Huawei has confirmed that in 2021 HarmonyOS will be getting its general release for smartphones, with the software arriving on new devices as well as being available as an upgrade to existing ones.
The new operating system allows devices interact with HarmonyOS-based IoT devices, bringing a unique all-scenario experience to users, including using the camera of a bigger-screen device for video calling.
Harmony OS will adopt a new design language and will use more innovative designs and better full-scene experiences. The company will release a new beta version of the OS for developers on December 16th.
Back in September, Richard Yu announced the roadmap for HarmonyOS:
“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.
According to Wang Chenglu, president of the software department at Huawei Consumer Business Group, the open-source platform will be available to developers around December 18 and the first demo units will run the OS by January or February 2021.
Wang revealed all the employees at Huawei are working towards building a new ecosystem around the Harmony idea and so far everything is going according to plan. When the initial reports come back in the first quarter of 2021, the public beta should launch around April 2021.
