Huawei Finally Makes An Android Phone Sans Google Play Services

Huawei has unveiled its new flagship smartphones -- the Mate 30, Mate 30 Pro, and the Mate 30 RS Porsche Design. One common factor amongst these smartphones is that they are based on Android 10 OS with EMUI 10 skin on top. Besides, these are also the first set of smartphone from the company, which are being affected by the US-China trade war.

Did Huawei Make An Android Phone Without Google?

Though Android OS is a part of Google ecosystem, it is a license-free software, where, the company releases the AOSP(Android Open Source Build) for free of cost. Though Google has a major contribution to the development of the Android 10 OS, it is an open-source software, thus anyone can use it without any issue. So, the answer is yes and no.

So, What's Missing?

Though these phones can support apps written for Android OS they do not have the GPS or the Google Play Services, which is a quintessential part of the Android ecosystem and is a must to run some of the commonly used apps.

These smartphones will not face any issue in China as most of the Android smartphones come with their own services and they are not dependent on Google Services for navigation, search engine and more. However, the company will have issues in the international markets, especially in places like India, where, using Google Services is part of life.

Huawei has introduced a new service called Huawei Mobile Services, which will ingeniously replace the GPS. The Mate 30 series of smartphones will come with a built-in app store called the Huawei AppGallery. The company claims that there are more than 45,000 apps on its app store and the company will be investing $1 billion to develop the Huawei Mobile Services.

With no GPS support, one might not be able to use some of the apps like Google Maps, YouTube, Gmail, Google Drive, and others. Do note that, some of these services can be accessed on a web-browser (no Google Chrome as well).

What About App Sideloading?

As the EMUI 10 is based on Android 10 OS one should not have any issues with app sideloading. However, some of the apps might not work which requires Google Services.

Though one might be able to install GApps by rooting the device, unlocking the bootloader is not an easy task on Huawei smartphones. Besides, a normal user might not want to tinker around the OS to install basic apps, especially on a premium flagship smartphone.