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- More than Ars Technica, Ron Amadeo went through an invasive background check to try out Huawei’s Harmony OS.
- It turns out that, unequivocally, Huawei’s new alternative operating system is literally Android 10 with little change.
- Amadeo’s article paints a very unflattering picture of how Huawei might behave under the US government ban.
When news of the still ongoing Huawei ban broke in 2019, the company quickly revealed its “Plan B”. As it turned out, Plan B must have been known as Harmony OS (or Hongmeng OS in China). Huawei has said that its new mobile operating system will work on smartphones, IoT devices, wearable devices, etc. It would unite all technology platforms and prevent Huawei from relying on Google.
Catch up: Huawei’s ban: a full timeline and everything you need to know
However, Ron Amadeo at Ars Technica had access to a first beta version of this system for smartphones, and it definitely reveals that it is not that different from Android. In fact, it looks like Harmony is actually just Android 10 with EMUI and some slight changes.
Harmony OS: Android under another name
in the Ars Technica article, you can see tons of system screenshots. The screenshots are from what Amadeo assumes to be a physical device located somewhere in China. Huawei prevents anyone from downloading the operating system. Instead, you need to virtually access this physical phone over the Internet.
In addition, Amadeo had to present his passport and a photo of his credit card (!!!) as part of his request for access to Harmony OS. After a two-day verification period, he was finally able to verify the system. On the other hand, anyone can download the Android SDK for free without any application requirements.
Related: Harmony OS 2.0 announced: here’s what we know
Once there was access, Amadeo discovered that the system was strangely familiar. He found several references to Android files and saw carbon copies of Android features including dark mode, gesture navigation, settings permissions, and even the distinctive notification panel.
We’re not going to go over it all here because you should definitely read the article. However, this does not give a good picture of Huawei’s current ambitions to continue in the smartphone market without Google.
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