With the deep integration of the Internet of Everything and artificial intelligence technology, the evolution of intelligent operating systems is entering a brand new era. Recently, the highly anticipated 2026 HarmonyOS Innovation Competition - Geek Track (formerly HarmonyOS Geek Marathon) has officially launched, recruiting developers for participation.
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Starting now, developers can create excellent innovative demos that combine forward-looking innovation and ultimate user experience around the four major innovation themes set by the competition: &#34;Security and Privacy Protection,&#34; &#34;All-Scenario Integrated Collaboration,&#34; &#34;AI Intelligent Experience,&#34; and &#34;3D Spatialization,&#34; utilizing the core capabilities of the latest version of HarmonyOS. To maximize the stimulation of innovative vitality, this competition has established a generous prize pool of over 680,000 yuan, with the first prize alone offering a cash reward of 150,000 yuan. This competition is not just a simple programming contest; it has transformed into a full-chain developer growth platform covering creative incubation, technical empowerment, and ecological implementation. The four major innovation themes are a beacon for HarmonyOS in leading the future intelligent terminal experience.
Rejecting &#34;Naked Running&#34;: Maximizing Security and Adding a Hardcore Lock to Privacy
In the digital age, data security and privacy protection are the cornerstones of all intelligent experiences. This competition has made &#34;Security and Privacy Protection&#34; an important innovation direction, highlighting HarmonyOS's forward-looking layout in the underlying system architecture.
At the core technology level, HarmonyOS's Star Shield security architecture has financial-grade data protection and provides a Device Security Kit, opening up a full set of APIs for anti-peeping protection. These underlying capabilities can directly translate into users' daily sense of security: handling sensitive documents on a crowded subway, the system can detect someone peeping through the front camera and promptly alert the user; or when users are making payments or transfers, the underlying system can directly cut off malicious applications' attempts to record or screenshot.
In the data interaction phase, &#34;Encrypted Sharing and Data Security Capabilities,&#34; HarmonyOS's &#34;Encrypted Sharing and Data Security Capabilities&#34; allow professionals to say goodbye to file leakage anxiety. Confidential quotes or design drafts sent to clients can be set by developers to &#34;viewable by me only,&#34; &#34;self-destruct after reading,&#34; etc., ensuring that sensitive information remains controlled even after leaving the user's device. Additionally, by integrating HarmonyOS's open &#34;AI Proactive Security Protection Capabilities,&#34; developers can create a &#34;Fraud Prevention Assistant for Elders&#34;: when parents receive suspected AI deepfake or voice synthesis scam calls, the system can not only accurately identify and intercept them but also trigger family remote protection immediately, safeguarding their digital lives from the source.
Saying Goodbye to Hardware Islands: Free Device Connectivity, Unblocking the &#34;Ren and Du Meridians&#34; of All Scenarios
The seamless flow across devices is an inherent gene of HarmonyOS. Under the theme of &#34;full-scenario integrated collaboration,&#34; HarmonyOS showcases its technological confidence in completely breaking the hardware boundaries of devices, achieving intelligent interconnection among people, devices, and scenarios. Its core advantage lies in the newly upgraded &#34;Distributed Soft Bus 4.0&#34; and NearLink connectivity capabilities, with low latency of just 8ms for near-field device connections, supporting collaboration among up to 16 devices.
So, what is the full-scenario interconnected experience like? When you and your friends are gathering for a gaming session, there’s no need for cumbersome friend requests or sending links to create a group; two phones just need to &#34;bump&#34; lightly to complete local game teaming. Or when you are watching a study video on your phone, simply bumping your tablet when you reach your desk will smoothly transfer the screen and progress...
Particularly noteworthy is the openness of the &#34;Distributed Hardware Capability Virtualization&#34; API. This gives developers limitless imaginative scenarios: for example, during a live stream by a beauty blogger, the PC in front can utilize the phone's 5G network and high-resolution rear camera; the tablet can serve as a second screen for the PC, with keyboard and mouse seamlessly transitioning between different screens. Developers can leverage this to create truly &#34;multi-end relay&#34; applications, combined with the one-touch direct &#34;meta-service,&#34; allowing &#34;services to follow the user,&#34; bringing an unprecedented full-scenario experience to office work, learning, and creation.
Full AI Capability Opened: Breaking Application Silos, Allowing Your APP to &#34;Think Actively&#34;
AI is reshaping the interaction logic of operating systems, and within the HarmonyOS ecosystem, AI is a deeply embedded system-level capability. Developers can achieve more extraordinary innovations in the direction of &#34;AI intelligent experience&#34; through cutting-edge end-cloud collaborative AI development kits.
Based on the core capabilities of HarmonyOS 6.0—the HarmonyOS Intelligent Agent Framework (HMAF), future smartphones will no longer require you to jump back and forth between various apps. You just need to say to your phone: &#34;Help me summarize the key points of the meeting just now, then book a flight to Beijing for tomorrow morning and send it to Xiao Wang,&#34; and the system will automatically break down the tasks and help the user accomplish everything across applications. The development of such super-intelligent agent applications is now within reach.
Complementing this is the Intents Kit. It allows developers to directly expose core functions and content within applications to the entire system. Once integrated, applications will learn to &#34;recommend themselves&#34;: when users arrive at a scenic spot, ticketing and itinerary recommendations will automatically pop up; when the system recognizes user habits, food delivery suggestions will timely appear. The shift from &#34;people finding applications&#34; to &#34;services finding people&#34; opens up endless imaginative possibilities.
To balance intelligence and privacy, the data enhancement suite supports end-side RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) capabilities. Developers can create a completely offline &#34;personal digital memory bank,&#34; where users' diaries and personal financial reports do not need to be uploaded to the cloud, achieving high-quality knowledge retrieval and Q&amp;A solely relying on local device computing power.
Combined with the deeply integrated AI code generation tool DevEco Studio, even novice university students can easily develop cool applications with multimodal recognition and AIGC generation
Breaking the Dimensional Barrier: One Phone to Handle 3D Blockbusters, Spatial Interaction at Your Fingertips
With the leap in computing power, the elevation of user interface experience has become an inevitable trend. HarmonyOS's significant investment in &#34;3D spatialization&#34; heralds the arrival of a new era of immersive interaction.
Based on the 3D graphics rendering framework ArkGraphics 3D and the system-level &#34;Boundaryless Motion Effect Engine,&#34; the visual applications of the future will undergo a qualitative change. For example, when developing a trendy e-commerce app, you can render sneakers in a fully 3D form &#34;breaking the frame&#34; on the desktop service card, allowing for flipping and interaction, as well as a cross-boundary visual experience.
In terms of spatial perception and reconstruction, the enhanced AR Engine has added the full set of ArkTS/C APIs, fully supporting spatial volume measurement, centimeter-level positioning, environmental depth perception, and real-time overlay of virtual and real scenes. This technology, once only available to professional studios, has become a &#34;civilian development tool.&#34; With the open Remy 3D shooting interface, developers can easily integrate immersive 3D reconstruction capabilities into their applications. For instance, figurine enthusiasts only need to lift a regular HarmonyOS phone and circle around, and the app can quickly construct a lightweight 3D model, igniting social interactions.
For the hot virtual social track, developers can also utilize the 3D virtual avatar API to quickly create a &#34;metaverse meeting&#34; or &#34;3D Werewolf&#34; app that seamlessly connects on tablets, phones, and PCs, allowing players to freely customize their avatars in virtual space.
No More Coding, Just Brainstorming! Innovation Accounts for 50%, Turning Your Brilliant Idea into Reality
The 2026 HarmonyOS Innovation Competition · Geek Track is not just a technical contest. In the evaluation criteria, &#34;innovation&#34; accounts for a high 50%, with prospect assessment at 30%, and technical completeness and UX aesthetics at 20%. This rule clearly conveys Huawei's intention: to abandon the sole focus on technology and emphasize the innovation of scenarios and the ability to integrate technology, truly allowing creative developers with ideas to stand out.
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The competition adopts a two-stage system, with the preliminary round based on HarmonyOS 6.0 development and the finals fully upgraded to the HarmonyOS 7.0 beta version. The Top 20 teams advancing to the finals will gather at HDC2026 Songshan Lake in June 2026 for live presentations, where they will not only receive guidance from core technical experts but also have the opportunity to connect with official ecological resources for commercial realization.
From now until May 15, 2026, 24:00, the registration and submission channel will remain open. To help developers overcome obstacles, the competition organizing committee has also established a full-cycle technical empowerment system, providing periodic expert live courses, exclusive community Q&amp;A, and first-hand development materials
Whether you are a seasoned geek who has been deeply involved in the HarmonyOS ecosystem for many years or an enthusiastic college student developer, now is the best time to get started. Log in to the Huawei Developer Alliance official website to register, and together we can create an infinite future of all-scenario smart living in this vibrant HarmonyOS land!

HUAWEI

The HarmonyOS Innovation Competition · Geek Track has officially launched, recruiting developers for registration. The competition focuses on four major themes: "Security and Privacy Protection," "All-Scenario Integrated Collaboration," "AI Intelligent Experience," and "3D Spatialization," encouraging developers to utilize the core capabilities of the latest version of HarmonyOS to develop innovative demos. The competition features a prize pool of over 680,000 yuan, with the first prize being 150,000 yuan. This competition is not only a programming contest but also a full-chain developer growth platform for creative incubation and technological empowerment, emphasizing the importance of data security and privacy protection

The HarmonyOS Innovation Competition · Geek Track has begun, with four major innovation directions waiting for you to get creative