Chinese smartphone maker Huawei has revealed its rival to
Google’s Android operating system after a ban from the US government threatened
its use of the software on its phones.
The Chinese firm unveiled Harmony, a dedicated operating
system for the company’s phones that the company said should offer improved
security due to its design as well as improved performance and efficiency.
Huawei, which is the world’s second largest smartphone
maker, was placed on a US blacklist in May due to claims it posed a security
risk and allegations of sanctions violations, something the company has denied.
The listing forced Google, which develops the Android
smartphone operating system used by billions of consumers, to limit the work it
can do with Huawei, potentially stopping future software upgrades and security
updates for the Chinese firm’s phones.
Harmony is Huawei’s back up plan if it is cut off form its
US suppliers, although the company has reportedly been working on its own
operating system for a number of years.
At Huawei’s developer conference in Shanghai, its smartphone
chief executive Richard Yu said it could switch its phones to the new operating
system “at any time” should its access to Android be completely blocked.
Huawei said it planned to make the software open-source,
meaning other companies can use it for free, and work on encouraging adoption
of the software in China for apps, camera technology and artificial
intelligence applications.
Mr Yu said the design of the software was “completely
different from Android and [Apple’s] iOS”, building the software around a
smaller core of code than other systems, which Huawei claimed would make it
more secure and more flexible.
Huawei had been forced to accelerate its plans for its own
operating system after the US ban, which has threatened sales of its phones in Western countries. The company
said it planned to keep using Google’s Android for the time being, but the new
software would also work on other devices such as smartwatches and in cars.
