Huawei Expanding Its Range Of Apps After Google Services Blocked

Of course, Huawei continues to struggle with the fact that the company will no longer be able to offer Google services and the PlayStore on new smartphones due to the US sanctions. The group is now reporting a slow expansion of its app offering.

The Google Play Store can no longer be found on devices like the Huawei P40 because Google, as a US company, is no longer allowed to work directly with Huawei. For customers, this means that there is no longer a huge selection of apps from the official Google store and the current Huawei smartphones are often a hack when it comes to getting apps.

New batch of popular apps available

Huawei is nevertheless making an honest effort to bring more apps to its own alternative store, App Gallery. Now the company is reporting a small first success because it was possible to bring a number of apps from important providers into the in-house store. At the same time, Huawei is launching a new competition called Apps Up, which aims to use pretty sums to encourage more app developers to adapt their apps to use Huawei Mobile Services (HMS).

Huawei has now made Deezer, Tidal, BBC News, Tinder, Telegram, TikTok, and Zoom available through the official App Gallery, among others. In addition, there are some apps from the travel industry, including the booking portals Skyscanner and Booking.com, as well as a number of airlines. The mobility service provider Bolt has also been acquired. With the expansion of the app offering via the App Gallery, Huawei is primarily expanding its in-house app range. At the same time, the so-called Petal Search is now offered. This specialized app can be used to search various third-party sites for the purchase of apps via side loading. However, there is no guarantee that the apps found can actually be used without restriction.

Since there is no sign of any relaxation in the matter of Huawei embargoes, the company is meanwhile trying to win developers for the use of the HMS with the new Apps Up competition. With million-dollar prize money, they want to lure the developers and ensure that the app range in the official app gallery will soon continue to grow.