How to install Google Apps, Play Store in Huawei Mate 30 Pro, P40?
The specs of a Huawei phone is almost always super compared to other brands that can be got at the same price, or within the price range, Huawei offers a phone whose specs are superior to the others, but at a lower cost. Especially the camera.
And with the Trump administration putting a ban on Huawei devices the license to use Google services, which was around May 2019, so that any new device coming out of the factory is deprived of Google Apps, you are down to a Google-less phone, smart watch, etc. Can you live with that?
Well, there are ways to get apps, but they will not be coming from the Play Store. There is of course, the HMS, Huawei Mobile Services, along with their AppGallery, which is having more and more new apps every day. There is also F-Droid, AppToide, ApkPure, and if there is any more, do let me know.
The caveat? Always make sure that the apk files you are downloading are legits. Why, even in Google Play Store, there are lousy, shady apps. Which brings into contrast Play Store and App Store. But that's another story. Wherever your source, just make sure your app is legit.
About 10 days ago, my time to renew my phone plan is up, and I was vascillating between 3 models: the Samsung Galaxy Note 10+, the Oppo Reno 10X Zoom 12GB Special Edition, and the Huawei Mate 30 Pro. Of course, as mentioned before, Huawei is always the top when it comes to the specs, but I have to say, Galaxy Note 10+ is the best screen resolution. What made me zero in on these models is or course, the cash out, which is at the least, $0, or at most, $18. Yep, the mobile plan I was in gave me that opportunity to get a new phone without spending anything, or a minimum amount, if any.
By the time I am able to decide, Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ has run out of stock. I guess everybody avoided the Huawei phones, Mate 30 and P40 series, which are up for grabs. So it was a choice between the Oppo Reno 10X Zoom and the Huawei Mate 30 Pro units.
I picked Huawei Mate 30 Pro. Perhaps as part of my curious nature.
Part of the prevailing knowledge on how to get your old phone's apps installed into your new Huawei phone is by using Phone Close, which is installed by default in all Huawei phones, but which can also be downloaded from the Google Play Store, or from the Huawei AppGallery. All yo have to do is run Phone Close, identify the old and new phones, and go. Everything is transferred!
But not really.
That what I did. I run phone clone between my Huawei Mate 20X and Huawei Mate 10 Pro, and everything was migrated without any problem at all. I gave away my Mate 20X phone to my youngest daughter so she has a large screen phone (compared to the Mate 10 Pro display size). And when Phone Clone did its work, transferring from Huawei Mate 10 Pro to Huawei Mate 30 Pro, not everything was transferred. Of course, that is expected. financial apps, and the likes, are disqualified by default. Then there is the Google apps set, including GMS (Google Mobile Services), GMF (Google Mobile Framework), GAM (Google Account Manager), Google Play Services, Google Play Store, etc., etc., etc.
Actually, even if all apps gets transferred to the new Huawei phone, they will not run -- because they will be looking for Google Mobile Services, or Google Play Store. And as mentioned earlier, a lot of these apps already have their counterpart version available from Huawei AppGallery, or ApkPure. Just uninstall the useless and non-working app version and install the Huawei compatible version, and you're all set.
I spent a week living life and adjusting to the use of a Google-less Android phone that is a very good hardware. I guess all Huawei phone users can say the same. I missed a lot of things. Like so many ads from almost all apps, primarily!
Wonders! And I am always wondering, if Huawei lost something, what is the financial implication to Google, and all the many, many other hundreds of companies that P. Trump directed to cut business deals with Huawei? I'm sure they simply followed the presidential decree. Did they have a choice at all?
So I am not getting a ton of ads, and I was forced to remember my passwords! Hah! Good way to exercise the brain! I have to log in via the borwser and need to type in my passwords, and I have to say I did enjoy that.
I thought I was just okay with this set up. But I wasn't.
My Whatsapp chats can't be backed up to my Google Drive. And while Huawei have a copy of my contacts and all, there's a ton of missing features that Google made it wasy for Android device users to get on with. But really, Huawei's camera features are awesome!
So after about a week, I searched the web on how to install Google Apps, Google Play Store in my Huawei Mate 30 Pro phone. I got a ton of results, all saying that it is possible, but a caveat: Google does not license the device to use their services.
I'm on my own.
And just like doing roots on my Samsung and Acer phones, I proceeded with caution: read very well, and watch the videos many times (which I really didn't do). I skipped talks here and there, but repeated the videos a number of times.
Then I did it!
I reset my phone, followed the instructions, and did I get Google Mobile Services and Google Play Services and Play Store installed? Yes, I did. Error notifications? Yes, expected. I get them. a ton. Many more than the ads themselves. But I can live with that. At least the services I need to get me going I now have in my new Huawei Mate 30 Pro. And the steps also apply to the Huawei P40 phones.
Curious?
Here are the 3 videos that I watched and followed. Of course, the risk is all yours, it's your call. I don't recommend you doing it, but if you find that you can't live your life without Google, there's a way around it.
Again, should you decide to go this way, it is your call, your choice. May the force be with you. May you get to install Google Apps, Google Mobile Services, Google Mobile Framework, Google Play Store in your new Huawei Mate 30 and Huawei P40 phones, and all your other apps as well.
Till then!
