Harmony OS: What Will Happen to Our Applications?

Cross-Platform Developer Knowledge Will Appreciate

📅 2020.12.16 - 👤 Borbély Viktor

Huawei begins its long-term transition from Android with the beta version of Harmony OS for some smartphones and tablets source: xda-developers.com

One by-product of the hegemony between Huawei and the USA is that Huawei has been working on developing the new Harmony OS operating system for a year now. This has already reached the beta developer phase on the latest mobiles. However, the question arises for development companies whether we can use our already acquired cross-platform knowledge on the new Hongmeng OS as well?

What is Harmony OS?

In August 2019, news came that Huawei is developing its own operating system called Harmony OS (initially it was called Hongmeng OS, roughly “primordial chaos”). This was officially intended first for IoT (Internet of Things) devices. The 2.0 version was officially released a year later, in September 2020 (besides watch, smart TV, head unit) for smartphones. The first official mobiles are expected in series in 2021.

Essentially, what is emerging in the long term is that it will replace the Android system. Which raises many questions due to the closely intertwined ecosystem. Although competitive quality is only a matter of time.

Which models can get it first?

Based on xda-developers.com, these devices can receive the Harmony OS 2.0 developer beta version:

  • Huawei P40 (ANA-AN00)
  • Huawei P40 Pro (ELS-AN00)
  • Huawei Mate 30 (TAS-AL00)
  • Huawei Mate 30 5G (TAS-AN00)
  • Huawei Mate 30 Pro (LIO-AL00)
  • Huawei Mate 30 Pro 5G (LIO-AN00)
  • Huawei MatePad Pro (MRX-AL19)
  • Huawei MatePad Pro 5G (MRX-W09)
  • Huawei MatePad Pro Wi-Fi (MRX-AN19)

This can arrive with an update to committed developers.

Developers’ life

The article also points out that code can be written in Java language and UI screens in XML. Huawei hopes that this will be popular among developers and makes the transition easy. This is also necessary for popular applications to transfer to their own Huawei App Gallery as soon as possible. The App Gallery is a building block of the HMS (Huawei Mobile Services) ecosystem. This is Huawei’s alternative to GMS (Google Mobile Services).

In March 2020, 50,000 applications were available, compared to Google Play Store’s 3 million apps. There’s room to grow.

Will there be support for it in Flutter?

The question received number #38437 on Flutter’s official bug list, where active community interest is shown in whether there will be support?

Filtering Flutter’s official package repository, it appears that starting from June 2020, numerous packages have been ported to Flutter with Android support. It’s understandable that they’re shooting for Android first due to its high penetration.

Among the packages are the basics: GPS, Machine Learning (ML), Augmented Reality (AR), Push Notification, Analytics, Maps, Ads.

Interestingly, there is a Huawei Contact Shield Kit Flutter Plugin, which may have been created in connection with the current COVID-19. It was specifically tailored for contact tracing ( avoidance). Otherwise, it uses BLE (BlueTooth Low-Energy) technology.

The Flutter Embedder is Flutter’s lowest level adapter part that connects the framework to the current (mobile, browser) architecture. This is always written specifically, natively, as required by the given device. Therefore, only this small part always needs to be written, and support is given.

This doesn’t seem like a limitation, so support is assured.

React Native, the other major player

When discussing cross-platform development, RN cannot be left out either. RN 0.60 version promises easy integration with HMS, which provides the main services to the mobile. Without this, it would be difficult to operate an application. The official Huawei pages assure that integration goes easily.

Competition usually does the market good. Service quality improves, neither party can rest on their laurels of success. There’s continuous fierce struggle for better and better functions. Competition can also push prices down, which can ultimately result in gains for consumers.

Companies developing for cross-platform can save significant costs by being able to reach multiple platforms simultaneously in a shorter time. What the future of this will be is still questionable for many.

When choosing technology, it must be considered what existing team is available. Whether there is more web or mobile knowledge, and to schedule learning the technology accordingly.

A FrontEnd web developer will rather vote for ReactNative, while a native mobile developer will gladly learn “in Flutter”, in the Dart language.