In recent weeks, several news items have been published about manufacturers that want to launch mobile phones with operating systems other than Android. The one that is clearest about it is Huawei, which after the veto suffered years ago began with HarmonyOS, an operating system based on Android but without everything that you were not allowed to use. The next thing seems to be that this operating system will not be compatible with applications of Android.
Xiaomi is also making headlines, but theirs sounds at a lower volume. During this summer (in the northern hemisphere), there were news about Mios, its own operating system that also aims to be something different from Google's mobile system. Other information about the same company sounds louder, but it remains in a new layer of Android that is still Android. The MiOS thing is something else, and it may end up being a shot in the foot.
Why using Android is good for manufacturers
Let's take a look back in time. Nokia was the king of mobile telephony, and the iPhone appeared. On paper, Apple's phone only offered one truly innovative thing: ease of use. In 2008 he launched the App Store, and 2-3 years later it already had more than 1 million applications. Android phones changed the way they did things, offered something more "apple" and also launched what is now known as Google Play. Nowadays, anything that isn't an iPhone or an Android is a rarity.
Why do I explain this? Because if there is something that makes a phone sells well are the possibilities it offers, and these possibilities are related to the applications they can install. In the App Store there is everything, but even the most "maquero" fanboyAlthough it doesn't say so, it lacks software like Kodi or RetroArch. Those apps do appear on Google Play, and there are even others that can be installed from the developer's page, such as NewPipe.
And why are there so many apps in these stores? Simply because there is public. When a developer thinks about creating a desktop application and wants to reach a lot of people, the first thing he thinks about is creating it for Windows, followed by macOS and then for the rest. On mobile phones, the order is Android, iOS and... I don't know if there is that type of "rest."
What mobile manufacturers have to take into account
Although we are "Linux addicts" here, how many of you have a pinephone, a Volla Phone or one with native Linux like Phosh or postmarketOS? If I have to tell you what I believe, I think there will be some, of course, but among all our readers I think you can count on one hand those who only use that phone and do not have anything with at least Android.
The reason is that phones are phones, although the definition of a phone today is very different from that of 30 years ago. A current phone has to be able to call, it has to be able to use WhatsApp, it has to be able to use Telegram, allow us to play Candy Crush on duty. Without that, what we have is little more than a phone from Nokia's time: it may be very good, it may have powerful hardware, but we won't be able to do much that is taken for granted.
Others have already failed
Huawei and Xiaomi They are considering being like Apple or Google without being it. And most importantly, in a world where these companies already exist and are dominating in this field. It's something that Mozilla also tried, and not only did it end up biting the dust, but it ended up swallowing sand. If I were an analyst, well, they would pay me to talk nonsense (with all my respect to them, it is just an allusion to the fact that sometimes they are right and many times they are not) and on this I would say that they are not going to get anywhere. Huawei will restore app support to Google's mobile operating system, and Xiaomi will never completely abandon it.
As for manufacturers of phones with Linux, the software developers are being the smartest of all, since they have their own operating system, it is based on Linux, it can usually be connected to a monitor and keyboard and offer an almost desktop and above work to allow you to run Android applications. The rest, who are world-class manufacturers, should play it safe.