HarmonyOS is a distributed operating system developed by the Chinese technology company Huawei, first released on August 9, 2019, and designed to run across many kinds of devices rather than being built for one platform. It uses a microkernel design built around Huawei's own HongMeng kernel, and from HarmonyOS 5 (marketed as HarmonyOS NEXT) the system dropped its earlier reliance on Android code and the Linux kernel in favor of this proprietary kernel. The operating system targets smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, personal computers, smart televisions, wearables, cars, audio equipment and other Internet of Things devices through a layered architecture of kernel, system service, framework and application layers, and since version 5 it runs only native applications built in its own app format rather than Android apps. The latest stable release, HarmonyOS 6, launched on November 25, 2025. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
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Can HarmonyOS run Android apps?
No. Earlier versions could; HarmonyOS NEXT and later run only native apps.
It depends on the version. Earlier HarmonyOS releases were built on Android code and could run Android apps. With HarmonyOS NEXT, released as HarmonyOS 5, Huawei switched to its own HongMeng kernel and removed all Android Open Source Project code from the operating system, which also ended support for running Android apps. Since then the system runs only native HarmonyOS apps, which are packaged as HarmonyOS Ability Packages with the file extension .hap.
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1. Wikipedia: HarmonyOS
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HarmonyOS (HMOS) (Chinese: 鸿蒙操作系统; pinyin: Hóngméng Cāozuò Xìtǒng; trans. "Vast Mist") is a distributed operating system developed by Huawei for smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, smart watches, personal computers and other smart devices.
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It uses a microkernel design built around Huawei's own HongMeng kernel, and from HarmonyOS 5 (marketed as HarmonyOS NEXT) the system dropped its earlier reliance on Android code and the Linux kernel in favor of this proprietary kernel.
View the Source2. Wikidata: HarmonyOS
- Wikidata Q123469520, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)
- Wikidata Q123469520 P577 (publication/release date) claim -> 2023; checked 2026-09-28
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