Add a backend for OpenHarmony

[chatterzhao]

The relationship between open-source OpenHarmony and HarmonyOS is similar to the relationship between AOSP and Android.

Huawei has now launched a new version, currently called HarmonyOS NEXT, which has removed AOSP and no longer supports Android applications.

In China, Chinese documentation is updated first. It is recommended to use browser translation instead of using the language switch on the documentation.

• OpenHarmony
• HarmonyOS NEXT

HarmonyOS API(Kit is API)

tips:

Statistics released by Counterpoint on September 9 show that in the first quarter of 2024, OpenHarmony's operating system accounted for 4 percent of the global market and surpassed iOS as the second largest operating system in the Chinese market.

"The number of OpenHarmony ecosystem devices has exceeded 900 million as of June 2024."

Describe the solution you'd like

Reference：

• ohos_flutter
• ohos_React_Native
• ArkUI-X
• ohos_QT

Describe alternatives you've considered

.e.g

Additional context

No response

[freakboy3742]

Closing on the basis that this is either spam, or a platform that I've never heard of (or both).

[freakboy3742]

With the title change, it's now clear that this is a request for a new platform, not spam.

However, I'm still not entirely clear what BeeWare support for OpenHarmony would mean. Is it a deployment platform that Briefcase needs to support? Does it have its own unique GUI layer? Is it both? The OpenHarmony webpage (or the wikipedia summary) isn't really helping me resolve these questions.

In either case - what would testing for these platforms look like? I don't have access to an OpenHarmony device, and it's not clear if it would be possible to run testing for OpenHarmony in Github's CI infrastructure.

I'm happy to have an open ticket for a new possible platform. For example - #160 has been open for years as a placeholder for Tizen support. However, having a ticket doesn't mean that support will magically appear. Adding support for a new platform is a large undertaking, and unless someone contributes the code to add that support, it won't happen. The core team has very limited resources, and we already have a near endless list of things we'd like to add for the platforms we already support.

It's also worth noting that Toga and Briefcase have both been built so that this support can be developed externally to the BeeWare project. Toga and Briefcase are both based on plugin APIs, and the existing "official" backends (Android, Winforms, etc) are implemented using those APIs. So - if you want to develop and maintain OpenHarmony support yourself, you could, using those APIs.

[chatterzhao]

The following content is to provide some background information. There's nothing like a to-do list here.

HarmonyOS is the system used by Huawei, a Chinese company. After Huawei was unable to use the Android system in 2019, they introduced their backup system called HarmonyOS. The version Huawei contributed to open-source organizations is called OpenHarmony. Their relationship is similar to that of Android and AOSP.
Previously, HarmonyOS included AOSP for transition purposes, allowing Android applications to be installed seamlessly. However, Huawei has now launched a new version, currently called HarmonyOS NEXT, which has removed AOSP and no longer supports Android applications.
They have gone their separate ways, and due to Huawei's large market share in China, they seem to be able to do this successfully. After taking this approach, top applications in China have started redeveloping. It's said that the first batch includes over 4,000 top applications, satisfying 99% of usage needs.
Some users are already in the beta testing phase, and progress is going smoothly. Public beta testing will begin on October 8, 2024, when it will be pushed to mobile users. It's expected to be officially released in November along with the Mate 70. News reports suggest that previously released phones will also support upgrading to HarmonyOS NEXT. At this point, developers in China will need to develop applications for an entirely new platform, similar to iOS, Android, and HarmonyOS, creating such a landscape.
HarmonyOS is a unique existence. Unlike macOS, iOS, and iPadOS which are categorized separately, it's a single system that simultaneously supports phones, tablets, watches, TVs, HiCar, and soon, PCs.
Additional information: In terms of mobile devices alone, HarmonyOS has already surpassed Apple's iOS market share in China, where Apple phones have a significant presence.

[mhsmith]

I'm happy to have an open ticket for a new possible platform.

Then I'll reopen this ticket to serve as that.

Notice to anyone who's interested in this feature: please read @freakboy3742's comment above, and do not post more comments unless you're willing and able to contribute some work. If all you want to do is express your desire for this feature, click the thumbs up button at the top of the page.