Huawei became the most popular smartphone manufacturer in the world during Q2 2020, even if the company is undergoing troubles related to sanctions imposed by the US after the country blocked the company from dealing with American companies.
The loss of access to services provided by Google is of the direst consequences faced by Huawei, forcing the company to develop and deliver functional alternatives in the form of the AppGallery and Petal Search. Many of the largest developers have already added their apps to the AppGallery, and Petal Search offers safe download solutions for those that aren’t present.
Life without Google
For some users, it might be hard to imagine life without Google Maps, YouTube, Gmail or the Google Play Store, especially since the latter is the most popular way of downloading and updating apps on Android devices.
There are lots of apps that can fulfill the same tasks, and some might even come with improved features, but Android without Google services seems a little barren. In an attempt to improve the experience for users Huawei is working on a new smartphone OS
Harmony OS
Since Harmony is also based on Linux so app developers could port Android apps to Harmony without major issues. The presence of EMUI, which is already found on all Huawei devices which run Android, will also make the experience familiar since the UI would be almost identical on both Android OS and Harmony OS devices.
One major challenge faced by Huawei will be to convince app developers that there are enough Harmony OS smartphones that could justify the resources needed for making ports. However, the custom silicon made by Huawei can rival some of the best SoCs on the market, and it is likely that a custom-made OS could make future Huawei devices faster and more responsive in comparison to other smartphones.