Huawei could say goodbye to Android apps for good next year
Summary
- Huawei’s HarmonyOS will soon drop support for all Android libraries, meaning users won’t be able to sideload or install Android APKs on Huawei phones running the upcoming HarmonyOS Next.
- Major Chinese tech companies are hiring HarmonyOS app developers ahead of the HarmonyOS Next developer preview, signaling a move towards native apps for Huawei’s phones.
- While HarmonyOS is already running on over 700 million devices in China, the implications of dropping Android app support on Huawei’s international phones remain unclear.
The US sanctions knocked the wind out of Huawei’s smartphone business. Due to the ban, the Chinese company could not use US technology in its phones, which also cut off its access to Android. To ensure its survival and as a part of its strategy to diversify away from US tech, Huawei announced HarmonyOS in August 2019, its cross-platform Android replacement. Despite the company claiming otherwise, the OS was based on Android and supported Android apps. Four years later, Huawei appears ready to ditch Android app support in its OS.
HarmonyOS phones sold in China have never shipped with access to Google Play Services and the Play Store. But since the underlying OS was based on Android, you could sideload popular Android apps from third-party app stores with ease. With HarmonyOS Next — the upcoming major release of Huawei’s operating system, the Chinese company will drop support for all Android libraries. This effectively means it won’t be possible to sideload or install Android APKs on Huawei phones running HarmonyOS Next.
A South China Morning Post report claims that major Chinese tech companies like JD.com, Netease, and Meituan are hiring HarmonyOS app developers to build native apps for Huawei’s phones. This move comes ahead of the HarmonyOS Next developer preview launching in Q1 2024. A Pandaily report further confirms this and