Huawei Starts Replacing Android With HarmonyOS From April

HarmonyOS is preparing to replace Android on Huawei smartphones. From April 2021, the Chinese operating system will be offered on the brand’s flagships, starting with the Mate X2, the new foldable smartphone.

The P50 range should also be able to install Huawei’s homegrown OS from its launch. Deprived of its Android license and Google applications by American decision, Huawei accelerated the development of its in-house operating system, HarmonyOS.

Largely based on Android AOSP, the open-source version of Android, the OS has been available in beta for developers since December 2020 on a handful of recent smartphones and tablets. In the coming months and years, a total of 42 Android smartphones launched by Huawei will be able to migrate to HarmonyOS.

Eventually, Huawei will also offer its OS to other Chinese manufacturers to help them emancipate themselves from Google technologies. The deployment of the final version of Harmony OS for the general public will begin in April 2021, Huawei recently revealed.

Huawei Starts Abandoning Android

This Monday, February 22, 2021, the Chinese manufacturer took advantage of the presentation of the Mate X2, its new foldable smartphone, to confirm the date of arrival of its alternative to Android on the market, reports Huawei Central. During the conference, Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei’s mobile division, announced the arrival of HarmonyOS on the first batch of smartphones. Unsurprisingly, the Mate X2 with the foldable screen will be able to go from EMUI 11.1, based on an open-source version of Android 10, to HarmonyOS 2.0.

Concretely, Huawei should push an OTA update on a handful of high-end terminals. It will suffice to install the firmware to use HarmonyOS instead of Android. Huawei will leave the choice to users to keep Android with EMUI 11.1 or switch to its own system. Initially, this choice will be offered to users in China. It is expected that the Huawei P50, P50 Pro and P50 Pro line-up will also be able to transition to HarmonyOS as early as April. At the latest news, the Chinese manufacturer will announce the three smartphones between March 26 and 28, 2021. We will tell you more as soon as possible. While waiting for more information on HarmonyOS, feel free to give your opinion in the comments below.