Huawei on Wednesday launched its self-developed operating system across a slew of devices, including smartphones. The move comes as the Chinese tech giant looks to wean itself off its reliance on U.S. technology and could pit it against software from Apple and Google.
HarmonyOS launched in 2019 after the U.S. blacklisted Huawei, cutting it off from access to Google’s Android operating system. That move, along with further sanctions restricting Huawei’s access to critical semiconductors, crippled its smartphone business just months after it became the number one player in the world.
Huawei has been developing HarmonyOS since 2016 and bills it as an operating system that can work across many internet-connected devices from smartphones to wearables. The company claims it is easy for developers to create apps that can work across different products.
Despite being marketed as a brand-new operating system, reports have suggested that HarmonyOS shares a lot of code with the open-source version of Android that it’s replacing. Earlier this year, Ars Technica did a deep dive into HarmonyOS, and reported that it “is essentially an Android fork.” Huawei did not respond to our requests for comment on the report.
As well as phones, Huawei has also announced new MatePad tablets running HarmonyOS, as well as the new HarmonyOS-powered Huawei Watch 3 smartwatch.
