What is Hongmeng and what is its relationship with Android?

Huawei released Harmony OS, also known as Hongmeng system, some time ago.

For a time, the entire digital circle exploded. As long as it was a forum related to digital, there was no one who was not discussing Hongmeng. The number of visits to the Huawei forum increased dozens of times in an instant, and the server has not yet slowed down.

If you open a search engine and search for Hongmeng now, you will find that almost all media are praising Hongmeng. "Completely self-developed domestic system", "Kicking Apple and punching Google", "Huawei's turnaround", "The answer to the Internet of Everything".

Such exaggerated adjectives make it difficult for people not to doubt the facts. Is Hongmeng really so powerful?

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Hello everyone, I am Yui Hirasawa, a digital enthusiast.

Nowadays, Hongmeng’s popularity can be said to be at the top of the digital circle. Everyone knows that Hongmeng is good, but what is so good about it?

I believe that most of you here have little understanding of this issue.

Today I will boldly talk to you about the Hongmeng system. Of course, I am just a digital enthusiast. This article is also based on the official press conference and my personal experience. If you have relevant experience in OS development, you are welcome to add your views on Hongmeng in the comment area.

There has been a lot of quarrel online about whether Hongmeng is an Android shell.

The key argument is that the bottom layer of the mobile phone system currently released by Hongmeng uses AOSP code.

The full name of AOSP is: Android Open Source Project.

By using AOSP’s open source code, does that mean it’s a shell of Android?

I don’t think so.

Although AOSP is called the Android Open Source Project, it is not an exclusive open source project for Android.

AOSP is based on Linux. Although it is dominated by Google, the source code belongs to all developers around the world.

Android is also developed based on AOSP.

Nowadays, the systems of other domestic mobile phone brands, such as Xiaomi's MIUI; OPPO's color OS, etc., are all based on AOSP.

So I think Harmony OS can at best be regarded as the brothers of Android. The two have the same origin, but they are very different.

The same MIUI; Color OS, etc. are also brothers and sisters of Harmony OS.

Although they are both brothers, Harmony OS and MIUI; Color OS are also somewhat different.

When you turn on your mobile phone, you can often see this sentence under the manufacturer's logo, Powered by Android.

The literal translation of this sentence means: This device is powered by Android.

This is also one of the reasons why many people think that MIUI and Color OS cover Android, but in fact, this sentence was added by GMS as required by manufacturers.

GMS (Google Mobile Services) is a set of mobile software and cloud services launched by Google, including Google Store, Google Maps, Google Cloud Services, etc. Only GMS-certified devices can use GMS, but GMS is not free. At the same time, Google stipulates that as long as the device passes GMS certification, it must add Powered by Android on the startup interface.

Although there is no dependence on GMS in China, it can be said that it is basically difficult to operate without this thing abroad.

Therefore, mobile phone manufacturers will pay Google to get a GMS certification, and add the words "Powered by Android" to the startup interface as required.

But I just said that they are all based on AOSP.

Because Huawei is included in the entity list of the United States, Google cannot provide GMS services to Huawei. This is why the startup interface of Harmony OS is not Powered by Android.

This is also the biggest difference between Harmony OS and other manufacturers’ systems.

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Let me briefly summarize it here, otherwise some people will be confused.

AOSP is an open source operating system based on Linux. Although the maintainer is Google, it belongs to all developers around the world.

Google will not interfere with any product developed by AOSP.

Strictly speaking, Android=AOSP+GMS.

The systems of other domestic manufacturers are also AOSP+GMS, which can be called Android, but are essentially in-depth customization based on AOSP.

Although the Harmony OS just released by Huawei is based on AOSP, it does not use the GMS service, so it cannot be called android. Similarly, Harmony OS cannot be called an Android shell because it is based on AOSP.

If Huawei doesn’t want to use it, it’s definitely possible.

But for now, using AOSP for in-depth customization is a better solution.

In terms of development costs, AOSP is a ready-made open source project, and it is also the bottom layer of the current mainstream system. Using AOSP to develop can save a lot of costs and risks of starting from scratch.

From the perspective of user migration, the AOSP-based system will not make the user experience fragmented, and third-party APPs do not need to specially adapt to the new system.

Users will not have any learning costs when migrating to a new system. This is very important for a system with tens of millions of users, and it is also easier to promote the new system.

If AOSP is not used, just imagine: an operating system that requires learning how to use it from scratch, and there are not many third-party APP support.

It is difficult to promote such a system, let alone survive.

Therefore, Huawei's current use of AOSP should be to better promote the new system and reduce user costs

At the same time, Huawei has not given up the idea of ??reinventing the wheel.

From the Huawei HDC 2019 Developer Conference, we can see the development plan of Harmony OS.

The Harmony OS currently installed on mobile phones is still in the 1.0 stage based on the open source framework. In the future 2.0, it will completely break away from AOSP and become a completely self-developed system from the kernel to the application framework.

At the same time, the current Harmony OS is equipped with dual frameworks, which supports both traditional APk applications and HAT applications developed based on Harmony OS.

In the future, AOSP will be decoupled through step-by-step system updates until a single framework does not rely on AOSP at all. Reached Harmony OS 2.0 stage.

I think Hongmeng’s real breakthrough is the distributed system. It is a set of system codes that adapt to a variety of terminal devices.

The mobile phone systems, computer systems, and smart wearable systems we use now are all different. If these systems want to be linked, it is very difficult to adapt and be compatible with each other.

Hongmeng’s real breakthrough is distributed systems, whether it is mobile phones, tablets, smart watches, or smart homes. All can run the same system.

This is Hongmeng’s biggest breakthrough, breaking down the barriers between various devices and making them truly interconnected.

In existing systems, the interconnection between Android and Windows often requires the help of various cloud services and third-party software. During use, not only must full Internet access be ensured, but also delays between cloud synchronizations must be endured.

In IOS, although various devices can achieve simple interconnection, the interconnection experience of unofficial software still requires the help of third-party cloud synchronization like Android.

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Harmony OS completely solves the interconnection problem between various devices.

At the press conference, we saw that mobile games can be played on tablets with one click, and we saw that videos on tablets can be directly cast to TVs for seamless viewing.

The device itself is no longer important, the content you want can be played wherever you want.

One as All, All as One

Although Harmony OS is still in its fledgling stage, we can already judge what Harmony OS will look like in the future through the current prototype of Harmony OS. .

In the future, devices using Harmony OS will no longer need to rely on various cloud services to synchronize. Whenever you want, with just one swipe, the content will be synced seamlessly to the device you want.

Harmony OS allows users to transcend the limitations of hardware and freely combine hardware, breaking down the barriers between devices, allowing content to be transferred between devices, and allowing different smart devices to operate smoothly together. , as simple as using a device, thus providing an infinite space for the "Internet of Everything"

In the future, there may be no more computers, no more mobile phones, no more tablets.

There are only contents, and the device to display them.

Hello everyone, I am Yui Hirasawa, a digital enthusiast.

After learning about the release of Hongmeng, I went to the store yesterday to experience the new system for a while.

I wanted to give you a detailed picture and text experience, but the shop assistant kept looking at me and I was too embarrassed to take out my phone and keep taking pictures.

So the graphic experience becomes a graphic introduction. I also hope that this article can help you understand the Hongmeng system better.