HarmonyOS is Huawei’s alternative operating system created after the company was banned in the US and lost its Android license. The reality is that the operating system is less of a new alternative and of a slapdash fork of Android 10, according to a new report by Ron Amadeo at Ars Technica.
HarmonyOS was initially set up as a completely different operating system from Android and iOS, something that would be just as at home on smart home devices (like the company’s Honor Vision TV) as on smartphones. The announcement was a hopeful promise that the loss of access to US businesses would not prevent Huawei from innovating, but Amadeo’s beta experience highlights some disappointing discoveries:
- To access developers, a two-day background check is required, which includes sending copies of your passport, personal ID and credit card to Huawei
- You do not have the beta operating system in its emulator; it’s sent to you, in Google Stadiums style, from (presumably) a phone running the beta in China
- Most importantly, HarmonyOS appears to be a fork of Android 10 with the word “Android” found-and-replaced by “Harmony”
HarmonyOS will probably always be the most popular in China, but the fact that the new operating system appears to be a continuation of Huawei’s EMUI sheet with possibly slower access to Android updates by the Open Source Android project is a major strike to use it everywhere. else. It may be good enough not to offend the US government and satisfy Chinese authorities, but rapid text changes and an intrusive application process are not a pleasant operating system.
Read Amadeo’s full deep dive of detective analysis analyzing the beta, along with a blot on Huawei’s feathery development documentation for a hypothetical ‘super virtual device’, at Ars Technica.