According to a report from the Information, Huawei has started working on its own operating system for smartphones, using a development team that includes a few former Nokia employees. According to the report, Huawei “doesn’t want to be on the crutch of Android,” essentially meaning that it doesn’t want to have to rely on an operating system that it doesn’t have full control over.
Of course, this isn’t the first time we’ve heard that Huawei is looking to develop its own operating system. Last year similar rumors emerged, suggesting that the operating system is to be called Kirin, and isn’t simply a fork of Android like CyanogenMod, but instead a totally new operating system.
Huawei uses Android for its smartphones, but like many other
Huawei seems to be following in the footsteps of Samsung, which, of course, developed Tizen. Tizen is currently used in Samsung’s smartwatches, but the company recently said that it’s interested in bringing the OS to other devices, too.
If the rumors turn out to be true, it’s likely we’ll see both Samsung and Huawei edge away from their Google dependency. What that means for users, however, is unclear. It’s already hard enough for a user to go from Apple’s ecosystem to Google’s, and with so many others in the mix, things could get even more difficult.
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