Huawei aiming for life beyond Android and Windows

Jun 4, 2019 08:00 GMT  ·  By

The executive ban signed by US President Donald Trump last month blocked Huawei from working with American companies, and this involves the Chinese tech giant no longer being allowed to use products like Android and Windows on its devices.

As a result, because Huawei needs to survive without these two operating systems, the company started the work on its very own universal platform that would power both smartphones and PCs.

Codenamed Hongmeng and likely to launch as Ark OS, this operating system is supposed to arrive for Chinese devices later this year.

And today we have the very first screenshots showing Ark OS on a smartphone (via WinFuture).

As you can see in the photos embedded in the gallery below, Ark OS looks and feels a lot like Android. This is because Huawei probably wants to offer a high level of consistency when transitioning from the original version of Android to its new operating system.

This way, users would feel more familiar and are more unlikely to get used to the new OS faster.

Support for Android apps

By the looks of things, Android apps would also run on Huawei’s new operating system, albeit they will be offered through the company’s very own app store. Huawei is no longer allowed to use Google apps or the Google Play Store on its new smartphones.

Additionally, users will be allowed to install APK files on devices powered by Ark OS, so even if Google services might be blocked, there might be a way to deploy them on Huawei’s smartphones.

There’s a lot we don’t know at this point about Huawei’s new smartphone push, but more information should make the rounds in the coming weeks as we approach the date when the company could release Ark OS for users in China.

The international launch of devices powered by its own Android and Windows alternative is projected to happen in 2020.

Photo Gallery (13 Images)

Alleged Ark OS screenshots
Alleged Ark OS screenshotsAlleged Ark OS screenshots
+10more