Chinese company Huawei will release its own operating system, which will no longer support Google Android applications, before the end of the year.
Huawei will launch a developer beta program for the new “Xinghe” version of Harmony OS Next in the second quarter of this year, followed by commercialization in the fourth quarter, according to Chinese media ITZ.
Huawei held an event this week to unveil the developer preview version of Harmony OS Next Xinghe.
Objective of 5,000 applications in 2024
Unlike the original Harmony OS, Harmony OS Next is a native operating system that no longer supports Android apps. It only supports the Harmony kernel and system applications.
Huawei said that the Xinghe version of Harmony OS Next, in addition to native applications, offers features on cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and even connectivity.
According to the company, more than 200 native Harmony applications have already been developed for this OS. Huawei added that by the end of the year, 5,000 applications will have been developed.
100,000 Harmony developers trained each month
Huawei collaborates with companies, universities and institutions to train more than 100,000 Harmony developers every month. It will also invest more than 7 billion CNY (1.33 billion USD) to promote native applications, cloud services and software development kits (SDKs).
The rise of Harmony OS makes analyst TechInsights think that Huawei’s mobile OS will overtake Apple’s iOS in China this year. If this is the case, then Apple will lose its position as the dominant smartphone operating system in China, alongside Android.
“If last year was the year of Harmony native applications, this year will be a pivotal year for the overall evolution of the Harmony ecosystem,” said He Gang, director at Huawei.
Trade war with the United States
The development of Huawei’s in-house mobile operating system follows a de facto embargo from the American administration. Washington accuses Huawei of collusion with the Chinese regime and of constituting Beijing’s false nose in American telecommunications networks.
For its part, the Chinese manufacturer, which always denies any collusion with the Chinese regime, continues to maintain that this inclusion on the American “blacklist” is above all motivated by political reasons, which have nothing to do with the national security of the United States.
Source: “ZDNet Korea”