Huawei launches public beta of Harmony OS 2.0 for smartphones in China, its own operating system will follow…
As Huawei launched Harmony OS, its own operating system, some months ago, the company starts distributing it to the company’s smartphones. For the time being, the distribution is only in China and to its flagships only. But it is a move that makes it clear that the firm continues to bet on this operating system while US-China conflict does not seem to be close to being resolved.
Huawei has announced the launch of the public beta during a conference dedicated to app developers. Although anyone can sign up for the beta, Huawei’s FAQs (in Chinese) points out that it is aimed at individual and corporate developers. It should be noted that Harmony OS 2.0 supports native apps, but also Android applications, and that it also supports updates via OTA.
List of Huawei devices that are compatible with Harmony OS 2.0 beta
The Huawei devices that are compatible with Harmony OS 2.0 beta are:
- Huawei P40
- Huawei P40 Pro
- Mate 30
- Mate 30 Pro
- MatePad Pro
The exact models are ANA-AN00, ELS-AN00, TAS-AL00, TAS- AN00, LIO-AL00, LIO-AN00, MRX-AL19, MRX-W09 and MRX-AN19. However, the beta is available in China and there is no explicit mention that it can be installed outside Huawei’s home market.
How to download Harmony OS 2.0 beta?
Application developers have two ways to access the beta.
- By using a remote simulator in Huawei DevEco Studio, in which case it will be necessary to download the beta of that software.
- By using a real device, in which case the developer will have to send the application to Huawei for the company to review and approve the application.
These are the first steps that Huawei is taking to bring its own operating system, which has been in development since 2017, to smartphones. However, we have already seen Harmony OS running on other company devices, such as some Honor TVs. It is also expected that, as previously announced, the Harmony OS beta can be installed on the Huawei Mate 40.
One of the keys to Harmony OS is compatibility with Android applications, although it remains to be seen which ones will be compatible and how they perform on devices with that OS. Huawei expects that 90% of the phones currently on the market will be upgraded to Harmony OS. What’s more, some say that next year we will see the first smartphone with Harmony OS pre-installed at the factory.
