Huawei’s Next Flagship Phone Blocked From Using Google Apps

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Elliott Davis

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Jul 11, 2024, 11:02:22 AM7/11/24

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This week, I am reviewing the Huawei Mate 50 Pro, the latest flagship of the Chinese manufacturer decreed excommunicado by the Android smartphone brotherhood since 2019. I'm not going to give you a history lesson again, you are certainly aware of the setbacks between Huawei and the US, depriving the latter's smartphones of Google mobile services (GMS).

Last year, after reviewing the Huawei P50 Pro, I conceded to the manufacturer and its fans that yes, Huawei without Google is still functional in 2022. But at the time, I was already wondering why on earth you should bother with such an unstable user experience. And this, as partially functional as it may be!

Huaweis next flagship phone blocked from using Google apps

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First of all, no. That's not true. Second, I know the drill. And it's true, you can tinker. And it's true, you can use Google Maps, Gmail, Google Drive, and lots of other mainstream apps like WhatsApp, Netflix, Youtube, etc. The DRM Info app even says that the Huawei Mate 50 Pro I'm reviewing has Widevine L1 DRM to watch on-demand video content in HD, which shouldn't be the case (but I'll have to check that with Huawei).

The first, and least efficient of all, is Petal Search. It's a native Huawei application that serves as a search engine or rather an APK file aggregator to install most of the applications that are not found on AppGallery.

Apart from the fact that many of the APKs may either not be installed on the smartphone or may not launch once installed because authentication via your Google account does not work, due to the lack of the GMS.

We then move to the second solution: Aurora Store. This alternative application store allows you to download and install apps and games similar to the Google Play Store experience. Some may work very well, others may perform very poorly. This was especially the case for mobile games in my case. Apex Legends and Call of Duty Mobile didn't work, the apps closed themselves shortly after launching.

This is where the third and, in fact, only workaround comes in: GSpace. This application creates a kind of virtual space in which your Huawei smartphone behaves like a normal Android smartphone with GMS. You can install applications via the Play Store, as if nothing had happened and Huawei is still good buddies with Google.

Except that you can't add all the apps from this space. But you can clone some apps already installed on your smartphone to integrate them into GSpace. And it is this feature that makes GSpace ultra useful, indispensable even. Basically, my "magic" solution was to download all the apps I wanted from the Aurora Store and then clone them into GSpace.

Uber, Uber Eats, my N26 banking app, Apex Legends Mobile, ... All the applications downloaded via the Aurora Store that didn't work worked perfectly in GSpace. Sometimes, such as Slack for example, the authentication via my Google account worked normally while it blocked me from the application when I launched it outside GSpace.

It's still impossible to use Google Wallet for contactless payments. And I know there's an alternative known as Curve that many Huawei fans recommended on the forums. However, if you want to pay with your connected watch, you simply cannot do so.

That's a lot, isn't it? And even if you're a professional hacker, a 3.0 nerd who loves to hack your daily life by gamifying every stratum of your user experience, I ask you: WHY GO THROUGH SUCH TORTURE?!?!?

Really, this is not a trolling post. And I sincerely don't want to make fun of anyone, nor do I want to make fun of those of you who use a Huawei smartphone. But taking all of the above into account, how can anyone justify Huawei's offering at this time?

Maybe for someone who doesn't care about the software experience and is mostly interested in the hardware, the excellent hardware specifications of Huawei's flagships are enough. Maybe a shutterbug, who only cares about the (excellent) camera module, couldn't care less about Google services. Or maybe you're content with the Huawei P30 Pro, one of the best smartphones of its time (circa 2019) that still holds up and has GMS.

But here I am talking about buying a new Huawei smartphone without Google services in 2023. Personally, I would not consider picking it up in the long run. And I think reviewers and other tech journalists should take responsibility and confront Huawei with a status quo that no longer holds.

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The HUAWEI ban went into effect on May 15, 2019, as part of an executive order from then-president Donald Trump. The order banned the use of telecommunications equipment from foreign firms that are deemed national security risks.

No. Although Donald Trump is no longer president, his executive order remains in effect. HUAWEI is still releasing flagship devices in Europe and Asia, but they are still not available in the United States.

It does not appear as though the US has any plans to end the HUAWEI ban at this time. According to Reuters, President Biden signed the Secure Equipment Act in November 2021, which prevents companies from receiving equipment licenses from US regulators.

Yes, it is perfectly legal to buy new HUAWEI products of all kinds. The HUAWEI ban only prevents HUAWEI from working with US-based companies. This might affect the hows and wheres of buying a HUAWEI phone, but it has no effect on your purchase or ownership of the device.

HUAWEI is spending millions of dollars on convincing app developers to port their products to App Gallery. As such, there are a lot of Android apps already available through App Gallery. HUAWEI adds more all the time. You can install App Gallery on your current Android phone and search for the apps you depend on the most, which should help you decide if it can fully replace the Play Store.

With the HUAWEI-US ban in effect, the company has had to completely revamp how it creates and releases smartphones. It also faces mounting scrutiny from other nations, many of which rely on HUAWEI for wireless networking equipment.

Since May 2019, HUAWEI has had some minor wins, but the bulk of the ban is still in place. It appears the HUAWEI ban will be in effect in perpetuity, and the company will need to strategize around it until further notice.

Even though the trade war is associated very closely with Donald Trump, it is actually one of the few moves he made during his presidency with bipartisan support. Current US President Joe Biden has made no efforts to remove the HUAWEI ban or weaken the US/China trade war. Members of his staff and the people he appointed have also signaled support for continuing the ban.

This meant that HUAWEI would no longer have access to the fundamentals of Android smartphones. Gmail, YouTube, Google Drive, and even the Google Play Store itself were now no longer available for HUAWEI to use on new products.

This news sent a shockwave through the tech world. Remember that at this point, HUAWEI is the second-largest smartphone manufacturer globally, and every single one of its phones runs on Android. Without access to Google apps, millions of HUAWEI smartphone owners were understandably concerned that their phones would suddenly stop working correctly.

When the dust settled, it became clear that HUAWEI phones certified by Google and launched before May 15, 2019, would continue to operate as usual. However, any uncertified phones, tablets, or other products released by HUAWEI after that date would be Google-less.

Eventually, China tried to turn the tables by threatening to create its own Entity List. HUAWEI then upped the ante by accusing the US of cyberattacks and employee harassment. However, the company supplied no evidence to support these accusations, and they led nowhere.

As luck would have it, this 90-day reprieve would be extended three consecutive times. By February 2020, HUAWEI had had nearly a year of living without the full ramifications of the ban. That same month, the US government issued a final 45-day reprieve, allowing the HUAWEI ban to take full and permanent effect by April 1, 2020. Before that date arrived, Donald Trump signed a law banning rural US carriers from using HUAWEI equipment.

According to HUAWEI, Harmony OS is based on Linux, which is the same open-source platform on which Android is based. This means that Harmony and Android can share compatibilities. Theoretically, if a developer wished to do the work to make it compatible, any Android app can work within Harmony OS.

In early 2021, though, Ron Amadeo at Ars Technica gained beta access to an early version of Harmony OS. He discovered that, up until that point, Harmony OS was pretty much just Android 10 with a few cosmetic alterations. Eventually, HUAWEI launched some tablets with Harmony OS as its platform and followed that up with releases on smartphones. It also will push Harmony OS to older products in its roster, effectively removing Google-powered Android from its entire portfolio.

For the first few months, the phone was only available in China and several other smaller countries. Eventually, it made its way to the West (although not the US). The phones received stellar reviews, but few publications would recommend consumers buy the device due to its software shortcomings.