yet if the Hongmeng OS can be developed as a smartphone operating system in the future" (preferring the continued use of Android for these devices).[14] Building upon the statement, Huawei's senior vice president Catherine Chen stated that it was an embedded operating system designed for Internet of things (IoT) hardware.[15][16]

Release

On 9 August 2019, Huawei officially unveiled HarmonyOS at its inaugural developers' conference in Dongguan. Huawei described HarmonyOS as a free, microkernel-based distributed operating system for various types of hardware, with faster inter-process communication than QNX or Google's Fuchsia microkernel, and real-time resource allocation. The ARK compiler can be used to optimize Android APK packages on the OS. Huawei stated that developers would be able to "flexibly" deploy HarmonyOS software across various device categories; the company focused primarily on IoT devices, including smart TVs, wearable devices, and in-car entertainment systems, and did not explicitly position HarmonyOS as a mobile OS.[17][18]

HarmonyOS 2.0 launched at the Huawei Developer Conference on 10 September 2020. Huawei announced it intended to ship the operating system on its smartphones in 2021.[19]

The first developer beta of HarmonyOS 2.0 was launched on 16 December 2020. Along with the beta, Huawei announced a developer competition with awards that total up to 1.5 million CNY. They also released an IDE, based on IntelliJ IDEA, and a cloud emulator for developers in early access. [20]

Devices

Huawei stated that HarmonyOS would initially be used on devices targeting the Chinese market. The company's subsidiary brand, Honor, unveiled the Honor Vision line of smart TVs as the first consumer electronics devices to run HarmonyOS.[21][18] Honor Vision, Honor Vision Pro, Huawei Vision (65/75), Huawei Router AX3 are the first devices to run HarmonyOS 1.0.

HarmonyOS 2.0 will support cross development for smartphones, in-car head units, smart watches and smart TVs. A single user interface can be developed that will automatically adapt between different devices.

The HarmonyOS 2.0 beta launched on 16 December 2020 supports the Huawei P40, Huawei P40 Pro, Huawei Mate 30, Huawei Mate 30 Pro, and Huawei MatePad Pro. While the beta fully supports Android apps,[22] a compatibility layer based on Android Runtime also enables support for HAP packages, HarmonyOS's proprietary package format.[20] Selected beta testers in China can download and test HarmonyOS 2.0 via OTA updates. Huawei has also given these beta testers the option to roll back their devices to EMUI 11.

Relations with Android

Huawei claimed that HarmonyOS is a microkernel-based, distributed OS that is completely different from Android and iOS. [23] However, it was later revealed that HarmonyOS 1.0 was based on Android 9 and supported ADB, the Android Debug Bridge. [24] In September 2020, it was found that HDC, the debug bridge in HarmonyOS 2.0, was again based on ADB. [25][26] A video of HarmonyOS 2.0 developer beta running on mobile was then posted, showing that the beta was just the same as Android 10 and no significant changes have been made in the name of HarmonyOS operating system. [27][28][29][30]

The future architecture, however, would be based only on HarmonyOS microkernel, according to the HarmonyOS roadmap. [31]

OpenHarmony

OpenHarmony is the open-source implementation of HarmonyOS launched by the OpenAtom Foundation. The project, hosted on Gitee, only targeted IoT platforms as of December 2020. [32] According to the HarmonyOS roadmap, implementations of HarmonyOS on smartphones and smart TVs would become fully open-source before October 2021. [31]

See also

References
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  2. "Addition of Entities to the Entity List". Federal Register. 2019-05-21. Archived from the original on 8 June 2019. Retrieved 2019-06-08.
  3. "Huawei confirms it has its own OS on back shelf as a plan B". South China Morning Post. 14 March 2019. Archived from the original on 21 May 2019. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  4. Kharpal, Arjun (15 March 2019). "Huawei built software for smartphones and laptops in case it can't use Microsoft or Google". CNBC. Archived from the original on 22 May 2019. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  5. Kharpal, Arjun (May 23, 2019). "Huawei says its own operating system could be ready this year if it can't use Google or Microsoft". CNBC.
  6. Cherrayil, Naushad K.; phones, John McCann 2019-05-28T15:33:46Z Mobile. "Huawei says its Android OS replacement launch date is still undecided [Updated]". TechRadar.
  7. Reichert, Corinne. "Huawei OS may be called 'Hongmeng,' but it's reportedly 'far from ready'". CNET.
  8. Uy, Ed (17 August 2019). "No Google, no problem? Huawei unveils its own OS - Ed Uy". BusinessMirror. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  9. Lucic, Kristijan (2019-05-27). "Huawei's Android Alternative May Be Called "Ark OS"". Android Headlines. Retrieved 2019-05-30.
  10. Lakshmanan, Ravie (2019-07-15). "Huawei wants to name its Android OS replacement 'Harmony' in Europe". The Next Web. Retrieved 2019-07-16.
  11. "Android remains our 'first choice': Huawei chairman". TechNode. 2019-07-12. Archived from the original on 19 July 2019. Retrieved 2019-07-19.
  12. Keane, Sean. "Huawei says Hongmeng OS isn't designed as an Android replacement". CNET. Archived from the original on 19 July 2019. Retrieved 2019-07-19.
  13. Byford, Sam (2019-07-19). "Huawei says its Hongmeng OS isn't an Android replacement after all". The Verge. Archived from the original on 19 July 2019. Retrieved 2019-07-19.
  14. "Android remains our 'first choice': Huawei chairman". TechNode. 2019-07-12. Retrieved 2019-07-19.
  15. Keane, Sean. "Huawei says HarmonyOS isn't designed as an Android replacement". CNET. Retrieved 2019-07-19.
  16. Byford, Sam (2019-07-19). "Huawei says its HarmonyOS isn't an Android replacement after all". The Verge. Retrieved 2019-07-19.
  17. "Huawei reveals HarmonyOS, its alternative to Android". Engadget. Retrieved 2019-08-09.
  18. Porter, Jon (2019-08-09). "Huawei's new operating system is called HarmonyOS". The Verge. Retrieved 2019-08-09.
  19. Kharpal, Arjun (10 September 2020). "Huawei says its own operating system HarmonyOS will come to smartphones next year". CNBC. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  20. "HarmonyOS Document". developer.harmonyos.com. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
  21. Porter, Jon (2019-08-10). "The Honor Vision TV is Huawei's first HarmonyOS device". The Verge. Retrieved 2019-08-13.
  22. Jeet (2020-12-15). "Huawei's HarmonyOS 2.0 for smartphones get Android apps support; Beta releasing tomorrow". Gizmochina. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
  23. Li, Deng (2020-09-21). "HarmonyOS/Hongmeng OS: Here's everything you need to know about this new Operating System". Huawei Central. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
  24. "欺骗消费者？荣耀智慧屏用的根本不是鸿蒙系统，而是安卓9.0！". new.qq.com. Retrieved 2020-12-24.
  25. "Reverse Analysis of the First HarmonyOS App". Shoewann's Personal Blog (in Chinese). Retrieved 2020-12-20.
  26. "華為鴻蒙 2.0 被質疑僅是「換皮」 系統底層基礎仍是 Android - ezone.hk - 科技焦點 - 5G流動". ezone.hk 即時科技生活. Retrieved 2020-12-24.
  27. Li, Deng (2020-12-18). "Here's what Android cannot do but HarmonyOS 2.0 can, the power of distributed technology [Video]". Huawei Central. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
  28. 自由電子報 3C科技 (2020-12-17). "華為「鴻蒙」手機介面揭曉！網友狠酸：只是換名字的 Android - 自由電子報 3C科技". 自由時報電子報. Retrieved 2020-12-24.
  29. "Huawei's Harmony OS 2.0 beta appears to be based on Android after all". xda-developers. 2020-12-26. Retrieved 2021-01-20.
  30. "What you need to know about Huawei's Android alternative, Harmony OS". South China Morning Post. 2020-10-07. Retrieved 2021-01-20.
  31. Li, Deng (2020-12-14). "HarmonyOS 2.0 Mobile Beta launch event set for December 16, check full event schedule". Huawei Central. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
  32. "OpenHarmony". Gitee (in Chinese). Retrieved 2020-12-20.
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