While Huawei smartphones have been a hard sell across the globe due to hard US sanctions limiting Google Mobile Services access, the Chinese firm’s wearables division had grown substantially. One major criticism of Huawei’s LiteOS-powered wearables has been the lack of third-party app support.
The LiteOS framework effectively means that Huawei wearables such as the excellent GT 2e only include a limited number of apps out of the box. There are very few customizable options and while you can control music or read emails and SMS messages, your options are fairly limited. It is designed to be limited to help increase battery life and ensure that rogue apps are not able to sap at the impressive lifespan.
Today, Huawei has announced that it will open up the LiteOS wearable division to third-party developers and, therefore, third-party apps. It’s not clear just how this will affect older models, but Huawei has marked this move by adding the fitness app Fitify to the Watch GT 2 Pro.
Huawei is aiming to “provide one-stop, full-spectrum operational support for all app content providers, covering the entire cycle from ideation, development, and distribution through to operation and data analytics.” This sounds very much like the app incubator process that the Chinese firm has undertaken to promote the AppGallery and associated ecosystem.
Developer integration kits will be available for teams seeking to add their applications to Huawei wearable hardware. With over 10 million smartwatches shipped in Q3 2020, there is a sizeable market share on offer provided users are looking to add extra apps to their Huawei wearable devices.
More on Huawei:
- Huawei’s new Mate X2 foldable works like a Galaxy Fold, costs nearly $3,000
- Huawei reportedly trying to sell off its premium smartphone brands
- Smartphone market starts to recover in Q3: Samsung dominates as Huawei crashes
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