Huawei last year introduced HarmonyOS as an alternative to Google’s Android platform. The company accelerated the development of its own operating system after it was banned from using Google services. However, the operating system was in the early stages and Huawei revealed that it will take time to launch smartphones based on its own operating system. Now, the company has introduced the second generation of HarmonyOS during its annual Huawei Developer Conference. Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei’s Consumer Business Group, officially announced the second iteration of the HarmonyOS.
Which devices will support HarmonyOS 2.0?
The company has revealed that HarmonyOS 2.0 will initially support smartwatches, car head units, and smart TVs. It said that a beta version of the HarmonyOS 2.0 SDK is available for developers. A mobile version of the SDK will follow in December 2020. Yu has also hinted that smartphones running on HarmonyOS might appear next year. However, it seems that it will be limited to China initially.
What are the features of HarmonyOS 2.0?
The company is also kicking off OpenHarmony project, which is similar to AOSP (Android Open Source Project). The project will be open for developers soon and will support devices with 128KB of RAM. The brand says that in September 2020, the SDK for 128KB to 128MB devices including IoT products, smart TVs, wearables, and more will be made available. From April 2021, the developers can work on 128MB to 4GB of devices and more. The memory limit will be removed completely by October 2021.
The company says that HarmonyOS is all about multi-screen functionality and it comes with adaptive UX elements that can work with a range of devices. The latest operating system comes with enhanced security, smart voice recognition, and cross-device data transfers. The company also detailed HMS Core 5.0, which now comes with 12,000 APIs covering seven major areas. The HMS Core’s open capabilities have increased from 14 Kits to 56 Kits.
