Huawei’s HarmonyOS system is likely to adopt the form of closed source, which will only provide an open API interface for software developers to design software, and will not provide original code for other mobile phone manufacturers. Because at present, the closed source of the system is more commercial than open source, and it is also more conducive to the development of new systems. If you know more about the history of Android, you may know that the Android system was completely open source at the beginning. The original Android system was founded by ——Andy Rubin, the father of Android, and then the project was acquired by Google in 2005.
Since then, Google has vigorously promoted this mobile operating system. In November 2007, Google and 84 hardware manufacturers, software developers and telecom operators set up open handset alliance to jointly develop and improve the Android system (Huawei is one of them), and then the source code was opened based on the Apache protocol. Since then, the Android system has completely become an open source system, while Google has been making profits by using third-party applications integrated into the Android system. However, this situation inevitably brings a lot of negative problems, such as disorder, fragmentation and low security. Take the ecological chaos of Android applications as an example, it is precisely because it is too open that many rogue apps can be installed on any Android phone without restrictions, thus causing great security risks and affecting the user’s operating experience.
In recent years, Google has also realized this problem and is taking back control step by step. For example, it is mandatory for all Android phones to have "power by Android" at the bottom when they are turned on, and it is mandatory for mobile phone manufacturers to push new systems to their mobile phones. In foreign countries, for example, GooglePlay applications that want to be put on the shelves must also be reviewed by Google before they can be put on the shelves. So in general, Android is slowly becoming closed source, because the benefits of closed source are greater than open source. The same is true for Huawei HarmonyOS system.
What are the benefits of HarmonyOS system closed source for Huawei? Any new system will go through a period of immaturity at the beginning, so if HarmonyOS adopts closed source, it can make targeted comprehensive adjustment with higher efficiency. Because once open source, there will be fragmentation, followed by a variety of strange bugs, which will greatly increase the cost of system maintenance, and will also affect the reputation of the system.
In this era of serious homogenization of mobile phone functions, it is self-evident how important it is to have differentiation. Just like Kirin chip, Huawei can become a big selling point in the future after building HarmonyOS system, thus further distinguishing itself from other mobile phone brands. This is what Huawei is good at. Huawei can strictly review the software developed by application developers through a series of means, and how to create a safe application environment, which is actually the same as Huawei’s concept. Therefore, we think that we also hope that Huawei’s HarmonyOS system is a closed-source system, because only in this way can this system go on better, which is what we are happy to see, and a flash in the pan is not what we want to see.