Despite its launch, Huawei is continuing to stick to Android to support its app developers. Without apps there will not be a market for its OS.

On Friday, Huawei Technologies launched its proprietary operating system for smartphones and other devices.

Following continued theft of U.S. intellectual property, in May 2019 the U.S. had imposed curbs on crucial U.S. technologies such as Android to Chinese companies.

“Harmony OS is completely different from Android and iOS,” said Richard Yu, head of Huawei’s consumer business group. “You can develop your apps once, then flexibly deploy them across a range of different devices”.

Yu made these companies at a developers’ conference in Dongguan, southern China, where Huawei has built a lavish new campus modeled after European towns.

Despite developing Harmony, called Hongmeng in Chinese, Huawei is preferring to stick to Android to support its app developers, said Yu.