HarmonyOS (HMOS) () is a distributed operating system developed by Huawei for smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, smart watches, personal computers and other smart devices. It has a microkernel design with a single framework: the operating system selects suitable kernels from the abstraction layer in the case of devices that use diverse resources. The latest stable version is HarmonyOS 6; it was released on 25 November 2025.
From 2019 to 2024, versions 1 to 4.3 (4.5 TV) of the operating system were built by integrating the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) with OpenHarmony, allowing it to support both HarmonyOS and Android apps. The current iteration of HarmonyOS became known as HarmonyOS NEXT (later it was renamed HarmonyOS 5 in launched of Pura X). HarmonyOS NEXT was announced on August 4, 2023, and officially launched on October 22, 2024. It also replaced the OpenHarmony multi-kernel system with its own HongMeng Kernel at its core and removed all Android code. Since version 5, HarmonyOS only supports apps in its native "App" format.
HarmonyOS 5.x+ both discards the common Unix-like Linux kernel and replaces the previous multiple-kernel, kernel agnostic system from OpenHarmony with its own bespoke HarmonyOS microkernel as a single framework.
HarmonyOS was officially launched by Huawei, and first used in Honor smart TVs, in August 2019. It was later used in Huawei wireless routers, IoT in 2020, followed by smartphones, tablets and smartwatches from June 2021.
In May 2025, the first notebook with HarmonyOS was launched by Huawei, featuring "HarmonyOS PC", i.e. HarmonyOS 5 for the personal computer form factor.
On November 19, 2025, the first 2-in-1 with HarmonyOS 5.1 was launched by Huawei, with MatePad Edge supporting both tablet mode and full desktop counterpart in line with Huawei MateBook PC line.
Name In 2015, Huawei launched a research and development strategy for self-developed core technologies including operating systems and databases. At that time, its own operating system did not have a name, and there was only a group of engineers designing the architecture, writing code, and designing core technologies.
In 2019, Huawei applied for a trademark called "华为鸿蒙" for the kernel of its own operating system. At that time, when the company was still struggling with what to name its operating system, the public mistakenly thought the trademark of the system kernel was the name of an operating system. Finally, the official named the operating system "Hongmeng" (). The name "Hongmeng" represents "the vitality of all things at the beginning of their creation". The English name chosen was "HarmonyOS", symbolizing "the interconnection of all things and harmonious coexistence."
History
Early development Reports surrounding an in-house operating system being developed by Huawei date back as far as 2012 in R&D stages with HarmonyOS system stack going back as early as 2015. These reports intensified during the Sino-American trade war, after the United States Department of Commerce added Huawei to its Entity List in May 2019 under an indictment that it knowingly exported goods, technology and services of U.S. origin to Iran in violation of sanctions. This prohibited U.S.-based companies from doing business with Huawei without first obtaining a license from the government. Huawei executive described an in-house platform as a "plan B" in case it is prevented from using Android on future smartphone products due to the sanctions.
Prior to its unveiling, it was originally speculated to be a mobile operating system that could replace Android on future Huawei devices. In June 2019, an Huawei executive told Reuters that the OS was under testing in China, and could be ready "in months." But by July 2019, some Huawei executives described the OS as being an embedded operating system designed for IoT hardware, discarding the previous statements for it to be a mobile operating system.
Some media outlets reported that this OS, referred to as "Hongmeng", could be released in China in either August or September 2019, with a worldwide release in the second quarter of 2020. On 24 May 2019, Huawei registered "Hongmeng" as a trademark in China. The name "Hongmeng" came from Chinese mythology that symbolizes primordial chaos or the world before creation. The same day, Huawei registered trademarks surrounding "Ark OS" and variants with the European Union Intellectual Property Office. In July 2019, it was reported that Huawei had also registered trademarks surrounding the word "Harmony" for desktop and mobile operating system software, indicating either a different name or a component of the OS.
HarmonyOS 5 official development began in July 2021 under an internal codename "543-2" as part of entire OpenHarmony codebase Project 543 within Huawei internally since 2015 before being open sourced in September 2020 alongside the HongMeng Kernel project which officially began internally in 2016. It was first unveiled at HDC 2023, branded as HarmonyOS NEXT Developer Preview on August 4, 2023. Technical demos were on the Mate 40 Pro and MatePad Pro 12.6, which were both powered by the Kirin 9000 chip. Following the August 29, 2023 announcement of the Mate 60 Pro, featuring the Kirin 9000S, Huawei shifted development focus to the new in-house Kirin 9000S custom chip platform. At Huawei's autumn full-scenario launch event on September 25, 2023, Huawei officially launched the "HarmonyOS NEXT Program." The final known build supporting the original Kirin 9000 was HarmonyOS build 4.1.0.73, based on OpenHarmony 4.1, up-streamed with API 11. The semi-finished software Developer Preview officially released to developers on January 18, 2024, which was internally referenced to as "HarmonyOS OH1.0". It originally had selected the old standard Linux kernel of kernel-agnostic KAL system by default for OpenHarmony standard system for mobile and computing type devices in partner internal developer builds externally before retrofitting the new in-house microkernel, HongMeng Kernel, which was in production on Canary builds of HarmonyOS NEXT Developer Preview on January 18, 2024. It replaced Linux kernel on physical hardware, leaving the old Linux kernel for x86 app development emulators on Windows and macOS versions of legacy JetBrains-based DevEco Studio IDE. This build featured distinct icons and a control center design differing from the RTM version, with placeholder wallpapers. A public preview program followed on June 21, 2024, after Developer Preview 2 in April 2024. Build 5.0.0.102 became the first to identify itself as HarmonyOS 5 after replacing the 'NEXT' suffix on the build numbers throughout pre-consumer public beta builds. The PC version was showcased at the HarmonyOS Computer Technology and Ecosystem Communication Conference using MateBook Pro prototypes on May 8, 2025, as first look.
Framework transitions Early versions of classic HarmonyOS, starting from version 1.0, employed a "kernel abstraction layer" (KAL) subsystem to support a multi-kernel architecture. This allowed developers to choose different operating system kernels based on the resources available on each device. For low-powered devices such as wearables and Huawei's GT smartwatches, HarmonyOS utilized the LiteOS kernel instead of Linux. It also integrated the LiteOS SDK for TV applications and ensured compatibility with Android apps through the Ark Compiler and a dual-framework approach. HarmonyOS 1.0's original L0-L2 source code branch was contributed to the OpenAtom Foundation to accelerate system development.
HarmonyOS 2.0 introduced a modified version of OpenHarmony's L3-L5 source code, expanding its compatibility across smartphones and tablets. Underneath the kernel abstraction layer (KAL) subsystem, HarmonyOS used the Linux kernel and the AOSP codebase. This setup enabled Android APK files and App Bundles (AAB) to run natively, similar to older Huawei EMUI-based devices, without needing root access.
Additionally, HarmonyOS supported native apps packaged for Huawei Mobile Services through the Ark Compiler, leveraging the OpenHarmony framework within its dual-framework structure at the System Service Layer. This configuration allowed the operating system to run apps developed with restricted HarmonyOS APIs.
Until the release of HarmonyOS 5, also known as HarmonyOS NEXT, using its microkernel within a single framework, replacing the operating system dual-framework approach for Huawei's HarmonyOS devices with the AOSP codebase.
Release
On 9 August 2019, three months after the Entity List ban, Huawei publicly unveiled HarmonyOS, which Huawei said it had been working on since 2012, at its inaugural developers' conference in Dongguan. Huawei described HarmonyOS as a free, microkernel-based distributed operating system for various types of hardware. The company focused primarily on IoT devices, including smart TVs, wearable devices, and in-car entertainment systems, and did not explicitly position HarmonyOS as a mobile OS.
HarmonyOS 2.0 launched at the Huawei Developer Conference on 10 September 2020. Huawei announced it intended to ship the operating system on its smartphones in 2021. The first developer beta of HarmonyOS 2.0 was launched on 16 December 2020. Huawei also released the DevEco Studio IDE, which is based on IntelliJ IDEA, and a cloud emulator for developers in early access.
Huawei officially released HarmonyOS 2.0 and launched new devices shipping with the OS in June 2021, and started rolling out system upgrades to Huawei's older phones for users gradually.
On July 27, 2022, Huawei launched HarmonyOS 3, providing an improved experience across multiple devices such as smartphones, tablets, printers, cars and TVs. It also launched Petal Chuxing, a ride-hailing app running on the new version of the operating system.
On 29 June 2023, Huawei launched the first developer beta of HarmonyOS 4. On 4 August 2023, Huawei officially announced and released HarmonyOS 4 as a public beta. On 9 August, it rolled the operating system out on 34 different existing Huawei smartphone and tablet devices—albeit as a public beta build. Alongside HarmonyOS 4, Huawei also announced the launch of HarmonyOS NEXT, which is a "pure" HarmonyOS version, without Android libraries and therefore incompatible with Android apps post-software convergence.
On 18 January 2024, Huawei announced commercialisation of HarmonyOS NEXT with a Galaxy stable version rollout beginning in Q4 2024 based on OpenHarmony 5.0 (API 12) version after OpenHarmony 4.1 (API 11) based Q2 Developer Beta after release of public developer access of HarmonyOS NEXT Developer Preview 1 that has been in the hands of closed cooperative developers partners since August 2023 debut. The new system of upcoming HarmonyOS 5 version that replaced HarmonyOS multi-kernel dual-frame system convergence for unified system stack of the unified app ecosystem for commercial Huawei consumer devices.
On March 11, 2024, Huawei announced the early recruitment for the new test experience version of Huawei HarmonyOS 4 firmware update, which included improvements to performance and user experiences. HarmonyOS version 4.0.0.200 (C00E200R2P7) of the firmware was gradually rolled out on March 12, 2024.
On April 11, 2024, it was reported that Huawei opened the registration and rolled out the public beta of HarmonyOS 4.2 for 24 devices. On the same day, the company announced its incoming HarmonyOS 5.0 operating system version of Galaxy Edition version under the HarmonyOS NEXT system, which would first be released as an open beta program for developers and users at its annual Huawei Developer Conference in June 2024. The commercial consumer release with upcoming other devices, like the Mate 70 flagship, would follow in Q4.
On April 18, 2024, Huawei Pura 70 flagship series lineup received the HarmonyOS 4.2.0.137 update, after release.