Huawei has been subject to US sanctions for years. As a result, the smartphone manufacturer was no longer able to rely directly on the Android system developed by Google and has been shipping its devices with “Harmony OS” instead since August 2019.
At its core, this relied on the “Android Open Source Project”, which meant that the US restrictions could be at least somewhat weakened. Sideloading many Android apps was still possible, even if access to the Google Play Store was missing.
In October, Huawei announced it would move away from this approach. Instead, the recently introduced and China-exclusive Mate 70 will be based on “Harmony OS Next” via the following update, making it the first Huawei smartphone that works completely without Android.
- According to the company, this operating system is a “completely self-developed OS” and the separation from Android is officially carried out accordingly.
- With around 110 million lines of code, the new operating system is intended to offer an “optimized user experience”. The first manufacturer's own benchmarks indicate a 30 percent increase in performance and an increase in battery life of around one hour (viaThe Register).
With this development, the possibility of sideloading Android apps will no longer be available. So if you import the Mate 70 from China, you have to be prepared that numerous applications will not be available as soon as it receives the update to Harmony OS Next. This should take place over the course of next year; In 2025, all new Huawei devices should run Harmony OS Next.
Huawei itself promises that 10,000 apps are now available natively on Harmony OS Next. The six-figure mark is expected to be broken within a few months.
- It is still unclear whether the Huawei Mate 70 or a later smartphone with Harmony OS Next will come to Europe at a later date.
- According to Huawei, there have already been more than three million pre-orders in China. At least these are necessary if the Chinese manufacturer is serious about attacking the supremacy of Apple iOS and Google Android in the domestic market.
