January 4, 2024, by Liwei Yao

In recent news, Huawei is expected to hold a significant event on January 18th, which will unveil a new chapter for the Hongmeng ecosystem and HarmonyOS NEXT. Yu Chengdong, a Huawei executive, previously announced that the new developer preview version of HarmonyOS NEXT is set to be available to all developers during the first quarter of the year, making this event a potential opportunity for its debut.

It is noteworthy that this operating system is entirely developed in-house and has removed the traditional Linux kernel and AOSP (Android Open Source Project) codes. It supports only Hongmeng’s kernel and applications designed for its platform. Reports indicate that some users have discovered that HarmonyOS NEXT is no longer compatible with Android applications, receiving a message stating “This file cannot be opened” when attempting to launch Android APK files.

Meanwhile, in the past few months, over 400 companies have initiated the development of native applications for Hongmeng, covering a wide range of fields such as navigation, news, tools, travel, finance, convenience services, food, and gaming. According to the latest forecasts from research agencies, starting in 2024, HarmonyOS is expected to become the second-largest smartphone operating system in the Chinese market and may establish an independent application ecosystem.