HarmonyOS
No HarmonyOS for global Huawei users?
Since Huawei has confirmed EMUI 12 as the next major software update. This question is now clear and it’s sounding – is there no HarmonyOS for global users? Let’s find out a potential answer for this question while searching for some reasons.
On June 2, 2021, Huawei launched HarmonyOS 2.0 for smartphone devices. Initially, the testing remained limited to some models and kept enclosed for the Chinese consumers only. At the launch event, the company announced the HarmonyOS upgrade plan for over 100 models including devices that are too old – such as Mate 9 and P10.
Following the event, the phone maker then expanded the HarmonyOS rollout for more models including some popular – P30 and Mate 20 series. Yet the activity remained limited to the Chinese models.
Following a number of upgrades and continued expansion, this Huawei operating system has achieved millions of downloads and installation on the home ground. As of November 1, Huawei is nearly completing the upgrade plan that has been initiated during the launch event in June this year.
Current Progress:
As of October 22, 2021, Huawei Developer Conference (HDC) 2021, Huawei Consumer Business Group CEO Richard Yu announced that HarmonyOS has achieved over 150 million installations and the target will increase further by the end of this year. On the other hand, many industry partners have joined the HarmonyOS ecosystem including both hardware and software manufacturers.
Currently, Huawei supports various devices – Mobile, tablets, smartwatches, smart screens, IoT devices, smart car systems as well as business solutions. The addition of smartphones has been proved to be a major development and an advancement in the software upgrade world.
So far, Huawei has kept the HarmonyOS enclosed for the Chinese models and the company has not made any formal announcement regarding the launch on the global stage. Instead, EMUI 12 is next to rollout for the Huawei global consumers.
Why remained in China:
Even after the exclusion of Google Mobile Services (GMS), global Huawei phones still support Android apps, which is a major factor in terms of system stability and compatibility that is ensured by the Android-based EMUI. Meanwhile, the HarmonyOS app ecosystem is not mature for the global market.
Therefore, there is a big possibility that apps and games may bring incompatibility issues because of unknown app support. Although, HarmonyOS supports Android apps, but there may be a major concern that the corresponding apps may eventually fail to satisfy users until they are officially adapted for the HarmonyOS platform.
Major Performance Improvement:
Aside from applications, HarmonyOS brings major improvements in performance and user interface as compared to Android-based EMUI. So, the only issue remains with the app ecosystem, which the company may soon resolve with the help of the global developer community.
So, No Global HarmonyOS?
Not exactly, if Huawei is actually planning to upgrade global devices with HarmonyOS, then it’ll surely base it on the EMUI software system. This would make sense but our concern lies on the app compatibility part, which the Chinese tech maker may address sooner or later but one thing is for sure, that it won’t happen early.
TAILG has launched a brand new electric scooter, which is powered by the HarmonyOS operating system and an all-around stylish look to provide a better experience for consumers.
It has a custom-made avant-garde handlebar, as well as an exclusive smart touch screen, which can display various driving data of the vehicle in real-time. It also equips with a variety of smart unlocking features, including one-key ignition.
The latest TAILG brings HarmonyOS features such as APP control, NFC unlocking, mileage prediction, smart fortification, and vehicle inspection. The TAILG HarmonyOS electric scooter packs a 72V23AH graphene battery, a 1000W cloud-powered motor, and a GPS positioning system.
Looking at the price segment, the TAILG HarmonyOS scooter starts at 3899 yuan, and the high-end version is priced at 4588 yuan. This new electric scooter will be sold in offline stores across China.
Last year in August, TAILG and Huawei announced cooperation to upgrade electric vehicles, the two companies will establish a joint innovation laboratory to conduct research on IoT and other technologies. This will also allow both firms to achieve technological advantages.
Established in 2004, TAILG is an enterprise specializing in R&D, manufacturing, sale, and service of new energy electric vehicles, Its products cover electric bikes, electric scooters, electric special bikes, electric tricycles, and other vehicles. It has an annual production capacity of 12 million vehicles and more than 30,000 stores exclusively in China.
(via – Sina Tech)
Today, HarmonyOS 3.1 developer preview testing is opened for smartphone users, this recruitment will enable developers to participate in the open beta activity with developer-only features directly into a real device.
According to the information, HarmonyOS 3.1 developer beta is currently being announced for the first phase of devices including Huawei P50 and P50 Pro. However, Huawei has confirmed to add more devices to the test pool later on. Also, a more friendly and subtle beta test is likely to begin in March.
To be mentioned, HarmonyOS 3.1 developer open beta recruitment is applicable until February 13, 2023. Afterward, Huawei will review the test applications. Selected testers will receive an email or SMS to download HarmonyOS 3.1 developer beta OTA rollout.
Also, this beta activity is available only for the Chinese models and only real authenticated accounts will pass the developer beta signup.
HarmonyOS 3.1 comes constructively adds a new ArkTS language, and with the latest public test, you will experience the improvements and efficiency of the app powered by ArkTS language, STage model, ArkUI, and more.
Below you can check the HarmonyOS 3.1 developer preview features:
- The ability framework adds a stage development model, including stage model life cycle management, scheduling, callback, context acquisition, authentication, and more. At the same time, the operation and management capabilities of the application are enhanced.
- The ArkUI development framework enhances the declarative Canvas/XComponent component capabilities, enhances component layout capabilities and state management capabilities, and optimizes the usability of some components.
- Application package management adds an interface for querying properties related to applications, ability, and ExtensionAbility.
- The common basic class library supports Buffer binary reading and writing.
- Web services add support for document preview and basic editing functions of document-type web applications, as well as cookie management and storage management.
- Added support for YUV, webp image codec, and other capabilities for graphics and images. Added native vsync capabilities, and supports self-drawing engines to independently control the rendering rhythm.
- Added camera configuration and preview functions in Media Services.
- The window service adds window-related interfaces under the Stage model, which enhances the window rotation capability and enhances the avoidance area query capability.
- The globalization service has newly added support for internationalization enhancement capabilities such as time zone lists, transliteration, and phone number attribution.
- The basic capabilities of common events are enhanced, and the commonEvent module is changed to commonEventManager.
- The resource management service adds a synchronization interface for resource acquisition, a new interface for querying resource values based on names, a new interface for querying number and float resource types, and a new way for Stage model resource query.
- Input method service adds input method cursor direction constant.
Android 14 is the next software version for the Android ecosystem. On February 8, Google stepped ahead to begin the development of this major upgrade with the first developer beta.
Google has released the roadmap for the development, beta testing, platform stability, and the final release of Android 14, which reveals meet the launch of Huawei HarmonyOS 4 later in the second half of 2023.
The first developer preview is already out for the Pixel devices. However, Google could open early access to other smartphone makers such as OnePlus by April when the open beta campaign kicks off.
As mentioned by the Android company, Android 14 is projected to reach platform stability by the end of July. But there’s still a possibility of these milestone timelines to delay, similar to last year.
For your information, the Android 14 developer preview will be a very useful and early gift to the developer community. It will pave a way for the app devs to know more about the upcoming APIs and app features ahead of the final launch.
Looking into the developer preview features, Android 14 promises to improve productivity, enhances performance, improvements to security, and privacy, and bring new customizations.
Yes, there are new tweaks and changes made over Android 12, while there are more that will be visible as the development progress further. Throughout this phase, these developers (and later users) will help to fix bugs and make improvements to the Android 14 source code.
HarmonyOS 4:
Aside from the Android 14 developer beta, Huawei is preparing for the HarmonyOS 3.1 rollout but the company is working on HarmonyOS 4 as a major release for the next generation of Huawei devices. For now, there’s no official launch date available but we are likely to hear more on this at the Huawei Developer Conference (HDC) 2023 event.
HarmonyOS 4 promises big upgrades over HarmonyOS 3 and a major restructure in the user interface (UI). Nonetheless, we’ll keep you posted.
(source – Android)