The HarmonyOS programming language, also known as the Hongmeng OS, was developed by Huawei. This operating system’s development started in 2017 and was first launched in 2019. The self-developed OS is a microkernel-based, distributed operating system tailored to present different devices with unique and diverse experiences; their goal is to provide an open-source software that will run on multiple device ranges – smart wearables, TVs, tablets, smartphones, laptops, and perhaps, cars. This operating system initially supported Huawei smart TVs alone but was inspired to increase its efficiency and diversity to reach more platforms.
The Harmony 2.0 was announced at the 2020 Huawei Developer Conference (HDC) and supported more platforms than its predecessor. The Harmony 2.0 was said to support smart wearables and other devices with up to 128MB RAM. They had speculated that these devices would be upgraded to support up to 4GB RAM devices by 2021; these included tablets and entry-level smartphones. By the end of 2021, the RAM limit will be increased past the previous 4GB RAM limit to support flagship smartphones.
The HarmonyOS for smartphones was launched at an event on the 2nd day of June 2021, and the roadmap to upgrading most of their devices – Huawei and Honor phones that dated as far back as 2016 was also announced. The open-source microkernel-based OS utilizes very few resources, allowing for speedy operations and very low latency levels; the open-source microkernel-based OS also comes with a Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) to fortify the security base across all devices. In addition, HarmonyOS has an Arc compiler that supports major programming languages – C/C++, Java, JavaScript, and Kotlin.
There is speculation that HarmonyOS could theoretically displace the Android, but due to concerns for their users, the company will still be utilizing Google’s software on their smartphones. They believe that a complete migration to a new OS would be possible if the need arises; HarmonyOS also intends to support most applications, including Android, HTML5, and Linux-based apps.
The long-term goal is to grow into a “global operating system” and, someday, take on Android. They intend to provide their partners with dev kits to begin their personal development of compatible apps and hasten the new OS’s integration process.
At 2021’s HDC conference, the preview for HarmonyOS 3 developer was broadcasted along with a brand new HarmonyOS programming language, Cangjie, which will be launched this year and will be used to unify the HarmonyOS and Euler in the application development system as Euler is already connected to Hongmeng by their core technology.
HarmonyOS intends to fully unify with Euler and build their distributed soft bus capability to allow easy connection of HarmonyOS devices to the Euler operating system.
This is the fastest evolving terminal operating system in the whole of history as the number of Harmony operating system devices available is over a hundred and fifty million.