Honor shows off Harmony OS at the IFA 2019
At an event at the IFA 2019 in Berlin, Honor showed its new smart TV, the Honor Vision, running the new operating system, Harmony OS. This should be able to eventually replace Android for Huawei, but it is inspired by another operating system.
Honor showed the Honor Vision smart TV, but stopped short of officially announcing it. It will continue to be available only in China, and we were in Europe. The manufacturer did not provide any information on a European launch. There was, however, a short demo of the OS. The exciting thing about it is that the new Huawei operating system Harmony OS was running the TV.
Because the device is only available in China, the software is still completely in Chinese. Honor showed how it connects to a smart home system. For example, the lights in your house can be switched on and off via the TV or the vacuum cleaner robot can be sent on its way.
The pop-up camera on the device can be used for photos, but also for video calls. In addition, a smartphone can also be mirrored so that the apps of the smartphone can be used on the television. But the television itself also has apps. In the Huawei App Gallery, there are already apps, but not that many. Exactly what is found on the store is difficult to comprehend so far, especially for a European audience.
Harmony OS should be able to replace Android as the operating system for Huawei phone, but it is not yet visible on a smartphone. But on Smart TV it looks very similar to Apple's TvOS. The icons are similarly designed, the animations seem to be inspired by them and the operation is also reminiscent of Apple's system.
What do you think of this first impression of Harmony OS? Do you think it can replace Android on smartphones?
It won't replace Android for me. Linux might. Well see what I think of my Purism when it arrives.