The company has shared some insights on this development saying that its partners started these app development on September 25, 2023, and the number continues to grow as of October 2024.

Yu Chengdong, Chairman of Huawei Consumer Business Group has made this announcement official with a giant presentation of all of the app icons including during HarmonyOS NEXT unveiling.

These new numbers are important for Huawei’s growth in smart operating systems. It has been working with these developers for the past four years and finally set a feat to compete against Android.

Huawei reveals 15,000 native HarmonyOS apps (Source – Huawei)

These native apps are exclusively developed for HarmonyOS. Huawei said the new HarmonyOS NEXT comes with fluency and operational performance improvements.

These new upgrades will appear during app interactions and smoothen the overall experience. Speaking of which, Huawei has made some fresh changes in the UI, which will also enhance the app’s graphical appearance and animations and adapt them to different platforms including smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, and more.

At the Huawei Developer Conference 2024, the tech maker announced that HarmonyOS native apps have entered a final phase of development. All of the top 5000 apps have turned into the native HarmonyOS ecosystem.

The post Huawei announces 15,000 native HarmonyOS apps and services appeared first on Huawei Central.

In 2019, the Chinese tech maker introduced HarmonyOS in the wake of US sanctions. The US banned the company from accessing Android and Google Play Services (GMS). This led to a sharp decline in Huawei’s smartphone sales in the global market.

In 2020, HarmonyOS entered mobile devices and adapted for millions of devices. Initially, the software’s interface and features were identical to its Android-based counterpart “EMUI”.

Some software industry observers criticized Huawei’s new mobile operating system and called it a “forked Android”. These allegations have a simple connection with Android Open Source library integration to HarmonyOS code.

The company separated both software ecosystems and kept HarmonyOS exclusive to the Chinese market where it still sells a majority of devices.

The initial HarmonyOS software has Android app support due to the lack of an app ecosystem. The company wanted to use its existing developer base for EMUI devices. In the past three years, it has turned this base into HarmonyOS and added millions of new developers.

This continued until last year when Huawei announced the development of a native HarmonyOS version. The company also confirmed that this new software will run only HarmonyOS apps.

This news has made many headlines across the internet due to the potential it could bring in the competition against iOS and Android, two of the most dominating mobile OS.

That brings us back to HarmonyOS, the company has been working on this OS for the past two years. Throughout this time, it has been cooperating with Chinese software industry leaders to create a whole environment of HarmonyOS NEXT apps.

Some of the notable names are Tencent, ByteDance, JD.com and more. As of October 2024, these firms have completed their HarmonyOS NEXT app and could launch their release version any time soon.

Aside from the ecosystem, this new HarmonyOS NEXT launched with performance upgrades compared to its predecessor. It has fluid animations and better-optimized visuals.

Furthermore, the software is labeled as HarmonyOS NEXT 5, which indicates that the software is moving further from HarmonyOS 4.

The post Huawei launched HarmonyOS NEXT, its native mobile operating system  appeared first on Huawei Central.

The company is informing its app developers about the new HarmonyOS NEXT API 12 SDK. As per the official notice, Huawei will only support API 12-based apps on the HarmonyOS NEXT AppGallery, starting from November 10, 2024.

Other applications based on the beta API 12 or below builds won’t be listed on the AppGallery. Hence, developers should update their apps to the latest SDK version at the earliest. Or else, their applications may face restriction problems.

“Starting from November 10, 2024, Huawei AppGallery on HarmonyOS NEXT will only support API 12 apps that have integrated Release SDK and Beta apps of API 12 or below will be restricted. Please complete the version update as soon as possible. Thank you for your cooperation and support!.”

API (Application Programming Interface) and SDK (Software Development Kit) are significant tools for developers to build apps. In the latest API 12 release, Huawei made amendments that make apps more compatible with HarmonyOS NEXT.

HarmonyOS NEXT AppGallery to support only API 12 apps: Huawei (Image Credits: ITHome)

Inputs further reveal that Huawei has released the DevEco Studio NEXT 5.0.3.900 version. It is a dedicated development platform for apps and services. It offers multiple features and supports various programming languages, the multi-device preview of UI codes, and other significant tools for app making.

The company is now asking its developers to download the new DevEco Studio version for recompiling and updating their applications with the API 12 SDK.

Changes:

• ohpm-repo adds the use_reverse_proxy field to configure whether to use the reverse proxy option.
• The API capability level of this version is API 12 release

Doing so will make the native apps more compatible with HarmonyOS NEXT as well as enable users to easily manage them on their devices. It will also make them stable and more responsive towards new features and existing services.

(Source 1 2)

The post HarmonyOS NEXT AppGallery to support only API 12 apps: Huawei appeared first on Huawei Central.

The South Korean tech giant is not only focusing on making its UI segment incredible but also easier to navigate. Despite an attractive interface, users often get stuck with the usage and navigation part of the One UI software updates.

But it seems the company is fixing this problem with the One UI 7.0. This could also be a reason why Samsung is taking time to release its new One UI beta update for developers and users. So without any delays, let’s take a look at new changes.

One UI 7.0 Camera Interface

The company is ready to give a bold revamp to the camera segment with the One UI 7.0 upgrade. The recent One UI 7.0 early build leaks suggest that the tech maker will adopt a more simple and easy-to-use camera interface with the new OS.

Looking into the details, shooting models like Photos, Videos, Portraits, and other labels now appear at the bottom of the screen. It is the perfect spot to switch between camera modes and other shooting tools without spending much time.

One UI 7.0 to bring simpler and easier camera interface

Camera controls are now far better than the previous builds. One UI 7.0 has a new single tab as the replacement for Night Shot mode. The exact function of this button at the bottom of the camera interface is unclear. Though we may get details soon.

Other controls like Settings, Flash, Timer, Aspect Ratio, and Motion Photo can be found in the lower middle of the screen. These simple but significant changes will offer a clutter-free camera interface to users.

These changes even seem effective for those who prefer using the device in the one-handed mode. Such users can also opt for certain options from the top right corner of the camera layout. These changes could differ in the stable version. Hence, let’s wait more on this segment till the official rollout.

The post One UI 7.0 to bring simpler and easier camera interface appeared first on Huawei Central.

A recent discussion on Samsung community confirmed that One UI 7.0 public beta will launch soon. Some users asked if the new software beta will only be available to developers. The query points out users’ curiosity to test the latest One UI OS.

Responding to the thread, a moderator said that One UI 7 testing will soon enter the public phase. The company hasn’t confirmed the beta schedule yet. Once done, the new software beta will go to the public. Hence, wait patiently.

It looks like Samsung is giving some final touch-ups to its new One UI version. The Android 15-based One UI is expected to bring better upgrades, smoother animations, and effective features. Thus, the delay in this case seems good.

Further details reveal that users will be notified via the Samsung Members app about the beta progress. Therefore, we suggest keeping the app up-to-date with the latest version. Also, ensure sufficient storage space in your Samsung smartphone.

During the SDC 2024, the company confirmed that One UI 7.0 beta will be open for developers by the end of this year. Though the moderator’s words reflect that One UI 7 beta will also be available for the public right after or alongside developers.

Confirmed: Samsung One UI 7.0 public beta launching soon (Image Credits: Samsung Community)

Last year, Samsung unveiled the Android 14-based One UI 6 in October. But this time, the launch has extended to the Galaxy S25 series release in 2025.

However, the moderator’s latest clarification has confirmed that Samsung phone users may soon get the chance to test the One UI 7.0 software and its features. While the time is still unclear, it might be around December this year.

Being the latest flagship in the Samsung gallery, the Galaxy S24 series will be the first to fetch the new One UI 7.0 beta program. Meanwhile, the tech giant will add more devices to the list as the beta will proceed to the next rounds.

(Source/Via)

The post Confirmed: Samsung One UI 7.0 public beta launching soon appeared first on Huawei Central.

HarmonyOS NEXT public beta program has brought an end to the long-running anticipation of consumers. Previous testing versions were limited to developers and early adopters. But now the company has extended the testing to public testers.

Up to this point, the company has pushed off several developer beta builds for experienced software testers. Now the new self-developed software is open to general device users to explore new features before the stable release.

The tech giant has launched the latest beta activity for the first batch of devices. The list includes Mate 60 series, Mate X5 foldable, and MatePad Pro 13.2 tablet.

Simply put, the HarmonyOS NEXT public beta version will be available to these device users right after they sign up in the current testing pool. They don’t have to wait for the rollout like the closed beta devices (Pura 70, Pocket 2, and more).

How to sign up?

Eligible device users can check the HarmonyOS NEXT public beta activity on the My Huawei app. Open the application and select the “Upgrade” or “Upgrade to Try” option. Wait for a few minutes and follow the on-screen prompts to register.

After completing the signup, users will immediately get the new public beta update with some interesting features and a set of new improvements. Users may also get a chance to test the new native HarmonyOS app versions and their changes.

Huawei launches HarmonyOS NEXT public beta program (Image Credits: Huawei/Weibo)

Users can further share their feedback, and suggestions, or report issues using the My Huawei app > Community. It will eventually help in improving the software.

Points to remember

HarmonyOS NEXT public beta activity will push testing builds to devices. Being a new software, the installation may lead to the deletion of your data. Hence, it is better to take a backup beforehand to avoid any data loss.

Also, the company is still adapting some applications to HarmonyOS. It will detect and prompt the apps that are not available in the HarmonyOS NEXT AppGallery. However, if you face abnormal functioning with any app then don’t worry, as it is a normal software behavior.

The post Huawei launches HarmonyOS NEXT public beta program appeared first on Huawei Central.

Aside from being a voice and text-sharing app, WhatsApp enables you to make voice and video calls and share images, documents, user locations, and other user-generated content. You need to download WhatsApp and start using its amazing features.

WhatsApp is available to download from different platforms and app stores on mobile devices. However, WhatsApp developers test and roll out new app updates as soon as they enter the testing pool and send release stable app versions once they are tested.

Below you can check the latest WhatsApp Stable and Beta app versions.

Download WhatsApp (Beta and Stable):

• 2.24.20.73 – Stable (September 03, 2024)
• 2.24.21.19 – Beta (September 03, 2024)
• 2.24.20.14 – Beta (September 22, 2024)
• 2.24.19.76 – Stable (September 22, 2024)
• 2.24.18.77 – Stable (September 13, 2024)
• 2.24.19.34 – Beta (September 13, 2024)
• 2.24.18.18 – Beta (August 31, 2024)
• 2.24.17.79 – Stable (August 31, 2024)
• 2.24.17.25 – Beta (August 19, 2024)
• 2.24.16.76 – Stable (August 19, 2024)
• WhatsApp 2.24.16.5 Beta (July 26, 2024)
• WhatsApp 2.24.15.76 (July 26, 2024)
• WhatsApp 2.24.15.12 Beta (July 19, 2024)
• WhatsApp 2.24.14.76 (July 19, 2024)
• WhatsApp 2.23.25.23 Beta (December 3, 2023)
• WhatsApp 2.22.24.83 (December 3, 2023)
• WhatsApp 2.21.23.16 (beta) APK
• WhatsApp 2.21.22.26 (stable) APK
• WhatsApp 2.21.21.6 (beta) APK
• WhatsApp 2.21.21.2 (beta) APK
• WhatsApp 2.21.19.21 (stable) APK (September 30, 2021)
• WhatsApp 2.21.19.20 (beta) APK (September 26, 2021)
• WhatsApp 2.21.18.17 (stable) APK (September 26, 2021)
• WhatsApp 2.21.19.17 (beta) APK (September 22, 2021)
• WhatsApp 2.21.18.16 (beta) APK (September 14, 2021)
• WhatsApp 2.21.18.14 (beta) APK (September 10, 2021)
• WhatsApp 2.21.18.7 (beta) APK (August 31, 2021)
• WhatsApp 2.21.17.24 (stable) APK (August 31, 2021)
• WhatsApp 2.21.17.17 (beta) APK (August 20, 2021)
• WhatsApp 2.21.16.20 (stable) APK (August 20, 2021)
• WhatsApp 2.21.17.12 (beta) APK (August 16, 2021)
• WhatsApp 2.21.16.17 (stable) APK (August 16, 2021)
• WhatsApp 2.21.17.5 (beta) APK (August 12, 2021)
• WhatsApp 2.21.15.20 (stable) APK (August 12, 2021)
• WhatsApp 2.21.16.10 (beta) APK (August 8, 2021)
• WhatsApp 2.21.16.9 (beta) APK (August 7, 2021)
• WhatsApp 2.21.16.7 (beta) APK (August 4, 2021)
• WhatsApp 2.21.16.6 (beta) APK (July 31, 2021)
• WhatsApp 2.21.16.2 (beta) APK (July 28, 2021)
• WhatsApp 2.21.15.11 (beta) APK (July 22, 2021)
• WhatsApp 2.21.14.24 (Stable) APK (July 22, 2021)
• WhatsApp 2.21.15.8 (beta) APK (July 19, 2021)
• WhatsApp 2.21.15.6 (beta) APK (July 17, 2021)
• WhatsApp 2.21.15.3 (beta) APK (July 15, 2021)
• WhatsApp 2.21.14.18 (beta) APK
• WhatsApp 2.21.13.28 stable APK
• WhatsApp APK 2.21.14.15 (beta)
• WhatsApp APK 2.21.14.8 (beta)
• WhatsApp APK 2.21.14.6 (beta)
• WhatsApp APK 2.21.14.3 (beta)
• WhatsApp APK 2.21.14.1 (beta)
• WhatsApp APK 2.21.13.15 (beta)
• WhatsApp APK 2.21.12.21 (stable)
• WhatsApp APK 2.21.13.10 (beta)
• WhatsApp APK 2.21.13.7 (beta)
• WhatsApp APK 2.21.13.6 (beta)
• WhatsApp APK 2.21.13.5 (beta)
• WhatsApp APK 2.21.13.1 (beta)

Download from Google Play Store or WhatsApp website.

WhatsApp Features:

NO FEES: WhatsApp uses your phone’s Internet connection (4G/3G/2G/EDGE or Wi-Fi, as available) to let you message and call friends and family, so you don’t have to pay for every message or call.* There are no subscription fees to use WhatsApp.

MULTIMEDIA: Send and receive photos, videos, documents, and Voice Messages.

FREE CALLS: Call your friends and family for free with WhatsApp Calling, even if they’re in another country.* WhatsApp calls use your phone’s Internet connection rather than your cellular plan’s voice minutes. (Note: Data charges may apply. Contact your provider for details. Also, you can’t access 911 and other emergency service numbers through WhatsApp).

GROUP CHAT: Enjoy group chats with your contacts so you can easily stay in touch with your friends or family.

WHATSAPP WEB: You can also send and receive WhatsApp messages right from your computer’s browser.

NO INTERNATIONAL CHARGES: There’s no extra charge to send WhatsApp messages internationally. Chat with your friends around the world and avoid international SMS charges.

SAY NO TO USERNAMES AND PINS: Why bother having to remember yet another username or PIN? WhatsApp works with your phone number, just like SMS, and integrates seamlessly with your phone’s existing address book.

ALWAYS LOGGED IN: With WhatsApp, you’re always logged in so you don’t miss messages. No more confusion about whether you’re logged in or logged out.

QUICKLY CONNECT WITH YOUR CONTACTS: Your address book is used to quickly and easily connect you with your contacts who have WhatsApp so there’s no need to add hard-to-remember usernames.

OFFLINE MESSAGES: Even if you miss your notifications or turn off your phone, WhatsApp will save your recent messages until the next time you use the app.

AND MUCH MORE: Share your location, exchange contacts, set custom wallpapers and notification sounds, email chat history, broadcast messages to multiple contacts at once, and more.

The post Download WhatsApp [2.24.20.73 stable and 2.24.21.19 beta] appeared first on Huawei Central.

Erix Xu (Xu Zhijun) has been serving as the Huawei Rotating Chairman. He was seated in the chairman position on April 1, 2024, and relieved the place on September 30.

Over this period, Eric attended several summits and events. He also shed light on how the company will continue to accelerate its hardware and software capabilities that can benefit both developers and consumers efficiently. Check the details HERE.

Now Ms. Meng Wanzhou will take care of the duties and responsibilities of the Huawei Rotating Chairman. She will also count on one of the company’s top leaders, the board of directors, and the board’s executive committee.

Apart from Rotating Chairman, Meng will also look after the Vice Chairman and CFO (Chief Financial Officer) duties of the company and fulfill the related responsibilities.

Ms. Meng Wanzhou announced as Huawei Rotating Chairman 2024-25 (Image Credits: Huawei)

Meng Wanzhou stepped into the Huawei premises in 1993. During her official journey, she served as the company’s global accounting director, CFO (Chief Financial Officer) of Huawei Hong Kong, and the president of the accounting management department.

Meng started leading the growth of Huawei’s globally unified financial organizational structure in 2003. From 2007 to 2014, the executive hyped the IFS (Integrated Financial Services) transformation at Huawei worldwide for refined management.

She has contributed to Huawei Finance in becoming a world-leading digital and intelligent financial organization. Meng has developed several beneficial plans and built an overall blueprint for financial digitalization. It runs on risk probes models and AI-based algorithms, Meng established a contactless risk control and agile business management system.

The post Ms. Meng Wanzhou announced as Huawei Rotating Chairman 2024-25 appeared first on Huawei Central.

The OpenHarmonyOS 5.0 version is released by OpenAtom Foundation. Developers will find major changes in the app development kit, ArkUI, and other segments. These modifications will provide clearer logic and scenario-based views.

Further details in the changelog show refinements for network stability, distributed data management, richer encodings for media, and optimized power supply. Developers can quickly develop apps using enhanced Web capabilities with upgraded tools.

Other sections in the list count communication, security, graphics, camera, event notification, encryption, hardware capabilities, and more. You can check the details below.

OpenHarmony 5.0 Changelog

Highlights:

• The application framework gets more lifecycle management capabilities and provides sub-process-related capabilities.
• ArkUI further opens up the rendering capabilities of custom nodes.
• Application package management improves application packaging efficiency and enriches the operational scenarios for end users to use applications. (For instance, creating application clones, creating desktop shortcuts, and more)
• It enhanced the distributed data management capabilities and security while ensuring reasonable data sharing.
• File management further improves Picker’s capabilities and enables reasonable control of permissions and reasonable data sharing.
• It enhances the media’s audio, video playback, and recording capabilities with the support for multiple audio, video, and image encoding formats. It now has more detailed playback control operations.

OpenHarmony 5.0: Application Framework

• Supports creating JS/Native sub-processes. Developers can execute time-consuming operations in sub-processes.
• The lifecycle monitoring ability supports more lifecycles such as onNewWant.
• Supports the ability to return AbilityResult to the caller without actively destroying itself.
• The context supports Sendable object conversion for multi-threaded Context transmission.
• Supports application-level font settings.

ArkUI

• Enhanced the component customization capability with the addition of new components like a modifier, ContentModifier, and DrawModifier, which support adding new properties based on existing components, customizing component content and fully self-drawing.

The Custom nodes and Native rendering nodes are open. Custom nodes are node objects that have some basic capabilities of underlying entity nodes. These nodes can be mixed with native components through custom placeholder nodes.

Custom nodes can have the ability to calculate the layout of a single node, set basic properties, set event monitoring, and customize the drawing and rendering content. It includes three types of objects: FrameNode, RenderNode, and BuilderNode.

• BuilderNode: Provides a custom BuilderNode that can mount native components.
• FrameNode: Provides a custom FrameNode, which represents the entity node of the component tree. NodeController can mount it to NodeContainer through the FrameNode held by BuilderNode, or obtain RenderNode through FrameNode and mount it to other FrameNodes.
• RenderNode: Provides self-drawing rendering node RenderNode to support custom drawing requirements on the Native side.
• NodeController: NodeController implements operations such as creation, display, and update of custom nodes. It is responsible for mounting custom nodes on NodeContainer.

Other enhancements in the ArkUI section include the NDK capability for the third-party framework components. It covers component creation, property setting, event registration, customization capabilities, and component tree construction.

The Navigation component has more enhanced capabilities, including single-column and double-column switching effects, interruption and continuation of transition animations, and the ability to monitor the page life cycle.

The control visuals, animations, and interactions have been refreshed and added support for aging-friendly interfaces, mirrored languages, and screen reading. Menu and pop-up components support developers in defining color, shape, rounded corners, size, position, and shadow.

OpenHarmony 5.0: Application package management

• Supports access and management of application clones. Applications can access application clones through simple configuration.
• Supports home screen shortcuts. Users can dynamically add shortcuts to the home screen.
• Supports independent upgrade capabilities of system-level HSP and ArkWeb. It also supports independent updates of preset applications.
• Supports recovery mechanism after abnormal interruption of OTA upgrade. If a power outage or service crash occurs during the OTA upgrade process, the OTA process will be restored upon restart to continue installing and updating applications.
• Provides automatic cache directory cleaning capability and supports storage management to automatically clean up the cache directory when the device space is insufficient.
• Supports Native software packages and provides the capabilities of packaging, installing, and uninstalling native software packages.
• When the packaging tool packages the app, it compresses the entire app package to reduce its size on the shelf.

Distributed soft bus

• IPS provides CAPI basic interface capabilities, including serialization or deserialization, message sending and receiving processing interfaces, etc.

OpenHarmony5.0: Distributed Data Management

• RelationalStore&Preferences support access to common sandbox data.
• RDB supports opening in read-only mode.
• UDMF supports the compatibility query between UTD and MIME types.
• Migration scenario data asset synchronization optimization.
• Supports distributed data management with Class E encryption.
• The inverted index construction scenario supports an application-specified external tokenizer.
• The NDK-based CAPI supports the cross-device drag-and-drop capability of UDMF data.

A Distributed Hardware

• Provides refined ACL management: It performs refined addition, deletion, modification, and query operations on ACLs based on business devices, users, accounts, and package names.
• Quality reinforcement to improve functional stability and reliability.

Distributed DeviceProfile

• Equipment data is reconstructed hierarchically to improve the efficiency of adding, deleting, modifying, and checking data.
• Quality reinforcement, optimization of background link establishment function, and improved stability and reliability.

File Management

• Supports incremental file backup.
• Provides an interface for the backup application to obtain detailed information about the amount of backup data, allows the application to report the number of data records to be backed up (such as the number of text messages), and supports reporting of abnormal events during the backup and recovery process.
• Added support for SA access backup and recovery framework.
• Enhanced Picker capabilities: Provides the ability to select multiple files at a time in the Audio Picker; adds a Download Picker, allowing applications to save files directly to the “Download/package name level” directory, and subsequent access to the directory does not require permission to apply, complementing the download experience of applications such as browsers.
• Apps are supported to obtain access rights to public directories (Download, Desktop, Document) by applying for permissions (supported by some devices and needs to be determined by syscap). Apps cannot directly access public directories without applying for permission.
• Supports applications to select files or directories through FilePicker and obtain temporary access rights to the directory or file, and supports persistent access capabilities. Non-persistent files or directories cannot be accessed after the application exits.
• Added CreateStream, fdopenStream, and other streaming file access interfaces .
• Added new interfaces for setting and getting extended attributes.

Graphics, Images, and Windows

Graphics

• The NativeImage module based on the NDK’s C API now supports NativeWindowBuffer.
• The NDK-based C API now supports NativeVsync and multiple callbacks for a single frame.
• The NDK-based C API now supports variable frame rates.
• ColorSpaceManager supports sendable capabilities.
• The font engine supports text-shadow capabilities and underline alignment.
• The graphics drawing interface improves drawing-related capabilities.

Window

• Provides the display.getDisplayByIdSync interface for use with the multi-screen feature, allowing applications to synchronously obtain information about the screen where the Ability is located through IDs.
• Supports obtaining screen available area information.
• Support setting status bar text color according to page color in ArkUI.

Media: Audio

• Audio focus enhancement: Supports focus sessions, allowing apps to set concurrent playback policies with other apps, and allowing apps to play silently without interrupting audio playing in the background.
• Added support for more audio devices such as DP and USB headsets, and support for switching the default sound device function (earpiece and speaker).
• Added a new audio stream type for video calls to optimize the audio stream playback experience in this scenario.
• Added a unified volume component to facilitate use and reduce development complexity.
• Supports customization of the style of in-app casting components.
• Supports ringtone list query and customized ringtone settings.

Play

• The player start and seek performance are optimized to reduce latency.
• Added multiple playback protocols or formats: support DASH streaming protocol playback; support AMR, APE, WAV PCM-MULAW format audio playback.
• Added a variety of playback control capabilities: support for multi-track video playback, changing the output Surface during video playback, silent playback, precise seek, setting playback range, and subtitles.
• Supports configuration of streaming media buffer size; supports audio offload mode.
• Enhanced streaming media playback capabilities: Optimized streaming media cache strategy to reduce lag.

Recording

• Enhanced audio recording capability. It now supports MP3, WAV PCM-MULAW format audio recording.

Screen Recording

• Supports exempting the application’s own privacy window from screen recording protection, and provides a privacy confirmation window and screen recording status prompt.
• Supports excluding the specified window when recording.
• Supports configuring screen rotation and dynamically adjusting rotation parameters.
• Supports simultaneous recording of microphone and system sound.

Audio and video codec

• Added AVTranscoder transcoding interface. It supports bit rate reduction, outputs video files in video encoding AVC, audio encoding AAC, and encapsulation format MP4, and reduces the amount of data transmitted/stored.

DRM

• AVPlayer / AVCodec supports DRM information parsing of DASH protocol programs, decryption of TS-encapsulated H265 video format, and audio decryption.
• AVCodec DRM adaptation adds decryption parameter settings.

Camera

• New model capabilities have been added, including time-lapse photography, panorama, streamer shutter, large aperture video recording, and fluorescent photography.
• Added a new camera PerConfig one-click configuration mechanism to ensure consistent camera effects and reduce development complexity.
• Optimize the segmented process to improve the performance and quality of photo/video recording.
• Benchmark ArkTS API capabilities and complete related C APIs.
• Enhanced camera experience, including mirroring, zoom, anti-shake, continuous shooting, camera status notification, etc.

Picture

• EXIF reading and writing capabilities are enhanced, supporting EXIF ​​batch reading and writing, and GIF supports obtaining playback count information.
• Support HDR capabilities: HDR dual-layer encoding and decoding, and conversion between HDR and SDR.
• The codec format is enhanced to support HEIF codec and DNG decoding.
• The editing framework is based on the NDK’s C API, including the effector base class, filter base class, and custom algorithms.

Event Notification

• CEM tools now support publishing custom public events.
• Emitter adds a new generic interface that can be used to directly pass Sendable objects.
• Supports synchronous query notification enablement status.

Basic Communications

• Support third-party applications to connect to hotspots through network management.

OpenHarmony 5.0: Network Management

Network management capabilities

• Supports specifying a Wi-Fi hotspot by creating a NetConnection object to connect to it.
• An NDK-based C API that provides network management status monitoring, application-level proxy monitoring, and other capabilities.

The Network protocol stack capabilities

• Supports upgrading TCP Socket to TLS Socket to improve communication security.
• TLS Socket supports skipping certificate verification to avoid scenarios where the certificate cannot be verified under special circumstances.
• All sockets support obtaining local IP and port.
• HTTP supports configuring certificate pinning information.
• HTTP supports the brotli compression algorithm.

Power Supply

• Supports obtaining the current charging current. Third-party applications can obtain the current device current through nowCurrent.
• Supports temperature control actions in flight mode. Developers can customize temperature control strategies to control the device to enter flight mode.
• Supports power consumption control based on the WorkSource agent running a lock-assisted resource scheduling module.
• It supports automatically entering S4 sleep mode after waking up from S3 sleep mode when the battery is low, achieving ultra-long standby characteristics.
• After the system starts, it supports reading and broadcasting the presence information of the device shell/case, the battery information kernel node, whether to send a broadcast, etc., which supports developer configuration.

USB

• USB DEVICE configuration management security access control enhancement.
• The USB standard data transfer mode (interrupt transfer, bulk transfer) function is enhanced.
• Supports standard USB peripheral security management and control.

Start Recovery

• It supports Native software package packaging, installation, running, and uninstallation, and builds a Native software package development and release system, which helps to quickly build productivity software ecosystem capabilities and also helps system developers improve development efficiency.
• Provides a resettable developer anonymous device identifier ODID to replace UDID and other hardware identifiers.
• Supports running bftpd commands and debugging application sandbox data access in user mode.

Globalization

• Provides C API to support internationalization capabilities of the ICU4C standard.
• International formatting processing capabilities support screen size adaptation.
• Full support for pseudo-localization testing.
• Provides C API to support resource file management capabilities.
• String resources support translatability markers.
• Provides minority language font capabilities.

OpenHarmony 5.0: Safety

Encryption and decryption algorithm library framework

• ArkTS API provides corresponding C APIs for some commonly used encryption and decryption algorithm capabilities.
• Support SM4-GCM algorithm interface.

Certificate Management

• Provides an API for launching the certificate management interface.
• Provides an API for obtaining an application’s private certificate list.

Program access control

• Geolocation permissions support a one-time authorization option.
• Supports opening the permission management application interface of the settings page.

User IAM

• Supports password validity period checking.
• Supports recovery keys.

Account

• Supports logging out of local accounts.
• Supports specifying a short account name (used as the name of the personal folder) when creating a local account.
• Support querying local account names.
• Added new privacy account type.
• Added unlock authentication intent.
• Added new credential types: Graphic and Four-digit PIN.

OpenHarmony 5.0: ArkCompiler

The ArkTS front-end compiler

• Syntax enhancement: the compilation target is switched from es2017 to es2021, and the compilation of source code files with es2018~es2021 syntax features is supported.
• The obfuscation capability is enhanced to support exception stack restoration, file granularity non-obfuscation, HAP and HSP module file name obfuscation, and whitelist wildcard function.

ArkTS Runtime

• Supports lazy loading of modules, and synchronously loads executable files when variables are used, improving application startup performance.
• The concurrency capability is enhanced, providing a Sendable object-sharing mechanism to optimize the object cross-thread communication performance; TaskPool provides functions such as task queues, long-term tasks, and periodic tasks.
• The debugging function is enhanced to support reverse debugging, Smart Step into, and other functions.
• The tuning function is enhanced to support hiperf/profiler mixed back stack and multi-instance HeapDump functions.

ArkTS basic library

• It supports high-precision floating-point operations, provides StringDecoder character stream decoding capabilities, stream data stream processing capabilities, and supports bit vectors.

JSVM

• Provides a system JS engine that supports the high-performance running of JS and WASM.

Integrated sensor processing platform

Drag frame

• Supports rotating and dragging the window as the window rotates.
• Supports dragging between three devices.
• Supports application-defined configuration to not display quantity badges during dragging.
• Supports data receiver to customize cut and copy behaviors.

Keyboard and mouse crossing

• Control both ends to initiate activate interface calls at the same time.
• Optimize the timing issues of keyboard and mouse crossing, reduce system dependence, and eliminate timing issues between multiple processes.
• Improve traversal management performance, increase success rate, and reduce traversal delay.

Multimode input

• Provides C API to support device information query and other related capabilities.

Pan Sensor

Vibrator

• Some asynchronous query interfaces provide synchronous version APIs.
• The system can better use motor devices to trigger vibration according to different device capability levels.

Sensor

• Some asynchronous query interfaces provide synchronous version APIs.
• Provides C API to support linear acceleration and game rotation vector sensors.

Accessibility

• Magnification gesture: supports magnifying the screen content through gestures.
• Active broadcast capability: When the application is adapted for screen reading, it can support active broadcast of changing information through accessibility in some dynamically changing scenarios.
• Active focus capability: When an application is adapted to screen reading, it can request active focus on components in certain scenarios.

Resource Scheduling

Background Tasks

• Apply for long-duration task types and support applying for multiple types of long-duration tasks at the same time.
• The application applies for DATA_TRANSFER download-related long-term tasks, and supports returning download notifications to the application for progress updates.

Performance, power consumption, thermal integration control

• The system load fusion gear is determined based on information such as the current temperature, load, and whether it is in a high-load scenario. After the application registers the system load callback, it can adaptively downgrade its own business load according to the different levels of the system load fusion gear, thereby reducing the load of the entire machine.

Agent reminder

• When an application applies for a recurring calendar reminder, it supports specifying an exclusion day, on which no reminder will be given.
• When the application applies for a reminder, wantAgent supports passing parameters. When jumping to the target UIAbility after clicking the reminder, the parameters are carried.
• When the application queries for published reminders, the corresponding reminderId is returned in the query results.

Testing Framework

• Supports compatibility testing of cross-platform interfaces.

DFX

• Provides an API to determine whether the HDC debugger is connected.
• Support turning on the trace function in developer mode.
• Enable awareness of main thread timeout events.
• errorManager supports TaskPool and Worker to listen for unhandled Reject events.

Kernel

• Provide thread QoS level marking and scheduling based on user interaction relationships.

Upload and download

• request.agent.Fault refines the error types to help developers quickly locate API usage problems.
• request.agent.Config adds a new proxy member to support setting the network proxy address of the task.
• request.agent.Task.start supports restarting failed\stopped tasks, making it easier for developers to quickly recover failed tasks.
• request.agent.Task supports configuring TLS certificate pinning fingerprints using the network.json configuration file.
• request.agent.FileSpec supports specifying all file paths under the base directory of the application sandbox, making it easier for developers to manage sandbox files. It also supports uploading public files on the front end, such as gallery files and album files, to reduce the overhead caused by additional copies.

Input Method Framework

• The NDK-based C API now supports self-drawn UI components using input methods, including launching and exiting input methods, and processing text on-screen requests.
• Optimize the callback timing when pulling up the keyboard, so that the input method application can adjust the keyboard display content in time according to the input box properties.

Time Zone

• Provides system APIs for forcing NTP time to refresh and obtaining the current NTP time.
• The NDK-based C API provides the ability to obtain the time zone.

Clipboard

• The NDK-based C API supports clipboard capabilities.
• Provides a cross-device clipboard switch.
• When the app is upgraded to API 12 or later, add a read permission check to the clipboard reading interface.

Web

• The network takeover feature is enhanced to support obtaining the FrameUrl of the request and the ResourceType of the intercepted request.
• Supports the pre-screening capability of the Web scene input method.
• Supports Web Components keyboard hosting capabilities.
• Supports synchronous drawing capabilities of Web components and ArkUI native components.
• Supports setting whitelist directories that can be accessed across domains using the File protocol.
• Support applications to specify rendering subprocesses.
• Web components support an accelerometer and gyroscope.
• Web components support intelligent filling of H5 pages.
• Web components support BFCache capabilities.
• Improve the soft keyboard avoidance mechanism of Web components and support Resize and Offset modes.

Theme Framework

• Supports enabling themes through folder directories, which improves the performance of enabling themes compared to enabling through compressed packages.
• Supports the management of card resources, and the ability to add, delete, modify and query added subject cards.
• Provides characterization functions for external screen devices and supports enabling external screen themes.
• Theme enablement support does not switch the current “active” directory.

Compile and build

• The CMake version required for compiling and building dependencies has been upgraded from 3.16.5 to 3.28.2.

OpenHarmony 5.0 released with ArkUI and other improvements (Image Credits: OpenHarmony)

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This step could be a follow-up for HarmonyOS NEXT, Huawei’s new route to native application and removing Android app support from its device ecosystem. Over the past two years, the company has cooperated with various major software developers in the Chinese industry.

This will upgrade the existing HarmonyOS operating system to a new level and is expected to improve the app’s performance.

Since its introduction, Honor has been operating under Huawei. Following the separation of both firms in 2020, Honor started applying its learning from its former parent in the smartphone industry.

In November 2020, the phone maker launched MagicOS, upgrading from Magic UI and enabling cross-device features for its device ecosystem including tablets, smartwatches, and smartphones.

This strategy is quite similar to HarmonyOS. However, MagicOS has Android underneath and supports Google Mobile Services (GMS).

The user interface also mimics HarmonyOS and so goes for the design. So, it won’t be a surprising element if the Chinese company uses Magic Next as an operating system.

Magic Next

The trademark application is under review and it is categorized as:

• Downloadable computer programs
• Tablet computers
• Smartwatches (data processing)
• Laptop computers
• Smart glasses (data processing)
• Downloadable mobile phone applications
• Mobile phone cases
• Smartphones
• Televisions
• Speaker cabinets
• Headphones
• Cameras (photography)
• USB cables
• Video displays
• Electronic chips
• Sensors
• Batteries

Magic is also used in devices such as Honor Magic smartphones, tablets, and smartwatches.

Honor Magic Next Trademark (Source – Mydriver)

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