Step-by-Step Guide to Building a Hello World App on Huawei HarmonyOS 2.0

1. Introduction

Huawei HarmonyOS 2.0 has been officially open‑sourced. The following tutorial reproduces the author’s step‑by‑step experience, which is especially straightforward for Android developers because the IDE workflow and project compilation are almost identical.

Source code repository: https://openharmony.gitee.com

1.1 Official website

https://www.harmonyos.com (search results may show third‑party sites first)

1.2 IDE download

Source compilation IDE: https://device.harmonyos.com/cn/ide

1.3 Development Studio download

https://developer.harmonyos.com/cn/develop/deveco-studio#download

1.4 Source code location

https://device.harmonyos.com/cn/docs/start/get-code/oem_sourcecode_guide-0000001050769927

2. Application Development

2.1 SDK installation

During IDE installation you will be prompted to download the SDK; cancel the prompt, then manually set a custom SDK path.

All SDK components can be selected for automatic download.

2.2 Creating a project

The IDE now supports four project types:

2.2.1 TV device application

2.2.2 Wearable device application

2.2.3 Lite Wearable application

2.2.4 TV project (Java) – list template selected

During creation Gradle 5.4.1 is downloaded (slow) and stored by default in the Gradle cache directory.

2.2.5 Downloading the emulator

Click the dialog to start the download; if it fails, click “download again”.

After refresh the emulator list appears.

2.3 Logging in with a Huawei account

Use the Windows built‑in browser (Chrome may cause authorization failure). After real‑name verification (bank card method is fast), authorize the developer account.

Authorization succeeds and the agreement is accepted.

2.4 Running the TV emulator

The emulator starts, and the Hello World app runs successfully.

Conclusion: The whole process is smooth and reveals that HarmonyOS is essentially an Android‑based shell.