HarmonyOS (HMOS) ( zh, s=鸿蒙, p=Hóngméng, tr=Vast Mist) is a

distributed operating system A distributed operating system is system software over a collection of independent software, networked, communicating, and physically separate computational nodes. They handle jobs which are serviced by multiple CPUs. Each individual node holds a ...

developed by

Huawei Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. ("Huawei" sometimes stylized as "HUAWEI"; ; zh, c=华为, p= ) is a Chinese multinational corporationtechnology company in Longgang, Shenzhen, Longgang, Shenzhen, Guangdong. Its main product lines include teleco ...

for

smartphone A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as multi ...

s, tablets,

smart TV A smart TV, also known as a connected TV (CTV or, rarely, CoTV), is a traditional television set with integrated Internet and interactive Web 2.0 features that allow users to stream music and videos, browse the internet, and view photos. Smart T ...

smart watch A smartwatch is a portable wearable computer that resembles a wristwatch. Most modern smartwatches are operated via a touchscreen, and rely on mobile apps that run on a connected device (such as a smartphone) in order to provide core functions ...

es,

personal computers A personal computer, commonly referred to as PC or computer, is a computer designed for individual use. It is typically used for tasks such as Word processor, word processing, web browser, internet browsing, email, multimedia playback, and PC ...

and other

smart device A smart device is an electronic device, generally connected to other devices or networks via different wireless protocols (such as Bluetooth, Zigbee, near-field communication, Wi-Fi, NearLink, Li-Fi, or 5G) that can operate to some extent inte ...

s. It has a

microkernel In computer science, a microkernel (often abbreviated as μ-kernel) is the near-minimum amount of software that can provide the mechanisms needed to implement an operating system (OS). These mechanisms include low-level address space management, ...

design with a single framework: the operating system selects suitable kernels from the

abstraction layer In computing, an abstraction layer or abstraction level is a way of hiding the working details of a subsystem. Examples of software models that use layers of abstraction include the OSI model for network protocols, OpenGL, and other graphics libra ...

in the case of devices that use diverse resources. HarmonyOS was officially launched by Huawei, and first used in

Honor Honour ( Commonwealth English) or honor (American English; see spelling differences) is a quality of a person that is of both social teaching and personal ethos, that manifests itself as a code of conduct, and has various elements such as val ...

s, in August 2019. It was later used in Huawei

wireless routers A wireless router or Wi-Fi router is a device that performs the functions of a router and also includes the functions of a wireless access point. It is used to provide access to the Internet or a private computer network. Depending on the ma ...

, IoT in 2020, followed by

s, tablets and

smartwatch A smartwatch is a portable wearable computer that resembles a wristwatch. Most modern smartwatches are operated via a touchscreen, and rely on mobile apps that run on a connected device (such as a smartphone) in order to provide core functions. ...

es from June 2021. From 2019 to 2024, versions 1 to 4 of the operating system were based on code from the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) and the

Linux kernel The Linux kernel is a Free and open-source software, free and open source Unix-like kernel (operating system), kernel that is used in many computer systems worldwide. The kernel was created by Linus Torvalds in 1991 and was soon adopted as the k ...

; many Android apps could be sideloaded on HarmonyOS. The next iteration of HarmonyOS became known as

HarmonyOS NEXT HarmonyOS NEXT ( zh, s=鸿蒙星河版, p=Hóngméng Xīnghébǎn) is a proprietary software, proprietary distributed operating system that succeeded the similarly named HarmonyOS, with the main difference that the "Next" operating system was de ...

. HarmonyOS NEXT was announced on August 4, 2023, and officially launched on October 22, 2024. It replaced the

OpenHarmony OpenHarmony (OHOS, OH) is a family of open-source distributed operating systems based on HarmonyOS derived from LiteOS, donated the L0-L2 branch source code by Huawei to the OpenAtom Foundation. Similar to HarmonyOS, the open-source distrib ...

multi-kernel system with its own HarmonyOS

at its core and removed all Android code. Since version 5, HarmonyOS only supports apps in its

native Native may refer to: People * '' Jus sanguinis'', nationality by blood * '' Jus soli'', nationality by location of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Nat ...

" App" format. In May 2025, the first

notebook A notebook (also known as a notepad, writing pad, drawing pad, or legal pad) is a book or stack of paper pages that are often ruled and used for purposes such as note-taking, journaling or other writing, drawing, or scrapbooking and more. ...

with the HarmonyOS operating system was launched by Huawei, featuring "HarmonyOS PC", i.e. HarmonyOS 5 for the

personal computer A personal computer, commonly referred to as PC or computer, is a computer designed for individual use. It is typically used for tasks such as Word processor, word processing, web browser, internet browsing, email, multimedia playback, and PC ...

form factor.

Name

In 2015, Huawei launched a research and development strategy for self-developed root technologies including operating systems and databases. At that time, its own operating system did not have a name, and there was only a group of engineers designing the architecture, writing code, and designing core technologies. In 2019, Huawei applied for a trademark called "Huawei Hongmeng" for the kernel of its own operating system. At that time, when the company was still struggling with what to name its operating system, the public mistakenly thought the trademark of the system kernel was the name of an operating system. Finally, the official named the operating system " Hongmeng" (). The name "Hongmeng" represents "the vitality of all things at the beginning of their creation". The English name chosen was "HarmonyOS", symbolizing "the interconnection of all things and harmonious coexistence."

Architecture

HarmonyOS is designed with a layered

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

, which consists of four layers; the

kernel Kernel may refer to: Computing * Kernel (operating system), the central component of most operating systems * Kernel (image processing), a matrix used for image convolution * Compute kernel, in GPGPU programming * Kernel method, in machine learnin ...

layer at the bottom provides the upper three layers, i.e., the system service layer, framework layer and application layer, with basic kernel capabilities, such as

process A process is a series or set of activities that interact to produce a result; it may occur once-only or be recurrent or periodic. Things called a process include: Business and management * Business process, activities that produce a specific s ...

and thread management,

memory management Memory management (also dynamic memory management, dynamic storage allocation, or dynamic memory allocation) is a form of Resource management (computing), resource management applied to computer memory. The essential requirement of memory manag ...

, file system,

network management Network management is the process of administering and managing computer networks. Services provided by this discipline include fault analysis, performance management, provisioning of networks and maintaining quality of service. Network managem ...

, and

peripheral A peripheral device, or simply peripheral, is an auxiliary hardware device that a computer uses to transfer information externally. A peripheral is a hardware component that is accessible to and controlled by a computer but is not a core compo ...

management. The kernel layer incorporates a subsystem that accommodates HarmonyOS kernel based on

as Rich Executed Environment (REE), catering to diverse smart devices. Depending on the device type, different kernels can be selected; for instance, like OpenHarmony base itself but with a single kernel, lightweight systems are chosen for low-power devices like watches and IoT devices to execute lightweight HarmonyOS apps, whereas large-memory devices like mobile phones, tablets, and PCs utilize standard system. The dual-app framework was replaced with a single-app framework in

HarmonyOS Next HarmonyOS NEXT ( zh, s=鸿蒙星河版, p=Hóngméng Xīnghébǎn) is a proprietary software, proprietary distributed operating system that succeeded the similarly named HarmonyOS, with the main difference that the "Next" operating system was de ...

, supporting only native HarmonyOS apps with APP format. The system includes a communication base called DSoftBus for integrating physically separate devices into a virtual Super Device, allowing one device to control others and sharing data among devices with distributed communication capabilities. "To address security concerns" arising from varying devices, the system provides a hardware-based

Trusted Execution Environment A trusted execution environment (TEE) is a secure area of a Central processing unit, main processor. It helps the code and data loaded inside it be protected with respect to Information security#Confidentiality, confidentiality and integrity. Data ...

(TEE)

to prevent leakage of sensitive personal data when they are stored or processed. It supports several forms of apps, including native apps that can be installed from AppGallery, installation-free Quick apps and lightweight Meta Services accessible by users on various devices.

Android fork

When it launched the operating system, Huawei stated that HarmonyOS plans to become a microkernel-based, distributed OS that was completely different from Android and iOS in terms of target market towards

Internet of things Internet of things (IoT) describes devices with sensors, processing ability, software and other technologies that connect and exchange data with other devices and systems over the Internet or other communication networks. The IoT encompasse ...

. A Huawei spokesperson subsequently stated that HarmonyOS supported multiple kernels and used a Linux kernel if a device had a large amount of RAM, and that the company had taken advantage of a large number of third-party open-source resources, including Linux kernel with POSIX APIs on OpenHarmony base, as a foundation to accelerate the development of its unified system stack as a future-proof, microkernel-based, and distributed OS running on multiple devices. At its launch as an operating system for smartphones in 2021, HarmonyOS was, however, rumored by ''

Ars Technica ''Ars Technica'' is a website covering news and opinions in technology, science, politics, and society, created by Ken Fisher and Jon Stokes in 1998. It publishes news, reviews, and guides on issues such as computer hardware and software, sci ...

'' to be a "rebranded version of Android and

EMUI EMUI (formerly known as Emotion UI) is an interface based on Android (operating system) developed by Chinese technology company Huawei, used on the company's smartphones primarily globally. Instead of Google Mobile Services, EMUI devices have ...

" with nearly "identical code bases". Following the release of the HarmonyOS 2.0 beta, ''Ars Technica'' and

XDA Developers Valnet, Inc. is a Canadian media company established in August 2012 by Hassan and Sam Youssef in Montreal, Quebec. It operates primarily in the entertainment media industry, where it has sought to acquire producers of content in this space. In ...

suggested that "the smartphone version of the OS had been forked from

Android 10 Android 10 (code name, codenamed Android Q during development) is the Android version history, tenth major release and the 17th version of the Android (operating system), Android mobile operating system. It was first released as a developer pre ...

". ''Ars Technica'' alleged that it resembled the existing EMUI software used on Huawei devices, but with all references to "Android" replaced by "HarmonyOS". It was also noted that the DevEco Studio software based on

JetBrains JetBrains s.r.o. (formerly IntelliJ Software s.r.o.) is a Czech software development private limited company which makes tools for software developers and project managers. The company has its headquarters in Amsterdam, and has offices in Ch ...

open source

IntelliJ IDEA IntelliJ IDEA () is an integrated development environment (IDE) written in Java for developing computer software written in Java, Kotlin, Groovy, and other JVM-based languages. It is developed by JetBrains (formerly known as IntelliJ) and is a ...

IDE "shared components and tool chains" with

Android Studio Android Studio is the official integrated development environment (IDE) for Google's Android operating system, built on JetBrains' IntelliJ IDEA software and designed specifically for Android development. This is available for download on W ...

. When testing the new MatePad Pro in June 2021, ''Android Authority'' and ''

The Verge ''The Verge'' is an American Technology journalism, technology news website headquarters, headquartered in Lower Manhattan, New York City and operated by Vox Media. The website publishes news, feature stories, guidebooks, product reviews, cons ...

'' similarly observed similarities in "behavior", including that it was possible to install apps from Android APK files on the HarmonyOS-based tablet, and to run the Android 10

easter egg Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are eggs that are decorated for the Christian holiday of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are commonly used during the season of Eastertide (Easter season). The ...

apk app, reaffirming earlier rumor mills.

History

Early development

Reports surrounding an in-house operating system being developed by Huawei date back as far as 2012 in R&D stages with HarmonyOS NEXT system stack going back as early as 2015. These reports intensified during the Sino-American trade war, after the

United States Department of Commerce The United States Department of Commerce (DOC) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government. It is responsible for gathering data for business and governmental decision making, establishing industrial standards, catalyzing econ ...

added Huawei to its

Entity List The Entity List is a trade restriction list published by the United States Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), consisting of certain foreign persons, entities, or governments. It is published as Supplement 4 of Part ...

in May 2019 under an indictment that it knowingly exported goods, technology and services of U.S. origin to Iran in violation of sanctions. This prohibited U.S.-based companies from doing business with Huawei without first obtaining a license from the government. Huawei executive described an in-house platform as a "plan B" in case it is prevented from using Android on future

products due to the sanctions. Prior to its unveiling, it was originally speculated to be a

mobile operating system A mobile operating system is an operating system used for smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, smartglasses, or other non-laptop personal mobile computing devices. While computers such as laptops are "mobile", the operating systems used on the ...

that could replace Android on future Huawei devices. In June 2019, an Huawei executive told

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

that the OS was under testing in China, and could be ready "in months", but by July 2019, some Huawei executives described the OS as being an

embedded operating system An embedded operating system (EOS) is an operating system designed specifically for embedded computer systems. These systems aim to enhance functionality and reliability to perform dedicated tasks. When the multitasking method employed allows ...

designed for IoT hardware, discarding the previous statements for it to be a mobile operating system. Some media outlets reported that this OS, referred to as "Hongmeng", could be released in China in either August or September 2019, with a worldwide release in the second quarter of 2020. On 24 May 2019, Huawei registered "Hongmeng" as a

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a form of intellectual property that consists of a word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination that identifies a Good (economics and accounting), product or Service (economics), service f ...

in China. The name "Hongmeng" came from Chinese mythology that symbolizes primordial chaos or the world before creation. The same day, Huawei registered trademarks surrounding "Ark OS" and variants with the

European Union Intellectual Property Office The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) () is a decentralised agency of the EU responsible for the registration of EU-wide unitary trade marks and industrial design rights. These exist alongside the intellectual property rig ...

. In July 2019, it was reported that Huawei had also registered trademarks surrounding the word "Harmony" for desktop and mobile operating system software, indicating either a different name or a component of the OS.

Framework transitions

Early versions of HarmonyOS, starting from version 1.0, employed a "kernel

" (KAL) subsystem to support a multi-kernel architecture. This allowed developers to choose different operating system kernels based on the resources available on each device. For low-powered devices such as wearables and Huawei's GT smartwatches, HarmonyOS utilized the LiteOS kernel instead of Linux. It also integrated the LiteOS SDK for TV applications and ensured compatibility with Android apps through the Ark Compiler and a dual-framework approach. HarmonyOS 1.0's original L0-L2 source code branch was contributed to the OpenAtom Foundation to accelerate system development. HarmonyOS 2.0 introduced a modified version of OpenHarmony's L3-L5 source code, expanding its compatibility across smartphones and tablets. Underneath the kernel abstraction layer (KAL) subsystem, HarmonyOS used the

and the AOSP codebase. This setup enabled Android APK files and App Bundles (AAB) to run natively, similar to older Huawei

-based devices, without needing

root In vascular plants, the roots are the plant organ, organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often bel ...

access. Additionally, HarmonyOS supported native apps packaged for Huawei Mobile Services through the Ark Compiler, leveraging the OpenHarmony framework within its dual-framework structure at the System Service Layer. This configuration allowed the operating system to run apps developed with restricted HarmonyOS

API An application programming interface (API) is a connection between computers or between computer programs. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that describes how to build ...

s. Until the release of HarmonyOS 5.0.0, known as

5, using its microkernel within a single framework, replacing the operating system dual-framework approach for Huawei's HarmonyOS devices with the AOSP codebase.

Release

On 9 August 2019, three months after the

ban, Huawei publicly unveiled HarmonyOS, which Huawei said it had been working on since 2012, at its inaugural developers' conference in

Dongguan Dongguan,; pinyin: alternately romanized via Cantonese as Tungkun, is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong Province, China. An important industrial city in the Pearl River Delta, Dongguan borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou t ...

. Huawei described HarmonyOS as a free,

-based distributed operating system for various types of hardware. The company focused primarily on IoT devices, including smart TVs,

wearable device Wearable technology is any technology that is designed to be used while worn. Common types of wearable technology include smartwatches, fitness trackers, and smartglasses. Wearable electronic devices are often close to or on the surface of the s ...

s, and

in-car entertainment In-car entertainment (ICE), or in-vehicle infotainment (IVI), is a collection of hardware and software in automobiles that provides audio or video entertainment. In car entertainment originated with car audio systems that consisted of radios and c ...

systems, and did not explicitly position HarmonyOS as a mobile OS. HarmonyOS 2.0 launched at the Huawei Developer Conference on 10 September 2020. Huawei announced it intended to ship the operating system on its smartphones in 2021. The first developer beta of HarmonyOS 2.0 was launched on 16 December 2020. Huawei also released the DevEco Studio IDE, which is based on

, and a cloud emulator for developers in early access. Huawei officially released HarmonyOS 2.0 and launched new devices shipping with the OS in June 2021, and started rolling out system upgrades to Huawei's older phones for users gradually. On July 27, 2022, Huawei launched HarmonyOS 3 providing an improved experience across multiple devices such as smartphones, tablets, printers, cars and TVs. It also launched Petal Chuxing, a ride-hailing app running on the new version of the operating system. On 29 June 2023, Huawei launched the first developer beta of HarmonyOS 4. On 4 August 2023, Huawei officially announced and released HarmonyOS 4 as a public beta. On 9 August, it rolled the operating system out on 34 different existing Huawei smartphone and tablet devices—albeit as a public beta build. Alongside HarmonyOS 4, Huawei also announced the launch of

, which is a "pure" HarmonyOS version, without Android libraries and therefore incompatible with Android apps post-software convergence. On 18 January 2024, Huawei announced commercialisation of HarmonyOS NEXT with Galaxy stable version rollout which will begin in Q4 2024 based on OpenHarmony 5.0 (API 12) version after OpenHarmony 4.1 (API 11) based Q2 Developer Beta after release of public developer access of HarmonyOS NEXT Developer Preview 1 that has been in the hands of closed cooperative developers partners since August 2023 debut. The new system of upcoming HarmonyOS 5 version that replaced HarmonyOS multi-kernel dual-frame system convergence for unified system stack of the unified app ecosystem for commercial Huawei consumer devices. On March 11, 2024, Huawei announced the early recruitment for the new test experience version of Huawei HarmonyOS 4 firmware update that includes performance improvements, purer and better user experiences. HarmonyOS version 4.0.0.200 (C00E200R2P7) of the firmware was gradually rolled out on March 12, 2024. On April 11, 2024, it has been reported that Huawei opened the registration and rolled out public beta of HarmonyOS 4.2 for 24 devices. On the same day, the company announced its incoming HarmonyOS 5.0 operating system version of Galaxy Edition version under

system that will first be released as open beta program for developers and users at its annual Huawei Developer Conference in June 2024 before Q4 commercial consumer release with upcoming Mate 70 flagship, among other ecosystem devices. On April 18, 2024, Huawei Pura 70 flagship series lineup received HarmonyOS 4.2.0.137 update, after release. On April 17, 2024, Huawei's chairman Eric Xu revealed plans to push native

system for next gen HarmonyOS in global markets as the company's focus at Huawei's Analyst Summit 2024 (HAS 2024) to Chinese and international press which was reported in various international outlets on April 22, 2024. On May 17, 2024, during the HarmonyOS Developer Day (HDD) event, Huawei announced HarmonyOS upgrade with the new HarmonyOS NEXT base will begin commercial use by September with over 800 million units of devices and 4,000 apps in use for a target of 5,000 apps at launch. On June 21, 2024, during Huawei Developer Conference (HDC) keynote, Huawei announced HarmonyOS NEXT Developer Beta for registered developers and 3,000 pioneer users on limited models such as Huawei Mate 60 Series, Huawei Mate X5 Series and Huawei MatePad Pro 13.2 tablet. The consumer beta version is expected to be released in August 2024 while the stable build to be made available in Q4 2024. During the conference, Huawei formerly announced in-house Cangjie programming language for the new native system alongside releasing the Developer Preview Beta recruitment program. On October 22, 2024, at Huawei HarmonyOS Next event, it was officially revealed as "pure blood" HarmonyOS NEXT 5 brand transitioning to HarmonyOS 5, incorporated as HarmonyOS 5.0.0 version, for public beta with 2025 expansions. Ahead of flagship devices with stable builds factory in November.

Features

User interface

The HarmonyOS interface is overhauled with native HarmonyOS Design system as "Harmonious aesthetics" philosophy by Yang Zhiyan, Chief UX Designer at Huawei Consumer BG or the native launcher system that has an emphasis on 'vivid' system colours and reflective 'spatial' visual of light, blur, glow with glassmorphism and

neumorphism Neumorphism is a design style used in graphical user interfaces. It is commonly identified by a soft and light look (for which it is sometimes referred to as soft UI) with elements that appear to protrude from or dent into the background rather ...

soft UI that is a medium between

skeuomorphism A skeuomorph (also spelled skiamorph, ) is a derivative object that retains ornamental design cues (attributes) from structures that were necessary in the original. Skeuomorphs are typically used to make something new feel familiar in an effort t ...

and

flat design Flat design is a minimalist design language or design style commonly used in graphical user interfaces (GUI) (such as web applications and mobile apps), and also in graphical materials such as posters, arts, guide documents and publishing prod ...

. In addition to standard folders that require tapping on them to display their contents, folders can be enlarged to always show their contents without text labels directly on the home screen. Apps can support "snippets", which expose a portion of the app's functionality (such as a media player's controls, or a weather forecast) via an iOS style pop-up window by swiping left after holding the app icon in context menu, and can be pinned to the home screen as a widget. Apps and services can provide ''cards''; as of HarmonyOS 3.0, cards can also be displayed as widgets with different sizes and shapes to adapt to the home screen layout, and can also be stacked. The user interface font of HarmonyOS on HarmonyOS Next base is

HarmonyOS Sans HarmonyOS (HMOS) ( zh, s=鸿蒙, p=Hóngméng, tr=Vast Mist) is a distributed operating system developed by Huawei for smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, smart watches, personal computers and other smart devices. It has a microkernel design wit ...

. It is designed to be easy to read, unique, and universal. The system font was used throughout the operating system alongside previous Android-based EMUI 12 and up, including third-party HarmonyOS and former Android apps.

Software

Traditional apps

Unlike Meta Services that are installation-free, traditional apps need installation. They are available to users through Huawei AppGallery, which serves as the

application store An app store, also called an app marketplace or app catalog, is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not in ...

for HarmonyOS with HarmonyOS-native apps. HarmonyOS-native apps have access to capabilities such as distributed communications and cards.

Quick apps

Similar to

applet In computing, an applet is any small application that performs one specific task that runs within the scope of a dedicated widget engine or a larger program, often as a plug-in. The term is frequently used to refer to a Java applet, a program ...

s, Quick apps were single-page apps written using

JavaScript JavaScript (), often abbreviated as JS, is a programming language and core technology of the World Wide Web, alongside HTML and CSS. Ninety-nine percent of websites use JavaScript on the client side for webpage behavior. Web browsers have ...

and CSS, with code volume about one fifth of that of a traditional app. They are developed based on the industry standards formulated by the Quick App Alliance, comprising mainstream mobile phone manufacturers in China. Quick apps are available to users through the AppGallery, Quick App Center, Huawei Assistant, etc., on supported devices. They are installation-free, updated automatically, and their shortcuts can be added by users to the home screen for ease of access.

Meta Services

Managed and distributed by Huawei Ability Gallery, Meta Services (formerly, Atomic Services) are lightweight and consist of one or more HarmonyOS Ability Packages (HAPs) to implement specific convenient services, providing users with dynamic content and functionality. They are accessible via the Service Center from devices, and presented as cards that can be added to a favorite list or pinned to the home screen. Meta Services are installation-free since the accompanying code is downloaded in the background. They can also be synchronized across multiple devices, such as updating the driver's location on the watch in real time after the user hails a taxi on the mobile phone. ''Note:'' Meta Services (a component of HarmonyOS) should not to be confused with products and services from

Meta Platforms Meta Platforms, Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Menlo Park, California. Meta owns and operates several prominent social media platforms and communication services, including Facebook, Instagram, Threads ...

(the parent company of Facebook).

Service Collaboration Kit

The Service Collaboration Kit (SCK) provides users with cross-device interaction, allowing them to use the camera, scanning, and gallery functions of other devices. For example, tablets or

2-in-1 laptop A 2-in-1 laptop, also known as 2-in-1 PC, 2-in-1 tablet, laplet, tabtop, laptop tablet, or simply 2-in-1, is a portable computer that has features of both tablet computer, tablets and laptops. 2-in-1 PCs consist of portable computer component ...

s can utilize these features from a connected smartphone. To utilize these features, both devices running HarmonyOS NEXT must be logged into the same Huawei account and have WLAN and Bluetooth enabled.

Harmony Intelligence

Harmony Intelligence allows users to deploy AI-based applications on HarmonyOS, using

PanGu Pangu or Pan Gu (also sometimes spelled Peng Gu and P’an-ku) ( zh, t=盤古, ) is a primordial being and creation figure in Chinese mythology and in Taoism. According to legend, Pangu separated heaven and earth, and his body later became ge ...

5.0

LLM A large language model (LLM) is a language model trained with Self-supervised learning, self-supervised machine learning on a vast amount of text, designed for natural language processing tasks, especially Natural language generation, language g ...

and its embedded variants, alongside new Celia capabilities, HiAI Foundation Kit,

MindSpore MindSpore is a open-source software framework for deep learning, machine learning and artificial intelligence developed by Huawei. Overview It has support for custom OpenHarmony-based HarmonyOS NEXT single core framework system built for Harm ...

Lite Kit, Neural Network Runtime Kit, and Computer Vision. These features improve performance, reduce power consumption, and enable efficient AI processing on devices with Kirin chips.

Super Device

HarmonyOS supports cross-platform interactions between supported devices via the "Super Device" interface; devices are paired via a "radar" screen by dragging icons to the centre of the screen. Examples of Super Device features include allowing users to play back media saved inside a smartphone through a paired PC,

speakers Speaker most commonly refers to: * Speaker, a person who produces speech * Loudspeaker, a device that produces sound ** Computer speakers Speaker, Speakers, or The Speaker may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * Speaker (song), "Speaker" ( ...

; share PC screen recordings back to a smartphone; run multiple phone apps in a PC window; share files between a paired smartphone and PC; share application states between the paired devices, etc.

NearLink

Incorporated into HarmonyOS 4,

NearLink NearLink ( zh, 星闪; also known as SparkLink and formerly Greentooth) is a short-range wireless technology protocol, which was developed by the NearLink Alliance, led by Huawei to set up on September 22, 2020. As of September 2023, the Allianc ...

(previously known as SparkLink) is a set of standards that combine the strengths of traditional

wireless technologies Wireless communication (or just wireless, when the context allows) is the transfer of information (''telecommunication'') between two or more points without the use of an electrical conductor, optical fiber or other continuous guided mediu ...

Bluetooth Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard that is used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances and building personal area networks (PANs). In the most widely used mode, transmission power is li ...

and

Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for Wireless LAN, local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by ...

, while emphasizing improved performance in areas like response time, energy efficiency, signal range, and security. It consists of two access modes: SparkLink Low Energy (SLE) and SparkLink Basic (SLB). SLE is designed for low-power consumption, low-latency, and high-reliability applications, with a data transmission rate reportedly up to 6 times that of Bluetooth; SLB is tailored for high-speed, high-capacity, and high-precision applications, with a data transmission rate reportedly around 2 times that of Wi-Fi.

Hardware

HarmonyOS platform was not designed for a single device at the beginning but developed as a distributed operating system for various devices with memory sizes ranging from 128KB to over 4GB. Hence, the hardware requirements are flexible for the operating system and it may only need 128KB of memory for a variety of smart terminal devices.

Devices supported at launch

Huawei stated that HarmonyOS would initially be used on devices targeting the Chinese market. The company's former subsidiary brand,

, unveiled the Honor Vision line of smart TVs as the first consumer electronics devices to run HarmonyOS in August 2019. The HarmonyOS 2.0 beta launched on 16 December 2020 and supported the P30 series, P40 series, Mate 30 series, Mate 40 series, P50 series, and the MatePad Pro. Stable HarmonyOS 2.0 was released for smartphones and tablets as updates for the P40 and Mate X2 in June 2021. New Huawei Watch, MatePad Pro and PixLab X1 desktop printer models shipping with HarmonyOS were also unveiled at the time. In October 2021, HarmonyOS 2.0 had over 150 million users.

App development

The primary IDE known as DevEco Studio for developing HarmonyOS apps was released by Huawei on September 9, 2020, based on IntelliJ IDEA and Huawei's SmartAssist. The IDE includes DevEco Device Tool, an integrated development tool for customizing HarmonyOS components, coding, compiling and visual debugging, similar to other third party IDEs such as

Visual Studio Code Visual Studio Code, commonly referred to as VS Code, is an integrated development environment developed by Microsoft for Windows, Linux, macOS and web browsers. Features include support for debugging, syntax highlighting, intelligent code comp ...

for

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

Linux Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an kernel (operating system), operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically package manager, pac ...

and

macOS macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...

. HarmonyOS uses App Pack files suffixed with .app, also known as APP files, for distribution of software via AppGallery. Each App Pack has one or more HarmonyOS Ability Packages (HAP) containing code for their abilities, resources, libraries, and a

JSON JSON (JavaScript Object Notation, pronounced or ) is an open standard file format and electronic data interchange, data interchange format that uses Human-readable medium and data, human-readable text to store and transmit data objects consi ...

file with configuration information. HarmonyOS as a universal single IoT platform allows developers to write apps once and run everywhere across devices such as phones, tablets, personal computers, TVs, cars, smartwatches, single board computers under

, and screen-less IoT devices such as smart speakers. As of October 2024, there were reportedly over 6.75 million registered developers participated in developing HarmonyOS apps.

ArkUI

Applications for HarmonyOS are mostly built using components of ArkUI, a Declarative User Interface framework. ArkUI is a declarative based user interface framework for building

user interface In the industrial design field of human–computer interaction, a user interface (UI) is the space where interactions between humans and machines occur. The goal of this interaction is to allow effective operation and control of the machine fro ...

s on

HarmonyOS HarmonyOS (HMOS) ( zh, s=鸿蒙, p=Hóngméng, tr=Vast Mist) is a distributed operating system developed by Huawei for smartphones, tablet computer, tablets, smart TVs, smart watches, personal computers and other smart devices. It has a microk ...

alongside Oniro applications developed by

for the

ArkTS ArkTS (short for Ark TypeScript) is a high-level general-purpose, multi-paradigm, compiled, declarative, static type programming language developed by Huawei which is an extension superset of open-source TypeScript (TS), in turn a super ...

and

Cangjie Cangjie is a legendary figure in Chinese mythology, said to have been an official historian of the Yellow Emperor and the inventor of Chinese characters. Legend has it that he had four eyes, and that when he invented the characters, the deities ...

programming language. ArkUI elements are adaptable to various devices and include new interface rules with automatic updates along with HarmonyOS updates. ArkUI 3.0 is declarative in eTS (extended TypeScript) in HarmonyOS 3.0, followed by main ArkTS programming language in HarmonyOS 3.1, contrasting with the imperative syntax used in

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

development in earlier versions of HarmonyOS in HarmonyOS 1.0 and 2.0. ArkUI allows for 2D drawing as well as 3D drawing, animations,

event handling In computing, an event is a detectable occurrence or change in the system's state, such as user input, hardware interrupts, system notifications, or changes in data or conditions, that the system is designed to monitor. Events trigger responses or ...

, Service Card widgets, and

data binding In computer programming, data-binding is a general technique that binds data sources from the provider and consumer together and synchronizes them. This is usually done with two data/information sources with different languages, as in XML data bin ...

. ArkUI automatically synchronizes between UI views and data. ArkUI integrates with DevEco Studio IDE to provide for real-time previews during editing, alongside support for debugging and other development features. ArkJS is designed for web development with a Vue 2-like syntax, providing a familiar environment for web developers using JS and CSS. ArkJS incorporates the HarmonyOS Markup Language (HML), which allows attributes prefixed with @ for MVVM

architectural pattern Software architecture pattern is a reusable, proven solution to a specific, recurring problem focused on architectural design challenges, which can be applied within various architectural styles. Examples Some examples of architectural patte ...

History

During HDC 2021 on October 22, 2021, the HarmonyOS 3.0 developer preview introduced ArkUI 3.0 for eTS, JS programming languages with ArkCompiler. Compared to previous versions of ArkUI 1.0 and 2.0 under imperative development with Java in earlier versions of HarmonyOS. During HDC 2022 HarmonyOS 3.1 in November 2022, Huawei ArkUI evolved into full declarative development featuring declarative UI capabilities, improved layout ability, component capability improvement and others. In April 2023, HarmonyOS 3.1 Beta 1 build included ArkUI declarative 2D and 3D drawing capabilities. The upgrade also improves layout, component, and app state management capabilities. During HDC 2023, August 2023, Huawei announced HarmonyOS 4.0 improvements of ArkUI with

alongside native

software development using Ark Engine with

ArkGraphics 2D HarmonyOS (HMOS) ( zh, s=鸿蒙, p=Hóngméng, tr=Vast Mist) is a distributed operating system developed by Huawei for smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, smart watches, personal computers and other smart devices. It has a microkernel design wit ...

and ArkGraphics 3D. Also, the company announced a cross platform extension of ArkUI called ArkUI-X which would allow developers to run applications across Android, iOS and HarmonyOS under one project using DevEco Studio IDE and Visual Studio Code plugins. On January 18, 2024, during HarmonyOS Ecology Conference, Huawei revealed the

software stack, that included ArkUI/ArkUI-X programming framework with the Ark Compiler/ BiSheng Compiler/ Ark Runtime compiler & runtime, for both ArkTS and incoming .

ArkUI-X

ArkUI-X is an

open-source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use and view the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open source model is a decentrali ...

software development kit A software development kit (SDK) is a collection of software development tools in one installable package. They facilitate the creation of applications by having a compiler, debugger and sometimes a software framework. They are normally specific t ...

which is the extension of ArkUI created for building cross platform applications, including Android,

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

targets additionally.

Web platform The Web platform is a collection of technologies developed as open standards by the World Wide Web Consortium and other standardization bodies such as the Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group, the Unicode Consortium, the Internet Engi ...

support with ArkJS was released on December 8, 2023. ArkUI-X consists of both a UI language and a rendering engine.

Features

The ArkUI architecture is divided into three layers: the top layer offers a declarative UI paradigm; the middle layer consists of the Ark Compiler and runtime, the UI backend engine, and the rendering engine; and the bottom layer serves as the platform adaptation and bridging layer. System components are built-in components within the ArkUI framework, categorized into container components and basic components. For example, Row and Column are container components that can hold other components, while Text and Button are basic components.

Examples

The following is an example of a simple

Hello World Hello World may refer to: * "Hello, World!" program, a computer program that outputs or displays the message "Hello, World!" Music * "Hello World!" (composition), song by the Iamus computer * "Hello World" (Tremeloes song), 1969 * "Hello World" ...

program. It is standard practice in ArkUI to separate the application struct and views into different structs, with the main view named Index. import ArkTS // Index.ets import router from '@ohos.router'; @Entry @Component struct Index The @ohos.router routing library implements page transitions, which must be declared in the main_pages.json file before being invoked.

HarmonyOS ecosystem

HarmonyOS Connect

On May 18, 2021, Huawei revealed a plan to upgrade its HarmonyOS Connect brand with a standard badge during a summit in Shanghai to help industrial partners in producing, selling and operating products with third-party OEMs as part of the HarmonyOS system, framework and the Huawei Smart Life (formerly Huawei AI Life) app. Allowing for fast and low-cost connections to users, smart devices like speakers, fridges and cookers of different brands powered by HarmonyOS can be connected and merged into a super device with a single touch of smartphone without the need to install apps. Also, HiLink protocols for mesh and wireless routers connectivity with devices alongside other smart devices that are platform agnostic that connects to HarmonyOS devices. The HarmonyOS Connect sets the platform apart from traditional mobile and computing platforms and the company's previous ecosystem attempts with its Android based EMUI and LiteOS connectivity in the past.

HarmonyOS Cockpit

On April 27, 2021, Huawei launched a smart cockpit solution powered by HarmonyOS for electric and autonomous cars powered by its Kirin line of a

system-on-chip A system on a chip (SoC) is an integrated circuit that combines most or all key components of a computer or electronic system onto a single microchip. Typically, an SoC includes a central processing unit (CPU) with memory, input/output, and da ...

(SoC) solution. Huawei opened up APIs to help automobile OEMs, suppliers and ecosystem partners in developing features to meet user requirements. Huawei designed a modular SoC for cars that will be pluggable and easy to upgrade to maintain the peak performance of the cockpit. Users would be able to upgrade the chipset as one can upgrade on an assembled desktop computer with its scalable distributed OS. On December 21, 2021, Huawei launched a new smart console brand, HarmonySpace, a specialized HarmonyOS vehicle operating system. Based on Huawei's 1+8 ecology, apps on smartphones and tablets can be connected to the car seamlessly with HarmonySpace, which also provides smartphone projection capability. On December 23, 2021, Huawei announced a new smart select car product – AITO M5, a medium-size SUV with HarmonyOS ecosystem through continuous AI learning optimization and over-the-air upgrades. On July 4, 2022, Huawei officially launched AITO smart select car product to be shipped to customers sometime in August 2022. During the launch, the company received 10,000 pre-orders in 2 hours for its M7 model. Huawei MagLink built on interconnected Cockpit solution, enables drivers to make the mobile phone application full amount of car, no need for telephony navigation. Huawei's car solution through seamless HarmonyOS system application, eliminate the need for drivers to use mobile phone navigation nor the need to install mobile phone holders. With this solution, enables more built in accessible entertainment and information services. The integration of software and hardware technologies installed on the car, achieving “mobile whole-house intelligence.”

MineHarmony OS

On 14 September 2021, Huawei announced the launch of MineHarmony OS, a customized operating system by Huawei based on its in-house HarmonyOS based on OpenHarmony for industrial use. MineHarmony is compatible with about 400 types of underground coal mining equipment, providing the equipment with a single interface to transmit and collect data for analysis. Wang Chenglu, President of Huawei's consumer business AI and smart full-scenario business department, indicated that the launch of MineHarmony OS signified that the HarmonyOS ecology had taken a step further from

B2C Direct-to-consumer (DTC or D2C) or business-to-consumer (B2C) is the business model of selling products directly to customers and thereby bypassing any third-party retailers, wholesalers, or middlemen. Direct-to-consumer sales are usually transa ...

to B2B.

Market share

On December 23, 2021, Yu Chengdong, CEO of Huawei Consumer Business Group, claimed that HarmonyOS had reached 300 million smartphones and other

s, including 200 million devices in the ecosystem and 100 million third-party consumer products from industry partners. Market research conducted in China by Strategy Analytics showed that Harmony OS was the third largest smartphone platform after

Apple iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

and

Google Android Android is an operating system based on a modified version of the Linux kernel and other open-source software, designed primarily for touchscreen-based mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. Android has historically been developed b ...

, reaching a record high of 4% market share in China during the first quarter of 2022, up from zero just a year earlier. This increase in market share took place after the operating system was also launched for smartphone devices in June 2021. The research claimed that in the first quarter of 2022 the platform outgrew its rivals, such as Android and Apple iOS, from a low install base of about 150 million smart devices overall, particularly due to the good support in China and the HarmonyOS software upgrades that Huawei made available for its older handset models and its former sub-brands such as

. On August 8, 2022, after the soft launch of HarmonyOS 3, Sina Finance, part of

Sina Corporation Sina Corporation () is a Chinese technology company. Sina operates four major business lines: Sina Weibo, Sina Mobile, Sina Online, and Sinanet. Sina has over 100 million registered users worldwide. Sina was recognized by ''Southern Weekend'' as ...

, and Huawei Central reported that the number of Huawei HarmonyOS Connect devices had exceeded 470 million units. By summer 2022, 14 OpenHarmony distributions had been launched. In the third quarter of 2023, HarmonyOS captured a 3% share of the global smartphone market and 13% within China, despite Huawei's limitation to LTE at the time. At the launch of HarmonyOS 4 in August 2023, it was noted that the operating system had been integrated into over 700 million devices. By January 18, 2024, during Huawei's HarmonyOS Ecology Conference in China, this number had risen to over 800 million devices, as reported by Huawei. In the first quarter of 2024, HarmonyOS reached a 4% market share globally and captured 17% of the Chinese market, surpassing iOS to become the second largest mobile platform domestically, as reported by Counterpoint Research on May 25, 2024. During the HDC 2024 keynote conference, it was announced that HarmonyOS had reached 900 million active users on June 21, 2024. On October 22, 2024, Huawei announced at its HarmonyOS NEXT 5 event that the HarmonyOS platform had 1 billion active users. In the first quarter of 2025, HarmonyOS increased its market share globally to 5%; it also held 19% of the Chinese market, an increase of 2 percentage points over the same quarter in 2024.

Relationship with OpenEuler

In terms of architecture, HarmonyOS has close relationship with OpenEuler, which is a community edition of

EulerOS EulerOS is a commercial Linux distribution developed by Huawei based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux to provide an operating system for server and cloud environments. Its open-source community version is known as openEuler; the source code of openEul ...

, as they have implemented the sharing of kernel technology as revealed by Deng Taihua, President of Huawei's Computing Product Line. The sharing is reportedly to be strengthened in the future in the areas of the distributed

software bus A software bus is a software architecture model where a shared communication channel facilitates connections and communication between software modules. This makes software buses conceptually similar to the ''bus'' used in computer hardware for in ...

, system security, app framework, device driver framework and new programming language.

Relationship between HarmonyOS and OpenHarmony

is an open-source version of HarmonyOS donated by Huawei to the OpenAtom Foundation, built around a LiteOS kernel descended from original LiteOS operating system. It supports devices running a mini system such as printers, speakers, smartwatches and any other smart device with memory as small as 128 KB, or running a standard system with memory greater than 128 MB. The open-source operating system contains the basic capabilities of HarmonyOS and does not depend on the

Android Open Source Project Android is an operating system based on a modified version of the Linux kernel and other open-source software, designed primarily for touchscreen-based mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. Android has historically been developed by ...

(AOSP) code.

HarmonyOS NEXT

On August 4, 2023, at Huawei Developers Conference 2023 (HDC), Huawei officially announced HarmonyOS NEXT, the next iteration system version of HarmonyOS, supporting only native APP apps via Ark Compiler with Huawei Mobile Services (HMS), and ending the support for Android apk apps. Built on a custom version of

, HarmonyOS NEXT

proprietary {{Short pages monitor