Huawei unveiled its new OS that will replace Google’s Android

When Huawei found itself unable to do business with US tech companies a couple of years ago, the Chinese handset vendor rolled out a version of Android with no Google apps preinstalled. The US ban on Huawei meant Google could not license the Android experience available on other handsets to Huawei, so the Chinese giant had to create a fork for the world's most popular mobile operating system. All Huawei Android phones that followed shipped with the Huawei Mobile Services (HMS) platform on top of Android. That was a massive challenge for Huawei. International Android buyers are used to a specific Android experience that includes access to Gmail, YouTube, Chrome, Google Maps, and especially the Play Store. Huawei had to devise its own app store (the AppGallery) on its new phones, and it could not include any Google apps.

Aside from customizing its Android phones with HMS, Huawei started working on a separate OS for its smartphones called HarmonyOS. The new software could run on smartphones, tablets but also other smart devices. Google is developing Fuchsia, an OS that would have similar abilities. HarmonyOS is ready to launch, representing the biggest threat to Android so far.