The last Huawei phone to feature the Google Mobile Services version of Android was the P30 Pro released in March 2019. Banned from using Google software and apps by the U.S. Commerce Department due to security issues, Huawei developed its own operating system called HarmonyOS. It was first used on a Huawei smartphone with the Mate 40 series and the Mate X2 foldable. Eventually, Huawei Mobile Services was also released in 2019 and includes the company’s AppGallery app storefront.
With a 2% global market share, HarmonyOS is the third-largest smartphone platform in the world
And it isn’t too soon to be thinking about version 4.0 of HarmonyOS. The report says the operating system’s next major build will include some new designs (we assume that the UI of the operating system is what will be changed) along with some new functionality. Now here’s the deal folks, while HarmonyOS-powered handsets make up only 2% of the world’s smartphones, that is good enough to make Huawei’s in-house operating system the third largest smartphone platform in the world after Android and iOS.
Petal Search is one of Huawei’s most innovative apps
In talking with our readers throughout the years, some believe that Huawei deserves all of the punishments placed on it by the U.S. because the company is truly a national security threat. And there are others who believe that the U.S. started punishing Huawei only to make sure that it didn’t negatively impact Apple’s businesses. No matter what you believe, the Chinese manufacturer may not have thrived as it did in the past, but it didn’t roll over and die either.
The U.S. tightens the ban on chip shipments to Huawei
If you’re looking for a particular app that isn’t listed on AppGallery for one reason or another, search for it on Petal Search and even apps developed by Americans will show up if they are available to be sideloaded from a third-party app store. If an alternative source for such an app is found, you can install it directly from the Petal Search app. When we first wrote about the app three years ago, it allowed Huawei device owners to install American-developed apps such as Amazon, Snapchat, Speedtest.net, and AccuWeather.
