At the 2019 Huawei Developer Conference, the President of Huawei’s Consumer Business Group Software Development, Dr. Chenglu Wang, presented at a Media Roundtable, discussing the latest update of Huawei’s Android-based operating system EMUI 10, its own multi-device operating system HarmonyOS, and the future of its relationship with Google.
Back in May, Huawei was added to an entity list, effectively banning the tech giant from trading with U.S companies; it was subsequently granted a three-month extension, allowing Huawei smartphone users to receive updates until 19 August 2018.
With the extension’s end date looming, we still don’t know exactly what the future holds for Huawei phone users but Dr. Wang offered his thoughts on each outcome and how they might play out.
The Plan A will always be Huawei’s partnership with Google
Dr. Wang, who is primarily responsible for Huawei’s EMUI launcher and cloud solutions, stated that Huawei’s partnership with Google will always be the company’s “Plan A”. Whether or not that partnership will be allowed to continue is, Dr. Wang says, the “billion-dollar question”.
“If we are allowed to do so, we will continue our partnership with Google”.
This question has been on the lips of every Huawei user since May when the ban was first announced but it was especially prudent at HDC 2019, where Huawei announced its own operating system, HarmonyOS, which doesn’t rely on Google services.
All the talk around HarmonyOS seemed to suggest that it would be the most powerful operating system on the market. When asked if there were any advantages to using HarmonyOS over Android, Dr. Wang boasted the operating system’s "unmatched performance". Comparisons were made mostly towards Apple’s iPhone operating system and Huawei avoided making any direct claims against Android.
“When we were designing the HarmonyOS, we decided we must deploy the most advanced technology across the entire stack.”
HarmonyOS’s greatest advantage over the competition is that is microkernel-based, Dr. Wang said, which allows for greater performance, compatibility, distribution, and lower power consumption.
The backup plan: Rolling out HarmonyOS on mobile
Of course, whether or not Huawei gets to maintain its symbiotic relationship is out of both companies’ hands. If things were to go south and Huawei and Google are banned from working with each other, Huawei’s back-up plan is to move existing and future Huawei smartphone users to HarmonyOS, which Huawei’s Executive Director of Consumer, Richard Yu, says is ready to roll out in the worst-case scenario.
When asked how long it would take to switch Huawei smartphones from Android to Harmony, Dr. Wang assured the audience that it would take no longer than 3 to 4 days to have HarmonyOS rolled out on Huawei smartphones.
However, other Huawei executives suggested that HarmonyOS would likely not be seen in a phone for at least 12 months, which means current Huawei devices - like the P30 Pro - will continue to run Android for the foreseeable future.
Security patches for existing Android users
Dr. Wang also discussed Richard Yu’s recent meeting with Google execs, where he managed to negotiate software updates for Android users all the way up until Android Q (which is expected to release in Q3 2019). This essentially gives Huawei a year of breathing room in terms of getting HarmonyOS ready for smartphones.
While most users could, technically, continue using their Android-operated smartphones beyond that date, one of the most pressing concerns is whether or not they will be able to receive Android security patches moving forward.
Without access to Android security patches, Huawei smartphone users would be left vulnerable to hacks. When asked what kind of security support would be offered to Huawei users past the cut-off date, Dr. Wang assured media that Huawei would have access, and the right to access, the code for Android’s security and software updates via the open-source community. Dr. Wang emphasised that “they [existing handsets] will be fine for their entire time on the market".
This would mean Huawei devices would receive monthly security updates at a slower pace than Google releases them, but Huawei would not be cut off from them entirely thanks to Android's open source nature.
The bottom line: What does this mean for Australian Huawei users?
Despite some enlightening details on what both outcomes might look like, we won’t know what the future holds for Huawei users until the ban extension is up on August 19.
If it goes ahead and Huawei is prohibited from working with Google, it’s likely that Huawei will forge ahead with getting HarmonyOS ready for its smartphones, but we might not see this for sometime due to the fact that Huawei is able to upgrade existing devices to and ship in-development devices with Android Q.
If HarmonyOS is as powerful as Huawei claims, it could spell a bold new era for the manufacturer. It’s not going to suit folks who rely on Google services, like Google Calendar, Gmail and Docs, and it will require extensive developer support to be a viable product, but it puts Huawei more in control of its own future.
The only issue here is; we didn’t actually get a close look at how HarmonyOS might run on a smartphone. Huawei is touting its new operating system as a single solution for multi-device support (as opposed to a separate OS for every device type) so we have an idea of what that experience might look like but we haven’t seen anything concrete.
If the scenario plays out as most people are expecting and the Huawei ban is lifted, Huawei users will continue to use their devices as normal.
WhistleOut travelled to China for the Huawei Developer Conference as a guest of Huawei
Brodie Fogg
Managing Editor - Streaming
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