Huawei AppGallery

[Tsepz_GP]

So I decided to give AppGallery a good look over these past few days just to see what is on offer and I have come away pretty impressed.

You may have heard in media that Huawei are doing a lot of partnerships locally and internationally to get developers and local brands to build apps for AppGallery and as it turns out they have already built quite an impressive app catalog in AppGallery.

Covering everything from Health/Medical Aid, Shopping, Banking, Entertainment to Food, it is all available in the AppGallery. Below I will share a few that I found interesting, please also share what you guys find to as this will continue to grow

When you first enter AppGallery you are presented with a large swipable banner that has everything from the Games of the Week to the big offers for the period (apologies about some images coming out in low quality, seems Tapatalk or MYBB doesn't like bulk uploads at all):

You are then able to explore what's on offer. Huawei have been doing a fantastic at making some local partnerships, I found a ton of local apps and have broken them down by category, this is just a portion of what is available:

Media (mix of international and local):

Food:

Shopping:

Banking:

Health:

Tools:

Now of course the AppGallery is still a work in-progress but right now it is already looking very good, as Huawei continue to build these relationships it will be great to see more brands embrace the AppGallery, especially with Huawei's incentives to developers being so sweet:

Huawei is offering big prizes to South African app developers

Huawei is offering big prizes to South African app developers

Promoted | Huawei Mobile Services recently launched the Huawei Developer Programme, Shining-Star, in South Africa, with participating developers able to win their share of R650 000 in prizes

techcentral.co.za

Localization is very important in this game as not all apps work or are as popular in every market and it seems Huawei has picked that up and focused on what matters most.

 

[Tcyte]

Great review

 

[Tsepz_GP]

Great review

Thanks a lot! Please share whatever you find to here, I think this will continue to grow until we cannot keep up at all

 

[Sl8er]

Nice!

@Tsepz_GP : What do they have / use in the way of navigation / maps?

 

[Tsepz_GP]

Nice!

@Tsepz_GP : What do they have / use in the way of navigation / maps?

They have a few but the big one I see is Sygic which uses TomTom maps and has been around the Android scene for a long time:

They also recently signed a deal with TomTom so very soon we should see that appearing in AppGallery to

Huawei signs deal with TomTom for a Google Maps alternative

Huawei signs deal with TomTom for a Google Maps alternative

Earlier reports said Huawei was building its own map platform

www.theverge.com

 

[Rickster]

/snip

How is it different from the Google PS?

Seems like a mirror...?

 

[FiestaST]

AppGallery review: Can new Huawei and Honor phones work without Google?

Conclusion

Life without GMS is possible, but you'll be better off installing the Amazon Appstore as soon as you set up your new Huawei phone. It plugged several major holes in messaging, social and entertainment and it’s an app store we’d trust even with paid software.

Phone Clone is a great option if you want to hit the ground running. The AppGallery will make sure to keep updated those apps that are available there, whereas APKPure can take care of the rest.

Of course, APKPure has its limitations, too, because it only handles free apps but that's okay.

The bigger issue that will be impossible to overcome for the average user is that some apps just won’t work - these are the ones that are based off Google services such as GMaps. There are alternative apps to pretty much everything, of course, but if that’s not possible for you (e.g. you have existing subscriptions), then there is not a lot you can do.

More knowledgeable users might be able to get around that dependency on the Google services but that would require even more tinkering. You can look into the microG Project - the XDA-approved open-source framework for getting apps designed for Google Play Services to run on phones that don't have them. But this goes beyond the scope of this review as it's unlikely that the average user will go that route.

So to wrap things up, AppGallery is still quite new - it's not even been a year since the trade war started. The poor app selection was one of the things that sunk Windows Phone, but Huawei is determined to avoid that destiny. There is still a long way to go before we can recommend a Huawei or Honor device without asking "well, can you live without App X?", but for those of you who know what you're getting into - yes, it is possible to live without GMS.

However, this also means that Huawei phones in the foreseeable future will be attractive either to power users who won't mind juggling several sources of apps or to basic users who simply wouldn't care about the somewhat limited app selection. So the company's smartphone strategy should probably be adjusted accordingly, at least until the situation changes.

AppGallery review: Can new Huawei and Honor phones work without Google?

We take Huawei AppGallery for a spin to see how well it can replace the Google Play Store on the latest Huawei/Honor phones.

m.gsmarena.com

 

[backstreetboy]

AppGallery review: Can new Huawei and Honor phones work without Google?

Conclusion

Life without GMS is possible, but you'll be better off installing the Amazon Appstore as soon as you set up your new Huawei phone. It plugged several major holes in messaging, social and entertainment and it’s an app store we’d trust even with paid software.

Phone Clone is a great option if you want to hit the ground running. The AppGallery will make sure to keep updated those apps that are available there, whereas APKPure can take care of the rest.

Of course, APKPure has its limitations, too, because it only handles free apps but that's okay.

The bigger issue that will be impossible to overcome for the average user is that some apps just won’t work - these are the ones that are based off Google services such as GMaps. There are alternative apps to pretty much everything, of course, but if that’s not possible for you (e.g. you have existing subscriptions), then there is not a lot you can do.

More knowledgeable users might be able to get around that dependency on the Google services but that would require even more tinkering. You can look into the microG Project - the XDA-approved open-source framework for getting apps designed for Google Play Services to run on phones that don't have them. But this goes beyond the scope of this review as it's unlikely that the average user will go that route.

So to wrap things up, AppGallery is still quite new - it's not even been a year since the trade war started. The poor app selection was one of the things that sunk Windows Phone, but Huawei is determined to avoid that destiny. There is still a long way to go before we can recommend a Huawei or Honor device without asking "well, can you live without App X?", but for those of you who know what you're getting into - yes, it is possible to live without GMS.

However, this also means that Huawei phones in the foreseeable future will be attractive either to power users who won't mind juggling several sources of apps or to basic users who simply wouldn't care about the somewhat limited app selection. So the company's smartphone strategy should probably be adjusted accordingly, at least until the situation changes.

AppGallery review: Can new Huawei and Honor phones work without Google?

We take Huawei AppGallery for a spin to see how well it can replace the Google Play Store on the latest Huawei/Honor phones.

m.gsmarena.com

Terrible article. No mention of Aptoide? Lol what a joke.