Although new Huawei phones and Honor phones don’t have Google apps installed, with the Huawei Mate 30 Pro and Honor 9X Pro launching without them, it looks like a new hack has been discovered that takes you back to Google Play Store.
This was discovered by the Technobaboy blog, and while it is certainly not an official method for getting Google apps, it seems to be working (several outlets have reported success with the Mate 30 Pro, and we’ve found that it worked on the 9X Pro).
It would be a shame because the company has released many phones, especially for photography enthusiasts.
There is a way to get many popular apps on a Huawei smartphone, which we detail in our Huawei Mobile Services guide, but you can only do it once, and that does not allow you to update the apps. thereafter. This new solution solves these two problems.
This new solution gives those who want great Huawei hardware, but still want to use Google apps, a new path to take.
Google recommends that users do not load their apps on a handset that has not gone through its own security screening process as part of the validation process for GMS to be applied to a device.
Since the most recent devices from Huawei and Honor were not run during this process, Google side-loading apps may work unreliable and may not be updated, which could cause security issues further.
It is not an official solution, so do it at your own risk and it would be wise to back up your handset first.
How to get Google Play Store on your Huawei phone
To execute this “hack”, you must obtain an application called “Chat Partner”. It’s not available on the Huawei app gallery, but you can install it via an APK here. Once downloaded and installed, open the app.
In the Chat Partner app, you will be asked to log in, but below is an option to “Detect device”. Select this and you will be taken to a new menu.
This menu will analyze your phone and inform you that there is no Google application (which you should already know at this point). Select “Repair Now”, then from the next “Activate” menu, and the application should install the Google Play Store for you.
Some reported that they needed to restart their phones to see the Google Play Store on the home page, but we didn’t have to. You’ll have to log in normally with your Google Account to see the apps, and it’s worth pointing out that we found that the Play Store crashed the first two times we tried to use it, but after that it worked.
When the Google Play Store is running, you can download all the apps you want, as well as update the apps you already have. You can also use the store to download other Google apps, and it also allows you to sign in to the Google apps you have.
This is important, because you could already import a few selected Google applications when setting up your Huawei phone, but these were useless because you could not connect.
With this workaround, your Huawei or Honor phone should work as it would if the Huawei ban never happened. That said, there may be unintended side effects (i.e., the Google Play Store may stop working, or Google or Huawei may detect and stop this “ hacking ”), so do it at your own risk.