Huawei has announced a significant upgrade to its HarmonyOS operating system. HarmonyOS NEXT is completely free on Android and as such does not support Android-based apps. According to Android Headlines, the operating system is based on the open source OpenHarmony project.

It will launch in China first, but should eventually be available elsewhere. HarmonyOS NEXT will remind many of the company’s original HarmonyOS, but there are key differences, as Android Headlines notes. These include an updated, much flatter lock screen with new customization options. There’s also a redesigned Control Center and faster animations. The home screen, however, looks a lot like HarmonyOS.

HarmonyOS NEXT integrates system-level AI capabilities based on the large Pangu language model. Huawei has also developed a new security system called “Star Shield” that provides system-level protection for devices running HarmonyOS NEXT.

Announcing the new operating system, Richard Yu, president of the Huawei Consumer Business Group, said that 15,000 applications and services are now part of the HarmonyOS NEXT ecosystem.

The United States places heavy restrictions on Huawei products, which is one of the reasons why HarmonyOS NEXT was created without Android. Although Huawei products are not completely banned from purchase by consumers in the United States, they are extremely difficult to find. Additionally, the US government has banned the use of Huawei products at the federal level for national security reasons.

HarmonyOS NEXT is currently in public beta in China. It is available for Huawei Pura 70 series, Huawei Pocket 2 and Huawei MatePad Pro 11 (2024).

In recent months, Huawei has announced several new products, including new Android-based tablets like the MatePad Pro 12.2 and MatePad 12 X. New smartwatches have also been introduced recently.