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Huawei unveil Harmony OS - an Android Alternative

Tsepz

Tsepz

macrumors 601
Original poster
Jan 24, 2013
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Johannesburg, South Africa
So the long rumoured Android alternative OS that Huawei has been working on has finally been unveiled and its looking quite a head of its time, being based on similar underpinnings as Google’s future Android replacement, Fuchsia OS.

From Engadget:
in a nutshell, Harmony OS is positioned as a future-proof, "microkernel-based, distributed OS for all scenarios." The platform is open source, and it's actually more of a competitor to Google's upcoming Fuchsia, given that both are microkernel-based and can be deployed to multiple types of devices at once. In contrast, Android isn't as efficient due to its redundant codes, outdated scheduling mechanism and general fragmentation issues.

f1867d131cb3d1e4cdd55bd4ad51acb5.jpg


With a microkernel design, Harmony OS is said to be safer from the get-go as there is no root access available -- the microkernel is protected by isolation from external kernel services. The system also applies formal verification -- a set of mathematical approaches used in security-critical fields -- to reliably spot vulnerabilities, whereas traditional methods are likely to miss some spots.

Despite being a lightweight system, Harmony OS is said to offer some performance boosts. For one, it'll feature a "Deterministic Latency Engine" that can better allocate system resources using real-time analysis and forecasting. Android, on the other hand, is stuck with the Linux kernel's less-intelligent fair scheduling mechanism.
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https://www.engadget.com/2019/08/09/huawei-harmony-os-hongmeng-android/?sr_source=Facebook

I am just glad to finally have another OS in this race, and it looks like this one takes things up quite significantly, hopefully more OEMs will adopt it to.
 
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Dead outside of China.

And I would be shocked if Fuchsia OS wasn't just called Android <letter name>
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Tsepz said:
I am just glad to finally have another OS in this race, and it looks like this one takes things up quite significantly, hopefully more OEMs will adopt it to.
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I doubt you'll ever have an opportunity to buy a phone with Harmony OS
 
AustinIllini said:
Dead outside of China.

And I would be shocked if Fuchsia OS wasn't just called Android <letter name>
[doublepost=1565364674][/doublepost]
I doubt you'll ever have an opportunity to buy a phone with Harmony OS
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My thoughts too.....then all we need is more fragmentation in the Android space :confused:
 
@Tsepz lives in South Africa if I’m not mistaken and therefore gets to see a lot of phones we in the US and possibly the UK don’t get access to. If he thinks this can get some legs outside of China, I’m inclined to take notice. China and Huawei specifically are very aggressively trying to get traction in networking and consumer cellular markets in every country that will hear them out and even India, who is trying not to.

If they can offer a light, capable OS that can be pushed to incredible performance levels in affordable beautifully spec’d handsets, well...yikes! And @Tsepz will be better positioned than many of the rest of us to see that come to fruition.

However, with Huawei’s verified reputation for derivation, I can’t help wonder how much of this is actually derived from or literally lifted from Fuschia. This is the part of technology I don’t know enough to credibly speculate on. I am just wondering what controversies, if any, may follow.
 
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Android app compatibility will allow this to take off. This along with Huawei's control of the network infrastructure means being able to convince carriers to sell devices with Harmony.

As long as Huawei is able to maintain a step ahead in terms of hardware as they've been with the P30 and Mate X, the consumers will follow the OS.
 
GrumpyMom said:
@Tsepz lives in South Africa if I’m not mistaken and therefore gets to see a lot of phones we in the US and possibly the UK don’t get access to. If he thinks this can get some legs outside of China, I’m inclined to take notice. China and Huawei specifically are very aggressively trying to get traction in networking and consumer cellular markets in every country that will hear them out and even India, who is trying not to.

If they can offer a light, capable OS that can be pushed to incredible performance levels in affordable beautifully spec’d handsets, well...yikes! And @Tsepz will be better positioned than many of the rest of us to see that come to fruition.

However, with Huawei’s verified reputation for derivation, I can’t help wonder how much of this is actually derived from or literally lifted from Fuschia. This is the part of technology I don’t know enough to credibly speculate on. I am just wondering what controversies, if any, may follow.
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Spot on!

Yep, indeed. Being from a developing economy which Huawei focuses on heavily, ill probably get some time to play with Harmony OS at some point.

South Africa is one of Huaweis biggest focuses in the EMEA region, hence I was able to play with the Mate X, Huawei do a ton of R&D down here.

The big thing here is if Huawei ends up supplying this OS to other Chinese OEMs as well as Indian OEMs and OEMs from the EMEA region, particularly in large developing economies in EMEA like South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya, where Huawei is also big in their network infrastructures and has carrier relationships.

As you stipulated:
If they can offer a light, capable OS that can be pushed to incredible performance levels in affordable beautifully spec’d handsets, well...yikes!
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Absolutely! Especially if they do allow other OEMs to use this, can you imagine if Huawei has lower requirements to use Harmony OS vs. what Google has to allow OEMs to use Google Play? This could make Huawei AppGallery a major competitor to Google PlayStore.

This could be huge, or it could fail if they don’t get it right.

I’ll certainly be keeping an eye and sharing my thoughts.
 
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Uncle Sam will not like this development. They have no way to spy on you.
Huawe is recruiting fresh talent at 3 times the ongoing salary. They are going to make impossible happen.
 
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Awesomesince86 said:
Zero room for a new mobile OS in the US. Just ask Windows phone.
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Honestly Huawei doesn’t care. The US is struggling on aging infrastructure and a patchwork of legacy hardware and software for its information superhighway and is serviced largely by a dated and eroding physical transportation system.

Furthermore, we are mired in endless bureaucracy and multi level power struggles between layers of government and layers of management in the private sector that will ensure a continued downward spiral into irrelevance and mediocrity.

Meanwhile, in the emerging economies, countries that had nothing are actually free from patchwork legacy infrastructure. What they had isn’t worth keeping. There’s little to no inertia so they can build efficient modern transportation and new technological infrastructure. They’re building things and earning money and more and more their needs dictate the prices and features of the phones we see in the US. Or worse, show us what we can’t have.

I am decently affluent and live in one of the wealthiest counties in my state. It has been disheartening to notice that I drive on bad roads laid out within a system of roads designed over 100 years ago for horse traffic and struggle to maintain a 4G connection through half of my commute. The more disheartening thing is that I understand the institutionalized laziness and selfishness and shortsightedness that will ensure I endure these conditions for many more years. No matter who our president or governor is.

I’m not saying any of this to bash the country I love. I’m saying we’ve got to be aware of what’s going on. It’s concerning.
 
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ramram55 said:
@GrumpyMom, great write up. When others pulled ahead, it is others who are devils.
When Toshiba or Samsung pull ahead, they were sued. Now Huawei known as national security threat.
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Yeah I’d like to keep criticisms in the discussion to known and verified faults. And to be fair, Huawei has earned some legitimate criticisms and cause for caution. But there’s no denying they are demonstrating the hunger for business and market primacy that ALL of these companies should be doing and just aren’t.
 
Awesomesince86 said:
Zero room for a new mobile OS in the US. Just ask Windows phone.
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Agreed......Harmony OS will go no where outside of the China area. This is just leading to more fragmentation in the Android space.
US carriers will NOT ever sell a phone with Harmony OS installed.
 
Looking forward to seeing how good this is. Competition is great for consumers.I only stick with iOS because I hate Android. Was hoping Samsung would bring out their own OS, but will wait and see how good HarmonyOS is ( if it comes to phones) as their phones seem great and are keenly priced.
 
ramram55 said:
Never know.
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You do. The west is suspicious of the motives of the Chinese government and their ability to stay out of Huawei's business. You likely won't be able to buy this OS in the United States or the European Union.

Android already owns the developing world. It seems highly unlikely this thing works anywhere outside of China.
 
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Never under estimate Huawei or China. In the beginning I think there will be some problems, issues,errors and bugs but I reckon that they will quickly be ironed out. Google Play will have some fierce competition to come in the future and Google can thank Trump for it.

Huawei aims to have Google apps alternatives ready by end of year, new Honor phone will come with GMS

The ban has affected Huawei to the point that it needs to develop a competing ecosystem. The Huawei ban has heavily influenced the company’s strategy and...
www.gsmarena.com
 
ramram55 said:
OPPO joins the wagon too.

10 reasons why Huawei and Oppo may have 'bad news' for Google | Gadgets Now

www.gadgetsnow.com
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I am not sure how long it will take them but my guess is given time they will succeed over time. They have 1.5 Billion people in China and out of those 1.5 Billion people I am sure there are a few with that talent to do so and if not neighboring India where most software engineers come from has another 1 Billion plus people. Then you have foreigners that can be paid too so this is not a matter of if but when..
 
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