Harmony OS and Life Without Google

posted on: Sep 28, 2019

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The Chinese technology company Huawei was at the center of a global controversy earlier this year when they were placed under a trade ban by the United States. If that wasn’t bad enough for Huawei, they were then dropped from Google’s Android operating system.

In response, Huawei has decided to launch its own operating system – Harmony – which for the time being, will only be available to customers in China. Plans to unveil the new system around the world are largely dependent on its success in Huawei’s home country.

So what are the challenges facing Huawei and what does life without Google on Android actually mean for users? Read on to find out.

Existing Users

If you bought a Huawei product prior to President Donald Trump’s trade ban then you have nothing to worry about. Google pledged to continue providing Google support and services to those users.

That means that regardless of what happens between the US government, Google and Huawei you should still be able to use your Huawei device with little to no change. Although do bear in mind the volatility of the current situation.

Trump has flipped-flopped on his decision to ban Huawei, lifting the initial ban, then deciding to reinstate it before seemingly lifting it for a final time. The President has also put pressure on his country’s allies to ban Huawei or put pressure on the company.

Nothing is set in stone, especially with a President that changes his mind based on the direction of the wind.

Why Harmony?

When Google decided to follow the lead of the US government in blacklisting Huawei, it meant that the company would no longer have access to Google’s Android framework. To put it lightly, that was catastrophic news for Huawei.

Every app in the world is designed for either iOS or Android and in some cases both. In no longer having access to Google’s Android framework, new Huawei devices suddenly would have access to a tiny percentage of all apps on the market.

As a response to that Huawei developed its own operating system and are working feverishly in a bid to convince major apps to produce compatible apps for their new platform.

Will Harmony Work Out?

It’s hard to say conclusively whether or not Harmony will be a success and whether or not it will be a viable alternative to Android and iOS. Although if history is anything to go by, we can say with some certainty that it is going to be an uphill battle for Huawei.

Blackberry found out to their own downfall how difficult it could be to rival Android and iOS when a number of high-profile apps like Instagram refused to license their apps for its system.

Unlike Huawei, Blackberry was a company without worries about their conduct and saleability, yet they still failed to ger big brands to sign up to their operating system. If bookmakers offered odds on the success of Harmony OS, they would probably start at around 100/1…