There’s no doubt that Huawei Mate 30 and Mate 30 Pro are beastly flagship phones. It features 5G support, cameras that can go up to 7680fps slo-mo and incredible low-light performance, and class-leading design, performance, and charging. For a while, it seems like it’s the phone to beat. But the fact that it comes without Google Apps and Services out of the box makes the idea a passing thought.
READ: Huawei Officially Releases HarmonyOS — Made for Smartphones and Other Platforms
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Google Announced Huawei Mate 30 Series Will Come Without Google Services
Before the launch date, Google already confirmed that Huawei Mate 30 Series won’t ship with Google’s app and services. This led some followers to believe that Harmony OS will be the replacement, given that it has been announced already and Huawei has its back against the wall. Fast forward to launch date, we were greeted with Huawei’s most powerful phones running the latest version of Google’s mobile OS — Android 10.
Huawei CEO Talks About Lack of Google Support
In an interview with GSMArena, Richard Yu, Huawei’s CEO, talked about the limitations of Mate 30 Series, specifically the lack of Google support.
“There are also a lot of third-party apps and places where you can download any app,” said Yu.
While Huawei Mate 30 Series is still using Android OS, it’s an open-source version wherein Google Maps, YouTube, Chrome, and even Play Store aren’t included. Instead, you have Huawei Mobile Services with the company claiming it has over 45,000 integrated apps already. Alternatively, it uses the App Gallery to provide downloadable apps.
Users can indeed sideload apps to use Google apps and services, but there’s no assurance that everything will work 100% of the time. It’s the flexibility of Android that allows for this certain technique. It’s been used before with Honor and Xiaomi phones that came without Google services.
If the ban continues to take effect after the November 19 deadline, Yu is encouraging developers to work with Huawei. Unlike Google, developers will be able to keep 85% of the revenue thru App Gallery.
