OpenHarmony
OpenAtom OpenHarmony, or abbreviated as OpenHarmony (OHOS), is an open-source version of HarmonyOS donated by Huawei to the OpenAtom Foundation. Similar to HarmonyOS, the open-source distributed operating system is designed with a layered architecture, which consists of four layers from the bottom to the top, i.e., the kernel layer, system service layer, framework layer, and application layer.
OpenHarmony supports various devices running a mini system such as printers, speakers, smartwatches and any other smart device with memory as small as 128 KB, or running a standard system with memory greater than 128 MB.
The system contains the basic and some advanced capabilities of HarmonyOS.
History
The first version of OpenHarmony was launched by the OpenAtom Foundation on September 10, 2020, after receiving a donation of the open-source code from Huawei.
The OpenHarmony 2.0 (Canary version) was launched in June 2021, supporting a variety of smart terminal devices.
Based on its earlier version, OpenAtom Foundation launched OpenHarmony 3.0 on September 30, 2021, and brought substantial improvements over the past version to optimize the operating system.
A release of OpenHarmony supporting devices with up to 4 GB RAM was made available in April 2021.
OpenAtom Foundation added a UniProton kernel, a hardware-based real-time operating system, into its repo as part of the Kernel Abstraction Layer (KAL) subsystem of the OpenHarmony operating system on August 10, 2022.
Timeline
- September 10, 2020 – Initial release of OpenHarmony with support for devices with 128 KB – 128 MB RAM
- April 2021 – OpenHarmony release with support for smartphones and other devices with 128 MB – 4 GB RAM
- October 2021 – OpenHarmony release with support for additional devices with 4+ GB RAM
Hardware
OpenHarmony can be deployed on various hardware devices of ARM, RISC-V and x86 architectures with memory volumes ranging from as small as 128 KB up to more than 1 MB. It supports hardware devices with three types of system as follows:
- Mini system – running on such devices as connection modules, sensors, and wearables, with memory equal to or larger than 128 KB and equipped with processors including ARM Cortex-M and 32-bit RISC-V.
- Small system – running on such devices as IP cameras, routers, event data recorders, with memory equal to or larger than 1 MB and equipped with processors including ARM Cortex-A.
- Standard system – running on devices with enhanced interaction, 3D GPU, rich animations and diverse components, with memory equal to or larger than 128 MB and equipped with processors including ARM Cortex-A.
Compatibility certification
To ensure OpenHarmony-based devices are compatible and interoperable in the ecosystem, the OpenAtom Foundation has set up product compatibility specifications, with a Compatibility Working Group to evaluate and certify the products that are compatible with OpenHarmony.
The following two types of certifications were published for the partners supporting the compatibility work, with the right to use the OpenHarmony Compatibility Logo on their certified products, packaging, and marketing materials.
- Development boards, modules, and software distributions
- Equipment
On April 25, 2022, 44 products have obtained the compatibility certificates, and more than 80 software and hardware products are in the process of evaluation for OpenHarmony compatibility.
Software development
Since OpenHarmony was open source in September 2020 to December 2021, more than 1,200 developers and 40 organizations have participated in the open source project and contributed code. At present, OpenHarmony has developed to 4.x version.
| Version number | Release date | API level | Main features |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.0 | September 10, 2020 | 5 | Support terminal devices with memory from 128KB to 128MB |
| 1.1.0 long-term support version | April 1, 2021 | 5 | Add and upgrade subsystems to unify the artificial intelligence engine framework |
| 2.0 Canary version | June 1, 2021 | 6 | Support smart terminal devices with more than 128MB of memory, and introduce the Linux kernel as the technical base |
| 2.2 Beta version | September 4, 2021 | 6 | Possess typical distributed capabilities and media product development capabilities |
| 3.0 long-term support version | September 30, 2021 | 7 | New features and functions for lightweight, small and standard systems |
| 3.1 Beta version | December 31, 2021 | 8-9 | Enhance basic capabilities, system distribution capabilities, system application framework capabilities, and lightweight system capabilities, etc. |
| 3.2 Beta version 1 | May 31, 2022 | 8-9 | Enhance the basic capabilities of lightweight and standard systems, the framework capabilities of standard system applications, and the application capabilities of standard systems |
| 4.0 beta version 1 | June 3, 2023 | 10 | Improve the capabilities of the standard system and further improve the capabilities and effects of ArkUI components |
| 4.0 release version | October 26, 2023 | 10 | A large number of ArkTS APIs have been added, and the scope of distributed hardware support has been expanded |
| 4.1 beta 1 version | January 1, 2024 | 11 | New system capabilities by improving software architecture. Optimizations on ArkUI for component capabilities and effects. Enhancement on graphics window for dynamic effects and screen adaptation for different hardware. App framework improves extension capabilities, distributed soft bus connection, and more. Improvements to audio and camera frameworks on open-source code.
Key Highlighted Features in beta 1:
|
Software distributions
OpenHarmony is the most active open source project hosted on the Gitee platform. As of September 2023, it has over 30 open-source software distributions compatible with OpenHarmony for various sectors such as education, finance, smart home, transportation, digital government and other industries.
Oniro OS
On September 28, 2021, the Eclipse Foundation and the OpenAtom Foundation announced their intention to form a partnership to collaborate on OpenHarmony European distro.
Oniro OS, which is implemented to be compatible with HarmonyOS, was later launched by the Eclipse Foundation in October 2021 for the global market with the founding members including Huawei, Linaro and Seco. Oniro is designed on the basis of open source and aims to be transparent, vendor-neutral, and independent system in the era of IoT.
The operating system features a Linux Yocto kernel allows the OS to run on larger embedded devices, such as Raspberry Pi-class devices and a RTOS-based Zephyr kernel allows the OS to run on highly resource-constrained devices, such as a coffee maker or a thermostat. The goal is to increase the distro with partners that create their own OpenHarmony-Oniro compatible distros that increase interoperability which reduces fragmentation of diverse platforms with diverse set of hardwares.
SwanLinkOS
Based on OpenHarmony, SwanLinkOS was released in June 2022 by Honghu Wanlian (Jiangsu) Technology Development, a subsidiary of iSoftStone, for the transportation industry. The operating system supports mainstream chipsets, such as Rockchip RK3399 and RK3568, and can be applied in transportation and shipping equipment for monitoring road conditions, big data analysis, maritime search and rescue.
It was awarded the OpenHarmony Ecological Product Compatibility Certificate by the OpenAtom Foundation.
OpenHarmony in Space
On January 6, 2022, OpenHarmony in Space (OHIS) was reported to be a vital play in the future from a scientific and engineering point of view, expecting to open up opportunities for development in China's satellite systems, and surpass SpaceX’s Star Chain plan with the idea of micro-nano satellite technology.
ZhihongmetaOS
On August 29, 2022, Hongyuan Zhitong Technology has recently released new software called ZhihongmetaOS, which stands on the surface of the OpenHarmony 3.1 build and has qualified the eligibility for the OpenHarmony 3.1 evaluation and gained the Ecological Product compatibility certificate. This OpenHarmony OS distribution works on higher security, strong business consistency, and improved performance for consumers targeted mainly for business or industrial users. It is reported that focused on OS optimization, component algorithms, industry consulting and planning, hardware design, and production. At the moment, ZhihongmetaOS V1.0 is only available in the public security sector in China. However, the company will soon extend the roots of the respective firmware to more industries. For instance, environmental protection, and water conservation.
Orange Pi OS (OHOS)
On November 28, 2022, Orange Pi launched the Orange Pi OS based on the open-source OpenHarmony version. On October 2023, they released the Orange Pi 3B board with the Orange Pi OHOS version for hobbyists and developers based on the OpenHarmony 4.0 Beta1 version.
USmartOS
On April 15, Tongxin Software became OpenAtom's OpenHarmony Ecological Partner. An intelligent terminal operating system for enterprises in China by Tongxin Software was passed for compatibility certification on June 7, 2023. Tongxin intelligent terminal operating system supports ARM, X86, and other architectures that is supported. Tongxin has established cooperative relations with major domestic mobile chip manufacturers and has completed adaptations using the Linux kernel. Together with the desktop operating system and the server operating system, it constitutes the Tongxin operating system family.
PolyOS Mobile
PolyOS distro is an open-source operating system tailored for RISC-V intelligent terminal devices by the PolyOS Project based on OpenHarmony, which was released on August 30, 2023 and is available for QEMU virtualisation on Windows 10 and 11 desktop machines.
KaihongOS
On November 17, 2023, Kaihong Technology and Leju Robot collaborated to release the world's first humanoid robot powered by the open-source OpenHarmony distro KaihongOS with Rockchip SoC hardware using RTOS kernel technology for industrial robotic machines with predictable response times in determinism.
HarmonyOS NEXT
Huawei officially announced the commercial proprietary HarmonyOS NEXT, microkernel-based core distributed operating system for HarmonyOS at Huawei Developer Conference 2023 (HDC) on August 4, 2023, which supports only native APP apps via Ark Compiler with Huawei Mobile Services (HMS) Core support. Based on modified OpenHarmony, HarmonyOS NEXT has the HarmonyOS microkernel at its core. It has no apk compatibility support.
In the long term, as the company builds up the software root, the operating system is aimed to replace the current multikernel HarmonyOS from current Linux kernel on phones and tablets, cars, TVs and advanced wearables, alongside lightweight LiteOS kernel on basic wearables and various IoT smart devices. On the same day at HDC 2023, the developer preview version of HarmonyOS NEXT was opened for cooperating enterprise developers to build and test native mobile apps, as well as building up the kernel component in the TEE based microkernel architecture that has been open sourced at the Gitee code repository on the same day of launch. It will be open to all developers in the first quarter of 2024 according to the official announcement.
On 18 January 2024, Huawei announced HarmonyOS NEXT Galaxy stable rollout will begin in Q4 2024 after 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 that will replace current HarmonyOS system for commercial Huawei consumer devices that can only run native HarmonyOS apps built for HarmonyOS and OpenHarmony.