Huawei unveils its rival to Android. It's called Harmony

Huawei has finally unveiled its own operating system, a move that could help shield the smartphone maker from the escalating US-China trade war.

The reveal of Harmony OS comes months after the Chinese tech company was placed on a US trade blacklist that barred American firms from selling tech and software to Huawei unless they get a license to do so. That ban has prevented companies like Google from supplying new Huawei devices with its version of Android OS.

Harmony, which is called "Hongmeng" in Chinese, "is completely different from Android and iOS," Apple's operating system, said Richard Yu, the CEO of Huawei's consumer business group. He announced the software Friday at a developer conference in Dongguan, China.

Yu said that Huawei can start using Harmony in smartphones "at any time," but he said that the company is giving "priority" to Android right now.

"We will switch to [the] Harmony system when we can't use Android," he said, adding that it is "not that difficult" to migrate from Android to Huawei's own system.

Harmony will be deployed first in Huawei's smart watches, smart screens, smart speakers and other devices, including "in-vehicle systems." Devices that use Harmony will be integrated with each other.

The company also said that the operating system will be open sourced.

:story: CNN