Meet HarmonyOS, Huawei’s alternative to Google’s Android operating system

Huawei on Friday introduced 'HarmonyOS', a new operating system which is set to take on Google's Android and Apple's iOS. The latest operating system comes shortly after the US government barred the local companies to work with Huawei. Since the crackdown, Huawei was expected to launch alternative to American mobile technologies, especially Google's Android OS.

Huawei's first HarmonyOS-based smartphone will debut tomorrow. The device will come from Huawei's sub-brand Honor. Huawei's new operating system is open-source, very similar to Google's Android but the company says it's different from Google OS and iOS.

"HarmonyOS is completely different from Android and iOS. It is a microkernel-based, distributed OS that delivers a smooth experience across all scenarios. It has trustworthy and secure architecture, and it supports seamless collaboration across devices. You can develop your apps once, then flexibly deploy them across a range of different devices," said Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei's Consumer Business Group at the company's developer conference in China.

HarmonyOS will run on different hardware platforms including PCs and mobile phones which will make it easier for developers to build apps. The company also claims the new OS will deliver a faster experience.

"HarmonyOS will address underperformance challenges with a Deterministic Latency Engine and high-performance Inter Process Communication (IPC). The Deterministic Latency Engine sets task execution priorities and time limits for scheduling in advance. Resources will gravitate toward tasks with higher priorities, reducing the response latency of apps by 25.7%. The microkernel can make IPC performance up to five times more efficient than existing systems," said the company in a release.

Initially, Huawei's HarmonyOS 1.0 will be implemented on its smart screen products which will roll out later this year. The company will gradually optimise the software to a wider range of devices including head units of car and wearables. The OS will also leverage the next big things in the tech - 5G, AI, and IoT.

The latest announcement comes amid a tussle with the US government which led to Google briefly blocking its Android license to the Chinese company. Huawei and its sub-brand Honor's smartphones run on Google's Android OS with its custom OS layered on top. Less than a month after the ban, US president Donald Trump lifted the ban allowing Google to sell its Android license to the smartphone maker.