Huawei Next-Gen OS Gets Boost With Tencent’s WeChat

Tencent has released a version of its super-app WeChat for Huawei’s HarmonyOS Next platform, in a major win for the iOS and Android competitor.

The new version of WeChat was developed from scratch and includes key features such as messaging, social interactions, payments, official accounts, mini-programs, video channels and livestreaming, Tencent said in a social media post.

Tencent began the initiative to bring WeChat to the new Huawei platform last March, assigning the project to an experienced team that has built versions of WeChat for multiple platforms over the years, including the Symbian mobile operating system, the company said.

Cross-platform development

For the development project the team used a cross-platform kernel called Alita Core, named after a popular manga and anime series, the development team said.

WeChat has become a key communications platform in China and beyond, with some 1.38 billion monthly active users, making it a milestone for Huawei’s OS efforts.

Since being placed on a US blacklist in 2019, cutting it off from US technologies, Huawei has been developing domestic hardware and software alternatives designed to be independent from Western supply chains.

The company first introduced an Android-compatible version of HarmonyOS in August 2019 and followed up with HarmonyOS Next last October, removing Android support.

The company’s flagship Mate 70 series of smartphones, announced in November, make the switch to the new operating system, in a major bet on the new platform.

OS switch

Huawei has said it is aiming for all its smartphones and tablets to run on HarmonyOS Next next year.

Other widely used apps on the platform include China’s TikTok equivalent Douyin and Ant Group’s Alipay.

As of October the platform could run about 15,000 apps and was “basically usable”, said Huawei rotating chairman Eric Xu in November.

The firm expects the platform to reach maturity with 100,000 apps in the next six months to a year, he said.