Huawei accelerates Android replacement tests after seven years of development work
The world’s number one manufacturer of telecommunications equipment and number two smartphone vendor is under siege from all sides of the mobile industry as a result of mounting US political pressure, but both officially and unofficially, Huawei has repeatedly suggested contingency plans are in place to tackle a prospective “worst-case scenario.”
Huawei’s in-house OS is still not ready for primetime
Unfortunately for Huawei, the day of reckoning has come early and suddenly, as despite so many years of preparation and “thousands” of internal tests, the HongMeng program remains unfinished. Its biggest rumored problem is system-wide Android compatibility, which would ideally allow it to seamlessly download and run every single app designed specifically for Google’s market-leading software platform.
Naturally, that’s something that needs a great deal of time and care to get just right, and alas, Huawei’s engineers are quickly running out of time. Ever since 2012, the reported goal of this ambitious project that was largely kept under wraps until recently was to emulate the best Android and iOS features and somehow make them better. While the “Ark OS” core is described by inside sources in glowing terms, as a “light microkernel that can react quickly to adjustments and batches”, it remains unclear how close Huawei is to cracking the Android compatibility code.
Tests are ramping up and a release of some kind will happen soon
If Trump’s ban is not abolished in the next couple of months or so, Huawei has no choice but to roll out this currently unfinished, inadequately tested operating system and hope for the best. Until that happens, all the consumer product tests that weren’t performed all these years will have to be pretty hastily executed.
For the time being, all we know is that security will be a major focus, with “increased functions” designed to “protect personal data.” Huawei also wants this bad boy to run on all its devices, ranging from phones to tablets, wearables, computers, televisions, and even the cars of the future.