Despite the fact that Google seems to be determined to return to cooperation with Huawei, apparently the Chinese are set exactly the opposite. Having not received permission to publish WhatsApp clients, Instagram, Facebook and other American online services in my AppGallery, Huawei came up with an alternative way to download them to branded devices . For this, the developers of the Chinese company have created a completely new AppSearch application, which searches for the applications the user needs in third-party sources and allows them to be installed directly from there.
Huawei understands that Instagram and WhatsApp will not appear in AppGallery, and therefore goes to drastic measures
AppSearch is still in beta testing, and therefore not all users can get access to it. Apparently, so far Huawei is generally testing its new service only in Germany, since all the testers who shared their impressions of it were from there.
What is AppSearch and how it works
According to testers who got access to AppSearch, it is a kind of aggregator that collects information from third-party application directories and tells the user exactly where to download the program he needs. At the same time, AppSearch itself does not provide direct download, but only brings the conditional seller and buyer, which are not connected with Huawei itself. Therefore, the user agreement of the service states that the company refuses to assume any responsibility either to one party or to the other.
Despite this, smartphone users Huawei have the opportunity to download the program they need, in fact, without having access to Google Play. Thus, they can install clients Facebook, WhatsApp, Spotify, Telegram, all Google services and many, many other applications that are not available in AppGallery due to US sanctions, which prohibit American enterprises from cooperating in any way with Huawei, including by placing their products on the sites of the Chinese company, which includes the app store.
Where to download applications to smartphones Huawei
At the moment, at least 5 directories are known, from which AppSearch offers to install the necessary applications:
- Amazon App Store
- Huawei AppGallery
- APKMirror
- APKPure
- APKMonk
However, in order to download an application, in some cases you have to install the stores themselves first, in the range of which they are available, as, for example, in the case of Amazon AppStore. In addition, AppSearch searches not only through catalogs, but also through the official websites of applications. Therefore, if the developer has allowed the download of his brainchild directly from the site, smartphone users Huawei will have this opportunity. Practice shows that it is quite safe, at least if you download some common application.
How good and convenient is what you did Huawei? In my opinion, a solution like AppSearch has been asking for a long time and its appearance was only a matter of time. After all, users, no matter how loyal they are, are unlikely to last long without the apps they need, on enthusiasm alone. Therefore, I see a really cool tool in AppSearch, which is not only convenient, since it allows users not to search for alternative directories on their own, but at the very least is protected, since it gives them some kind of risk-free guarantee. Another thing is that not everyone can understand this.
The problem with AppSearch is that only I and a few other people who really understand the topic see the security guarantee here. Take APKMirror, for example. Despite the fact that I know about this service and know that it is safe, since all applications that go there are tested, many have no idea what it is. The situation is complicated by the fact that APKMirror and others like them offer to install programs in APK format. This can alienate many users, because, firstly, the devil knows what these APKs are in their composition (remember, people have no idea what kind of site it is), and, secondly, Google itself has already introduced a partial ban on their installation. Therefore, on the spot Huawei I would nevertheless try to calm the conflict and regain the right to cooperate with the Americans or arrange a large-scale educational program for users to install applications from their alternative sources.