Huawei recently announced the first stable release of its operating system, Harmony OS 2.0, the unified operating system for all devices from computers to tablets and smartphones to wearables and IoT devices.
Harmony OS is an integrated operating system that unifies the different smart devices that work with it and makes them work together as one super device, which reflects the motto of Harmony OS: All as One, One as All.
The idea of the new operating system from Huawei and its main strength is multi-collaboration, which is, the ability to start a task on a specific smart device and complete it on another with just a drag and drop movement and without any additional complications, which is really useful and wonderful.
The concept of multi-cooperation between smart devices that work with Harmony OS enables a smooth transition between them, which achieves a better user experience. Imagine, for example, that you are playing your favorite game on your smartphone, and after a few moments you want to transfer the game to a larger screen while maintaining your progress in the game, Harmony OS provides you with this ability with the click of a button. You can also convert an incoming video call from your smartphone or tablet to a Harmony OS TV to take advantage of the large screen size during your video call.
As expected, Harmony OS 2.0 (HOS) for smartphones and tablets is based on the Android Open-Source Project (AOSP) code with some Android packages replaced with HOS ones, and the new EMUI 11.1 user interface, for now. So, it is basically just Harmony UI for the moment, not Harmony OS.
This can be explained as we said before by the fact that the real and standalone Harmony OS release for smartphones and tablets is not yet ready, simply because when Huawei started designing and developing Harmony OS in 2016, the company did not take into account that the HOS might work one day on Smartphones or tablets.
At that time, Huawei was in a good cooperative relationship with Google and put all its efforts and resources to make the Android experience on its mobile devices the best ever. But when the previous US government imposed sanctions on it, everything changed, and the company had to rely on itself in everything, but she lacked the time to do so; therefore, Huawei used what it owned at the time, which is the Android 10 base, the last version of the Android system that the company had a license to use, and began work to build its own operating system based on it, Huawei will replace Android with Harmony over time, reaching a completely Android-independent operating system within two or three years at most. This OS will have nothing to do with Android except that it will support its apps.
Harmony OS 2.0 offers a unique way to facilitate the connection of the different devices that run on it together and with complete ease through its new control center. The top of the control center in Harmony OS is similar to that of Apple's iOS, as it consists of a group of square boxes with rounded edges topped by two boxes on the far right for controlling Bluetooth and Wi-Fi and a box on the right for controlling music. Below these three boxes, there is a shortcut panel to control the various other functions of the device such as turning on or off the location, torch, and muting the sound, and below it a slider to control the screen brightness.
After these elements, we find a new section in the Control Center called the Super Device, which is a place that contains all the devices that run on the Harmony OS 2.0 and that can be paired with your smartphone or tablet device to form one complete device integrated for all scenarios; these devices can be connected with your phone your smartphone or tablet with a very simple drag and drop operation, and at the bottom of the Control Center, there are separate boxes for all your Smart Home devices with a battery state indicator and a turn on or off button for each one, as well as display their battery status and more.
In the Home Screen, Huawei has improved the look of the system icons in Harmony OS 2.0, where they now appear smoother and more beautiful compared to what they were previously in the EMUI 11 user interface, and these icons also acquired some new tricks with Harmony OS 2.0. By swiping upward, any of the home screen icons will turn the icon into a service widget that shows you the key information from the application without need it to open it. You can use this feature, for example, to know the weather today and during the coming days without the need to open the weather application, or know and follow your steps from the Health app or see a list of your recent notes without opening the Notes or Health apps. You can move these service widgets and place them anywhere you want on the home screens.
When you drag an app over another to combine them into a new folder, Harmony OS 2.0 will also suggest other installed apps similar to the ones in that folder, and with a single click, you can confirm to add all of them to the folder you created. You can also expand the folders on the main screen, and you will be able to see the first nine items of the folder, which makes it easier for you to distinguish between its contents, and you can also open any application located within a folder directly by clicking on it without having to open that whole folder.
When you swipe the main screen swipe up from the lower left or lower right corner, the service center will appear to you, which is the place where all available service widgets are stored, and you can add them to anywhere on your home screen with just a simple drag and drop move.
Service widgets or atomic apps are created using the Harmony OS distributed framework to enable the user to use them without having to install them, saving space and effort, and you can share them with any other device that runs Harmony OS.
In other words, imagine you own a Huawei smartphone and a Mate Pad Pro tablet running Harmony OS, and you open the Service Center on your phone, and you look at the WPS service widget to see a list of recent office files that you have modified recently; You can click on any of these files, and it will open in the WPS app without you needing to install it on your phone. Moreover, you can connect Mate Pad Pro to your phone from the control panel to form a super device, and easily transfer the service widget from your phone to your tablet with just a tap, to open the WPS Office file and application on your tablet without having to install anything on your Mate Pad Pro.
Huawei has promised to provide its new operating system, Harmony OS 2.0, to more than 100 devices this year and during the first quarter of next year, including some devices that were released more than 4 years ago such as Nova 2S and Mate 9, and these are the complete list of phones that will get Harmony OS in the coming weeks and months:
Devices Planned to Receive Updates in the Second Quarter of 2021:
- Huawei Mate 40
- Huawei Mate 40 Pro
- Huawei Mate 40 Pro+
- Huawei Mate 40 RS Porsche Design
- Huawei Mate 40E
- Huawei Mate X2
- Huawei P40
- Huawei P40 4G
- Huawei P40 Pro
- Huawei P40 Pro Plus
- Huawei Mate 30 Pro 4G
- Huawei Mate 30 Pro 5G
- Huawei Mate 30E Pro 5G
- Huawei Mate 30 RS Porsche Design
- Huawei Mate 30 4G
- Huawei Mate 30 5G
- Huawei MatePad Pro Wi-Fi
- Huawei MatePad Pro 5G
Devices Planned to Receive Updates in the Third Quarter of 2021:
- Huawei Mate XS
- Huawei Mate 20
- Huawei Mate 20 Pro
- Huawei Mate 20 RS Porsche Design
- Huawei Nova 7 SE 5G
- Huawei Nova 7 SE 5G Lohas Edition
- Huawei Nova 7 SE 5G Vitality Edition
- Huawei Nova 8
- Huawei Nova 8 Pro
- Huawei Nova 8 Pro 4G
- Huawei Nova 7 5G
- Huawei Nova 7 Pro 5G
- Huawei Nova 6
- Huawei Nova 6 5G
- Huawei Nova 6 SE
- Huawei MatePad 10.8
- Huawei MatePad 10.4 (2020)
- Huawei MatePad 5G 10.4 (2020)
Devices Planned to Receive Updates in the Fourth Quarter of 2021:
- Huawei Smart Screen V 55 2021
- Huawei Smart Screen V 65 2021
- Huawei Smart Screen V 75 2021
- Huawei Smart Screen V 85 2021
- Huawei Smart Screen S Pro 55
- Huawei Smart Screen S Pro 65
- Huawei Smart Screen S Pro 75
- Huawei Smart Screen S 55
- Huawei Smart Screen S 65
- Huawei Smart Screen S 75
- Huawei Smart Screen X 65
- Huawei P30
- Huawei Mate 20 X 4G
- Huawei Mate 20 X 5G
- Huawei Mate X
- Huawei P30 Pro
- Huawei Nova 5 Pro
- Huawei Enjoy 20 Pro 5G
- Huawei Enjoy Z 5G
- Huawei Enjoy 20 Plus 5G
- Huawei Maimang 9
- Huawei MediaPad M6 10.8-inch
- Huawei MediaPad M6 8.4-inch
- Huawei MediaPad M6 Turbo Edition
- Huawei Enjoy Tablet 2
Devices Planned to Receive Updates in the First Half of 2022:
- Huawei Mate 10
- Huawei Mate 10 Pro
- Huawei Mate 10 Porsche Design
- Huawei Mate RS Porsche Design
- Huawei P20 Pro
- Huawei P20
- Huawei Nova 4
- Huawei Nova 3
- Huawei Nova 5i Pro
- Huawei Nova 5z
- Huawei Nova 5
- Huawei Nova 4e
- Huawei Maimang 8
- Huawei Enjoy 9S
- Huawei Nova 5i
- Huawei Enjoy 10 Plus
- Huawei Mate 9
- Huawei Mate 9 Pro
- Huawei Mate 9 Porsche Design
- Huawei P10
- Huawei P10 Plus
- Huawei Nova 2s
- Huawei Enjoy 10
- Huawei Enjoy 10s
- Huawei Enjoy 9 Plus
- Huawei Nova 3i
- Huawei MediaPad M5 10.8
- Huawei MediaPad M5 8.4
- Huawei MediaPad M5 Pro 10.8
- Huawei MediaPad M5 Youth Edition 10.8
- Huawei MediaPad M5 Youth Edition 8
- Huawei Enjoy Tablet
- Huawei Smart Screen V55i
- Huawei Smart Screen V65i
- Huawei Smart Screen V 65
- Huawei Smart Screen V 65 2019
- Huawei Smart Screen V 76 2019
