OpenHarmony 6.0: Key ArkUI, ArkTS, and Security Upgrades

Recently, the OpenAtom OpenHarmony (commonly called OpenHarmony) technology conference 2025 concluded in Changsha, where the OpenHarmony 6.0 release was officially launched.

This release not only marks a significant upgrade of OpenHarmony's technical capabilities but also brings breakthrough progress in several key technology areas.

In application development, the version deeply optimizes ArkUI component capabilities and adds a default background safe‑area extension feature.

When components are adjacent to non‑safe areas such as navigation bars or status bars, the background can naturally extend into those regions, and together with seamless full‑gesture event listening, it greatly enhances immersive development experience and interaction smoothness.

The ArkTS language introduces a FastBuffer object definition and dynamic XML file serialization, providing a more efficient solution for binary data handling and configuration file generation, further lowering development barriers.

On the media side, a new low‑latency ear‑return capability streams audio to wired earphones in real time, while a high‑definition AEC recording feature, designed for live‑stream scenarios, improves audio‑video interaction quality through a dedicated recording stream type.

Graphics improvements include automatic spacing adjustment for Chinese and Western scripts, independent text‑color modification, and HDR‑quality ASTC image encoding, resulting in more precise and delicate visual presentation.

In system security, certificate management adds a user‑authorization interface invocation API, supporting bidirectional TLS authentication and document signing.

The cryptographic library now supports DES algorithms and adds SM2 signature data format conversion, further strengthening the security protection system.

A new white‑box performance testing framework can accurately measure CPU usage, app cold‑start time, and other key metrics of specified code segments, while the UI testing framework supports multi‑screen widget discovery and simulated operations.

Huawei Executive Director and Terminal BG Chairman Yu Chengdong noted that the number of HarmonyOS 5 terminals has surpassed 17 million.

He added, “Over the past five years, under the incubation and operation of the OpenAtom OpenHarmony Foundation, academia, industry, and research sectors have worked together to co‑create OpenHarmony, achieving a historic milestone in China’s software development.”

He also said, “In 2024, Huawei released HarmonyOS 5 based on OpenHarmony. As of September 20 this year, HarmonyOS 5 terminals have exceeded 17 million, with more than 30 000 Harmony apps and meta‑services available.”

By August 31 2025, the OpenHarmony community had gathered over 9 200 contributors and accumulated more than 130 million lines of code, covering government, transportation, finance, power, water, construction, and other industries, making it the fastest‑growing open‑source operating system.