Following the release of the HarmonyOS 2.0 beta,
Ars Technica and
XDA Developers speculated that the smartphone version of the OS had been
forked from
Android 10.
Ars Technica found that it resembled the existing
EMUI software used on Huawei devices, but with all references to "Android" replaced by "HarmonyOS". It was also noted that the DevEco Studio software shared components and toolchains with
Android Studio,
[1][2] and that some of its development documentation pertained more to the LiteOS-based version of Harmony—leading to discrepancies and references to platform features not present in this particular build. When testing the new MatePad Pro in June 2021,
Android Authority and
The Verge similarly observed similarities in behavior, including that it was possible to install apps from Android
APK files on the HarmonyOS-based tablet, and that it included the Android 10
easter egg—affirming the earlier reports.
[4]