Huawei launches its new User Interface for Android 7 phones

China-based Huawei, is now the world’s third largest manufacturer of smartphones. The company known for brands like Honor, has long felt that the standard Android User Interface or UI is a work in progress rather than a finished piece of art. It has chosen to offer its own Emotion UI or EMUI, sitting on top whatever is the current version of Android and adding new layers of functionality.

Now this is not universally hailed: a lot of Huawei customers appreciate the efficiencies that EMUI versions have brought to the phone. But there are other users who are happy with the familiar Android look and feel and say in effect, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"!

UIs are intensely personal things so I won't presume to take a stand on whether Huawei's creative excursions on the Android road map, do or don't add to the overall user experience. Last week at a media event in its Bangalore based R&D unit Huawei unveiled the new EMUI 5.0 created to run on the latest Android 7.0, Nougat.

If you watch the video at this site you will appreciate how Huawei engineers have taken inspiration from the blues and whites of the Greek waters and landscape.

The new UI is a fast learner -- of your habits. EMUI 5 allocates resources dynamically to provide more CPU and memory to applications that you use on a regular basis. This makes for easier switching between user spaces with a single touch, instant data transfer and faster file sharing capabilities -- without significantly increasing the RAM memory.

Huawei has developed a fast memory recycling mechanism that uses memory compression technology to dynamically increase available memory and performance. Phones tend to slow down as we load them with apps and files we rarely use. A regular spring cleaning is the solution. But EMUI 5 will no longer require any manual cleaning as the background cleaning process keeps on running when the phone is in an idle state. Apps which are most used are kept ready to be launched instantly.

The new UI also features a ‘Privacy Space’ that can be access-restricted using the phone's fingerprint technology. It includes apps as well as content. This is useful to separate personal and official spaces on the same device.

Also usefully the new UI allows users to run 2 versions of the same app on one device -- two Whatsapp accounts for example. It's called App Twin. In fairness I must state having seen the same function in the Vivo V5s. Our review of the phone on this page highlighted this.

Designers of EMUI 5.0 also pointed to the ability to easily tag and sort photos by people, places or themes.

For me the highlight of the updated UI is its India -centric localization, achieved by the Bangalore R&D Centre. In keeping with government mandate the UI allows for embedding an SOS feature in the phone that can be activated in an emergency situation on pressing user defined buttons -- like the power button three times, to send multiple alert messages and also raise an audio alarm.

Also new is the Indian calendar feature, providing details for Hindus like panchang, muhurat etc and moon timings and location specific prayer timings cor Muslims. The UI continues to support 14 languages including Tamil, Telugu, Punjabi, Kannada, Gujarati, Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Assamese, Nepali, Malayalam, Oriya, Urdu, and Maithili. Keyboard support is now extended to 22 language scripts. Honor 8 Lite, being launched this week, will be first phone with EMUI 5.0 pre-installed. Honor 8, Honor 6X, Honor 5C and Huawei P9 will receive an update later in May 2017.