The modern smartphone market is actually divided into two segments. One includes devices based on Android, and the other – iPhone, which work only and exclusively on iOS. This redistribution took place a long time ago, and until recently did not raise doubts about his honesty. However, after the United States imposed sanctions on Huawei, banning it from using Google services, the Chinese company decided to shake up the established foundations by launching its own software platform – Harmony OS.
Harmony OS is its own OS Huawei, which has yet to be shot
Harmony OS is an operating system Huawei that was introduced in August 2019 at the Huawei Developers Conference. Contrary to rumors that Huawei developed it specifically for their smartphones in case of a ban on use Android, this was not the case. According to rumors, Harmony OS was originally created as a software platform for running servers. Despite this, the developers of the company decided to try to adapt it for other devices.
Harmony OS enabled devices
Currently, the only devices that run Harmony OS are TVs Honor
Of course, adapting an OS intended for servers to smartphones took a lot of effort and time. Therefore, first of all Huawei she blinded an operating system from it for TVs, which the company itself preferred to call smart screens, that is, smart screens. These are already on sale in China, but have not gone beyond its borders. The next type of device that Harmony OS will receive is a smartwatch. Most likely, their release will take place in September, simultaneously with the launch of the flagship smartphone Huawei Mate 40.
But smartphones Huawei, if they get support for Harmony OS, then not earlier than in a couple of years. Still, despite the good scalability of the platform, it must be separately adapted to work on smartphones, draw an interface, test it, fill it with the necessary functions and optimize it for the hardware used. In general, there is still a lot of work, and considering how some top managers Huawei relate to the Harmony OS project, the likelihood that it will never become a mass OS remains.
Harmony OS vs. Android
Harmony OS works on a wide variety of devices
Huawei was very late with the launch of Harmony OS, because in the current situation it will be extremely difficult to bypass the operating systems Apple and Google, which have already divided this market among themselves. The problem is aggravated by the fact that users are very fond of Android, and are unlikely to be happy if we deprive them of the opportunity to use their familiar OS on our devices. In principle, you can try to win a share, but it may take too long. I think 300 years will be enough for us for this, – said Ren Zhenfei, CEO Huawei.
Why Harmony OS is better Android
However, the head of the consumer sector Huawei Yu Chengdong believes that Harmony OS has every chance of becoming a strong player in the mobile operating system market. According to him, proprietary development Huawei has a number of unique advantages that can interest users:
Harmony OS is very lightweight and fast. At least that's what they tell us in Huawei
- Custom kernel and increased security, as opposed to Android which uses the kernel Linux;
- Good scalability (in the future, Harmony OS will work on TVs, smart watches, smartphones, and smart bulbs);
- Low demands on resources (Harmony OS does not matter either the processor or the amount of RAM of the device);
- High level of performance due to the overall lightness and undemanding OS.
In general, Harmony OS is a long-term project that will only be able to unleash its full potential in the next few years. Now it looks more like Tizen OS from Samsung, an unpopular operating system that runs on TVs and watches. But it is obvious that time will pass, and Huawei will be able to declare itself more thoroughly. Doesn't it seem unreal to me? No, it doesn't seem. After all, if you remember, Symbian was once considered an invincible platform, and then suddenly disappeared from all smartphones at once.