Saying Huawei is going through a rough patch would be a gross understatement. The company’s Android licence was revoked after being placed in the US Entity list and it currently has a 90-day permit to push out Android updates to its devices. While the company is still positive in its outlook and is hoping to sort things out with the US government, it’s been preparing for such an event with its own OS. The company’s self-developed operating system for phones is internally called HongMeng OS, rumours suggest, and a new report hints that for the general public, the company might name it Ark OS.
As reported by Android Headlines, Huawei has trademarked three names with European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO). These names were apparently registered on May 24 and the names include HUAWEI ARK OS, HUAWEI ARK, ARK and ARK OS. This comes soon after the company’s CEO of Consumer Business, Richard Yu, stated that Huawei's operating system “designed for the next generation of technology will be available in the fall of this year and at the latest next spring.” The OS has reportedly been under development since 2012, and is “open to mobile phones, computers, tablets, TVs, cars and smart wearable devices”. It is also said to be “compatible with all Android applications and all web applications”.
If launched, the company’s OS will be going up against Android and in addition to its own OS, Huawei is rumoured to be in talks for a Play Store alternative called Aptoide. The company is also looking to bolster its own AppGallery, where a Huawei smartphone user can download apps from. Huawei was banned from using Android on May 20 and for the next 90 days, the company’s phones will receive Google Play Store updates and app updates via Google’s app stores. Partnering with Aptoide could work out for the smartphone maker as Aptoide is not a centralised store and it enables users to manage their own store.