Huawei has been the subject of headlines over the weekend, having its Android license revoked by Google. The shocking move effectively cut off the company's access to the search giant's numerous apps and services. Existing Huawei devices won't be affected as a result of the recent news, but the quality of upcoming phones have now been put in a questionable spot.
Chinese news outlet Caijing reports, however, that Huawei has an alternative operating system in the pipeline in case things do not settle down by mid-August, which is said to be the deadline till Huawei has access to Android updates.
The Android alternative, which will presumably either be called Kirin OS or HongMeng OS, will be compatible with Android apps, according to the latest reports. This is apparently according to Richard Yu, Huawei's Consumer Business Chief, but the company hasn't released an official statement yet regarding the names of the Android replacement.
According to Caijing, Huawei is still hard at work on its OS and it could arrive by fall this year or spring of 2019 at the latest. The OS will work not only on smartphones, but also on other gadgets, including tablets, PCs, and IoT products.
The upcoming operating system will be compatible with Android apps, the Chinese outlet states, but it has to recompiled in order to improve performance by as much as 60 percent. This puts the OS in a compromising position as it may become less appealing for Android developers due to the extra work involved.
Apparently, Huawei has been working on this alternative operating system for years now, but the company has repeatedly said that they are still interested in working with both Microsoft and Google. The upcoming OS, however, may not have access to popular Google services such as the Google Assistant, Play Store, and Gmail, which could be a deal breaker for a lot of consumers. In the same manner, it be could be very hard for the company to convince developers to design their apps to work on its platform.
In an interview, Yu acknowledge being "forced to launch our own OS and ecosystem." The executive also revealed that the recent Google ban was a "big surprise" to him. The technical and official details of what's underpinning this OS is still unknown, but the reports indicate that the original focus of the OS was supposed to be for the Chinese market alone, and not a full Android replacement the Huawei is not being forced to develop.
