On a certain date, China's first domestically developed mobile operating system, Huawei's HarmonyOS, was officially released. This marks the third global mobile operating system after Apple's and Android's.

As introduced, the previously released HarmonyOS, due to the use of some open-source code in the system's foundation, had to be compatible with certain Android applications. The newly released native HarmonyOS, however, has achieved full self-research in the system's foundation, significantly enhancing the system's smoothness, performance, and security features, and has also realized the self-control of the domestic operating system.

Yu Chengdong, Executive Director of Huawei, Chairman of the Terminal Business Group, and Chairman of the Intelligent Automotive Solutions, introduced that the newly released HarmonyOS Next, or the native HarmonyOS, ranks among the industry's best in terms of battery life, security, and privacy protection. Currently, the application software uploaded daily is almost updated once every day.

It is reported that there are currently more than multiple HarmonyOS native applications and meta-services available, covering various industries, with general office applications serving over 10,000 enterprises nationwide. The native HarmonyOS has reduced the difficulty and cost of integrating with the new system, with smoothness improved by %, and many applications undergoing daily version updates. At the same time, native HarmonyOS has achieved interconnection across multiple devices and scenarios, including smartphones, tablets, and vehicle cabins.

Currently, the number of devices supporting the HarmonyOS system has exceeded 100 million, with millions of registered developers. Meanwhile, Huawei has partnered with over 1,000 universities nationwide, further accelerating the pace of technological research and iteration.

For nearly two decades, when it comes to mobile operating systems, the two major systems that come to mind are Apple and Android. So, what exactly is difficult about independently developing a complete mobile operating system? Experts explain that the construction of an operating system requires a technical kernel as its foundation. Past operating systems have essentially been developed from two major kernels, including the familiar Apple and Android systems. This means that if we were to develop based on these two kernels, the technological foundation would not be independent. However, this time, the native HarmonyOS has enabled China to break free from its reliance on these kernels for the first time, creating a "Harmony Kernel."

Researcher Xu Zhen from the Institute of Information Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, stated, "With autonomy, we can effectively address security issues. If the underlying technology is not your own, you cannot implement protection measures even if you want to, as others may not agree. With a self-owned foundational platform, one can design excellent architectures, ensuring that user data and network connections are well protected."

Another challenge in the localization of domestic operating systems lies with the users. If all software developers continue to focus their research and iteration solely on the original Android and Apple systems, even if technological breakthroughs are achieved, it will still be impossible to establish a truly independent and controllable mobile operating system in China. Therefore, the release of this domestic operating system is a reflection of the comprehensive development of China's relevant industries.