Huawei released AppGallery worldwide in 2018 and since the trade ban between the US and China came into effect, newer Huawei models have been released with the AppGallery only. The Huawei AppGallery can also be downloaded to any Android device directly from the Huawei website.
At first glance, the AppGallery has a similar feel to the Play Store. It has fewer categories, but this makes the design seem sleeker. The emphasis seems to be on browsing rather than searching. The AppGallery provides you with quick links to new apps, the most downloaded apps, and the top-rated apps. Huawei offers users a curated experience, with suggestions based on the age of the user and download data in the user’s region.
With only 55 000 apps, you have fewer choices compared to Google’s Play Store. However, Huawei is reportedly getting more developers on board and increasing the number of popular apps available on AppGallery. The company has made noticeable improvements to its offering in a matter of months.
While you’ll definitely notice that some of your favourite apps are missing, popular apps already available include TikTok and Snapchat. You’ll also find local favourites like DSTv and Showmax, but sadly no Netflix. You should still be able to find your banking app, your favourite grocery store delivery service, and other useful apps.
The search functionality is easy to use. Even the most novice of users can find their way around the gallery without any difficulty. There are some imitation apps lurking, so pay close attention when searching for an app.
Huawei has a brilliant workaround for apps that aren’t available in the App Gallery. Thanks to Petal Search, when you search for an app that isn’t currently available, like Facebook or Twitter,- the app will still appear in your search results. You can then select ‘Get’ and be redirected to the relevant website.
Here you can download the APK for the app. The downside to this is that any app you download in this way won’t be updated automatically. This means you’ll have to manually check for updates.
You might still miss some of your Google-powered apps, but Huawei does offer some alternatives, such as Petal Maps, which is set to rival Google Maps.
The most noticeable difference between the Huawei AppGallery and the Google Play Store is the number of apps. Even with the workaround, you might find this quite an adjustment at first. For many users, not having easy access to their suite of Google apps like Gmail or Google Drive might also become frustrating. It’ll be interesting to see how Huawei combats this in the months to come.
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