HONOR announces Magic OS 8.0 update based on Android 14

Android 14 is the latest version of our beloved operating system, and phone makers are moving forward with updating their UX skins to the new platform. HONOR is the latest to join the Android 14 bandwagon, as it has now launched Magic OS 8.0 based on Android 14.

HONOR is touting an “intent-based UI” and platform-level AI integration on Magic OS 8.0 in China. Magic OS 8.0 also debuts MagicLM, HONOR’s proprietary on-device large language model with seven billion parameters that it has optimized with Qualcomm’s assistance to run smoothly on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.

What exactly is an intent-based UI, you ask? HONOR says Magic OS 8.0 renders services according to user intentions instead of acting upon request, and it does so by interpreting language, images, gestures, and eye movements to offer services proactively.

The new Magic Portal feature is at the center of this intent-based UI, and HONOR describes it as an intent-based shortcut recommendation feature that lets users swipe to switch and access services between apps and devices.

For example, you can drag and drop booking and reservation messages onto navigation apps to automatically get directions across locations. Magic Portal is debuting in China with support for over 100 popular apps.

With MagicLM, users can do a lot of AI tasks on-device, such as generating videos with natural language prompts, accessing personal assistant features, and more. Using AI, you can also locate a specific frame in a video based on your query.

Magic OS 8.0 also introduces system-wide Parallel Spaces, which we presume means you can now run two instances of any app (rather than just the listed ones). There is also a new shake-to-block ads feature that eliminates intrusive pop-up ads.

HONOR has not announced the rollout timeline of Magic OS 8.0 for global markets yet, nor the full changelog. We will update this article once we hear back from them.