Huawei opened the season with HarmonyOS, its immediate plan to continue operating Android as we know it independently of Google. Xiaomi wanted to follow the lead with its own software adaptation, HyperOS, which builds on some of the Android code but rewrites most of it.

Vivo has laid the final stone with BlueOS, an alternative that is 100% its own, developed entirely in Rust, and is not even compatible with Android apps. Three comments that seem similar but raise completely different concepts.

The three proposals raise an interesting debate about the need to start looking for alternatives to iOS and Android, as well as how realistic it is to opt for systems that are completely independent of what consumers currently use.

Huawei’s plan. Things didn’t go well for Huawei with HarmonyOS, and the reason for this has a name and surname: Google. After the ban in the United States, the Chinese company had to stop cooperating with Google, and therefore pre-installation of its services within EMUI was no longer possible.

In a quick reaction, Huawei claimed that an alternative to Android but compatible with its apps was on the table. The truth is that HarmonyOS and EMUI… are almost the same except for the name and some features in the code.

There is no paradise in Europe without Google; Google’s service framework is essential to get the most out of it mainstream. The learnings seem clear: Even if it has its own app store, there’s no way a software aiming to become a bandwagon can triumph without Google’s help.

Xiaomi follows in their footsteps but with greater support. Xiaomi’s is probably the best way to reinterpret Android on paper. Part of the source code was used to do this fork In addition to being a system compatible with applications, it will be able to update the latest phones with MIUI to HyperOS.

The company promises greater efficiency, performance, lower system weight and a large overhead of its own code to support generative AI models. Regardless, HyperOS will come from Google and will be an operating system update that for average users (always the most important thing in all this) will clean up the face of what they already have.

There is no change in the use of applications, there are no limitations. Absolutely everything will remain the same and in the promised scenario they will have a cleaner, faster and more efficient ROM.

Xiaomi has the opportunity to do great things handicap its chief virtue. To be a manufacturer that changes Android to its extremes and makes it work even better without sacrificing functionality. It is not yet known how new Xiaomi 14 is in HyperOS in its analysis, but the bet points to ways.

Vivo’s risky plan. This is not the attitude of Vivo, which wants to directly disrupt Android by developing its own operating system programmed in Rust. It looks like it won’t have compatibility with Android apps at the moment; It’s a move that might make sense in China, but outside its own territory it could be a very difficult move.

The challenge of creating your own ecosystem. No manufacturer other than Apple or Google has managed to create complete ecosystems. Even Samsung, the leader in mobile phone sales and one of the heavyweights of other domestic industries, did not dare to take such a step. It relies on its own software like Tizen for some of its devices (like TVs), but even for its peripherals it’s surrendered to WearOS via its own platform.

Although there are very different approaches, the determination of manufacturers such as Xiaomi or Vivo seems assertive. What’s clear is that Chinese manufacturers want to move away from Android as we know it. No one knows how these plans will turn out.

Image | Xiaomi

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