EMUI 11 brings HarmonyOS 2.0 support, Huawei devices will shift on HarmonyOS

Huawei has unveiled a number of new software technologies at Huawei Developer Conference 2020 including the HarmonyOS 2.0 and the EMUI 11. These two software products are now improved compared to their predecessors.

During the launch, Huawei also made some announcements on shifting its devices from Android to HarmonyOS, as soon as the first HarmonyOS smartphone enters in the market next year

According to Wang Chenglu, President of the Software Department, Huawei Consumer Business Group (BG), users who’ll upgrade to EMUI 11 will get a HarmonyOS update “as soon as possible”. Users will also have the option to purchase new HarmonyOS devices by next year (2021).

At the event, Richard Yu, Huawei’s CBG chief announced the roadmap for HarmonyOS in his keynote speech. “Starting on 10 September, HarmonyOS is open to 128KB-128MB IoT devices, such as smart TVs, wearables, cars and more. In April 2021, we will open it to 128MB-4GB devices and in October 2021, HarmonyOS will be opened for devices above 4GB,” he said.

This year, Huawei planned HarmonyOS to support for smart TVs, wearables, cars, and more, and then next year in April, it’ll support devices upto 4GB RAM. These devices will include Tablets and smartphones.

Moreover, Geroge Zhao, President of Honor also stepped into our conversation and gave his own statement. The upgrade on Magic UI 4.0 (EMUI 11) will bring the support for Hongmeng (HarmonyOS) operating system and it’ll be upgraded to Hongmeng OS.

All of these officials from Huawei pointed out Huawei’s preparation to shift from Android to HarmonyOS. However, the company will likely to upgrade devices that were launched solely on Huawei Mobile Services (HMS) and not the Google Mobile Services (GMS).

On the other hand, GMS flagships such as Huawei P30 and Mate 20 series may soon start testing EMUI 11 but they might not support HarmonyOS.

Meanwhile, Huawei has not confirmed the list of HarmonyOS supported devices or actual dates for the rollout because it currently has to complete the EMUI 11 beta, followed by the global rollout that will continue until the launch of the Huawei P50 series in the first half of 2021.

Also, on the face of these upgrade statements, Huawei must first overcome the challenge of creating an app ecosystem for HarmonyOS, that should capable of satisfying Huawei’s overseas customers.

Keeping the ecosystem in priority, at HDC 2020, Huawei announced open-source HarmonyOS 2.0 beta SDK for developers that will be available starting September 2020 for platforms including Smart TVs, Smartwatches, and head units. Followed by HarmonyOS 2.0 smartphones SDK in December 2020.

This support will help them to choose the platform and develop apps accordingly, also Huawei is increasing its investment for developers programs to boost their interest in the Huawei Mobile Services (HMS) ecosystem.