Huawei introduced its Harmony OS operating system, XDA Developers reported. 

At the Huawei Developer Conference, Huawei finally shared the first details about its in-house OS, but the company wasn’t ready to show off Harmony on smartphones just yet.

The novelty will replace the currently used Android operating system. After Huawei was blacklisted by the U.S. Commerce Department on May 17, Google deprived Huawei of access to Android updates. Google later said that updates for Huawei devices will be available within the next 90 days in accordance with a temporary license issued by the US authorities on May 20.

The new operating system works on the basis of a microkernel and allows you to synchronize various devices: computers, phones, and smart home appliances.

New operating system

According to the company, initially, Harmony OS 1.0 will be used in smartwatches, smart screens. Within three years, it will be optimized and will affect an even wider range of devices.

“The use of a microkernel also improves security, according to Huawei. The microkernel only “provides the most basic services like thread scheduling and IPC,” while most system services are implemented in user space. With less code to audit, the probability that a new attack will be discovered will be low. Huawei also says it is using “formal verification methods” to secure the TEE kernel. Huawei says this technique, which uses a “mathematical approach to validate system correctness from the source,” is mainly applied to security-critical fields like aerospace and chipsets, “significantly contributing to system reliability and robustness.” The microkernel can furthermore be “scaled on demand for wider system security.” In closing, Huawei boasts that products can achieve an EAL 5+ certification level running the new OS,” the source noted. “Finally, Huawei announced its plans to open-source Harmony OS, establish an open-source foundation, and create an open-source community for collaboration.”