Huawei Mobile Services apps and how to set up your new Huawei phone

If you’ve got a new Huawei phone or Honor phone, you might be worried that this means you’re stuck with Huawei’s AppGallery for your applications, a store which has quite a limited selection so far. However, that isn’t the case.

Since the Huawei ban, the company’s phones (including those of its sub-brand, Honor) haven’t been able to have Google apps, including the Play Store, which is where you’d get most of your other apps. Huawei’s AppGallery, at the moment, doesn’t have all that many popular apps on it, so alone it might not make for the best phone experience. 

Thankfully, there’s a way to install many more of the top apps on your new phone. We’ll run you through the steps for doing so, and we’ll also run you through a list of many of the key apps that are compatible. 

Bear in mind that we haven’t been able to test all the apps in the world, and this list is certainly subject to change, but we’ve made sure to test all the most popular apps.

How to install apps on your Huawei phone

The trick to getting loads of apps on your new Huawei phone is to add them during the setup process – the phone cloning process lets you bring over plenty of apps that you can’t otherwise install onto the phone. 

So, before you set up your new phone, download all the apps you’re going to want onto your old phone. Also on your old phone, download Huawei’s Phone Clone app.

Huawei's Phone Clone app (Image credit: Future)

Now start the setup process of your new phone, going through all the steps like Wi-Fi connection and fingerprint, until you get to the 'Data import' menu. You’re given the choice between Android or iPhone options, so just select whichever your old phone was.

Next, you’ll see a QR code, so you’ll need to jump onto your old phone and open the aforementioned Phone Clone app. In it, select ‘This is the old phone’, and from the next screen scan the QR code on your new phone. Both handsets will now take a little while to communicate.

Put your new phone down for a little bit, as this next step is done on your old phone. You’ll now be prompted to select what from your old phone you want to bring over to the new one, including photos, music and videos. One option on this list is apps, and if you press the arrow to the right, you’ll be shown a list of all the applications on your old phone.

On this list, all the grayed out apps are the ones you can’t install, which we’ll explore more in the next section. Press ‘select all’ to select every possible app, then continue with your new phone's setup process as normal.

It’s worth pointing out that installing apps this way takes much more time than via the AppGallery – in fact, when we were setting up our new phone to test this, the apps alone took 45 minutes to install. That’s just the price you have to pay for getting these apps on your phone.

Now, when the setup process is done and you’re using your phone normally, you’ll find you’ve got all the apps that weren’t grayed out in the app menu.

It’s worth noting that if an app isn't available on Huawei’s App Gallery (or one of the third-party alternative stores, which also have a lot less selection than the Play Store) then you won't be able to get it after setting up the handset, so it’s best to immediately copy across every app and game you might need.

Which apps can I use on a Huawei phone?

(Image credit: Future)

Luckily, nearly all apps we tested worked on Huawei phones.

In terms of social media, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, TikTok, Snapchat, Twitter and Pinterest are all working. Communications apps like Outlook, OneDrive, Skype and Dropbox were all fine too.

Other lifestyle apps like Monzo, Netflix, Spotify, Amazon Prime Video (and all Amazon apps, including Shopping and Kindle), Duolingo, Deliveroo, Ecosia, Fitbit, the PlayStation app, Strava, Letterboxd, Uber Eats and the Wetherspoon app were all functional as well.

If you’re a big gamer you’ll be pleased to know that all the key titles seem to work, including Call of Duty: Mobile, PUBG Mobile, XCOM: Enemy Within, SpyFall, Tropico, Google Stadia, Roblox, Plague Inc, Pokemon GO, Candy Crush Saga, Lego Legacy and many more.

Just because you can install these, though, doesn't mean you can necessarily update them, and it's possible you can only update apps that are available on the App Gallery. Since Huawei is constantly adding new apps to the line-up, though, this may not be a problem for the biggest apps.

Which apps can’t I use on a Huawei phone?

You can’t use most Google apps on a Huawei phone including the Play Store, Chrome, Gmail and YouTube. Intriguingly, some can be installed, including Rewards, Lens, Translate, Podcasts and Android Auto. 

However, as far as we can tell, you’re unable to actually use any of the Google apps that can be installed, as they don’t let you log in (and some just crash). 

Some apps also use Google account-based backups, including WhatsApp, so while you can install this app, you’re not going to be able to import all your chats and media to the new phone. This might make it a bit redundant for some people.

You won’t be able to install system or UI-specific apps either – so if you’re coming from a Samsung phone or a Xiaomi phone, for example, you won’t be able to use pre-installed apps which are exclusive to them. This isn’t a symptom of the Huawei ban though, it's just the nature of phone user interfaces.

Samsung Galaxy S20 and S10 price drop: save £140 with these Easter weekend deals

Samsung's S20 series and last year's Galaxy S10 handsets have undoubtedly been some of the best phones on the market in recent years. But with that in mind, it is no surprise that they are also some of the most expensive.
Luckily, every so often we see a price cut come around to make things that little bit easier. For the S10, with a year under its belt, these price drops come around pretty frequently. But for the brand new S20 trio...not so much.

With that in mind, any price drop on Samsung Galaxy S20 deals is well worth exploring, especially when, like the deals below, those price cuts go as big as £110 off!

Whether you want the brand new S20 or Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus deals or even last year's Galaxy S10 deals, we've listed some stellar price drops on these handsets below.

Rakuten Mobile’s low-cost data plan fully launches in Japan

Mickey Mikitani Participates In The MWC 2019
Image Credits: Europa Press News (opens in a new window)/ Getty Images
Rakuten  Mobile announced the full commercial launch of its low-cost data plan in Japan today. Priced at 2,980 yen (about $27) per month, the plan gives users unlimited calls and data where Rakuten has its own networks. The company also raised the amount of domestic roaming data in response to increased usage of remote working and online education tools.

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared a state of emergency in seven prefectures, including Tokyo, after a new wave of COVID-19 cases in March. The order gives prefectural leaders the power to request closure of stores and businesses considered non-essential. Public schools in Tokyo and surrounding areas closed earlier this year and are not expected to re-open until early May.

In addition to serving increased need for online services during the pandemic, Rakuten Mobile’s pricing may also help it compete against Japan’s largest carriers–NTT Docomo, KDDI and SoftBank. Rakuten Mobile uses what the company says is the world’s first virtualized mobile network, which requires less hardware infrastructure, lowering deployments costs and in turn allowing the company to offer more affordable rates.

Last year, the company said it will have a total of 4,000 edge servers in Japan by the mobile service’s launch. Rakuten Mobile expects its network to cover all of Japan by next March.

Called Rakuten UN-LIMIT 2.0, the company’s current plan gives users 5GB of roaming data in areas where Rakuten Mobile has partners, and unlimited roaming data at a maximum speed of 1Mbps after the limit is reached. The original Rakuten UN-LIMIT plan offered 2GB of domestic roaming, and maximum 128kbps speed.

Best Phone Under 8000: The Best Mobile Phones You Can Buy Under Rs. 8,000 In India [April 2020 Post-GST Edition]

Good smartphones are no longer expensive, and affordable smartphones keep getting better. With multiple new launches, you have a number of great choices so that you won't have to break the bank for a competent device. If you have a strict budget and need to stay under Rs. 8,000, we can help you narrow down the options to help you find the best smartphone to suit your needs. We have compiled a list of phones priced under Rs. 8,000 in India, taking into account the new prices of these devices post the recent GST hike.

The smartphones we are recommending have gone through our tests, and only the ones which have scored better than average have made it to our list. So while some people might have a strict budget of Rs. 8,000 to spend on a smartphone, they can be assured that they are getting the best smartphone for their money. We have also mentioned a few phones currently priced under Rs. 7,000 to cover those on an even tighter budget. Here are your choices.

Best phones under 8,000

Phones under Rs. 8,000	Gadgets 360 rating (out of 10)	Price in India (as recommended)
Realme C3	8	Rs. 7,499
Realme 3	8	Rs. 8,499
Redmi 8A/ 8A Dual	7	Rs. 6,999

Realme C3

The Realme C3 is the most recent smartphone on this list, and it impressed us when we reviewed it. Realme has opted for the MediaTek Helio G70 SoC to power the Realme C3, and this is a surprisingly strong choice for a budget smartphone. As a result, you get strong performance out of this device. That's not all, the battery is rated at 5,000mAh which helps this smartphone deliver very good battery life as well.

We liked the display on the Realme C3 and found the camera to be on par with some of the other smartphones in this price range. However, this device lacks a fingerprint scanner, which could be a deal-breaker for many people. If you can look past this omission, the Realme C3 is the smartphone to get on a budget.

The base variant of the Realme C3 features 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. It was priced at Rs. 6,999 when launched, but the recent GST hike has led to an increase and so it now starts at Rs. 7,499 which is still very good value.

PTA grants one month for registration of mobiles

ISLAMABAD                 -                 Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) on Wednesday granted additional time of one month for registration of mobiles due to ongoing preventive measures of novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
In view of Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and to ensure social distancing, all GSMA valid device IMEIs seen on mobile networks but currently not registered with PTA have been granted an additional 30 days for registration of their mobile devices increasing total time period required for registration from 60 days to 90 days.

The decision was taken to provide immediate ease and facilitation to the public. The blocking of such mobile devices will continue from 19th April 2020 as per their due dates and will be communicated via SMS.

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As per regulations, all mobile devices being connected to local networks using local SIM are subject to registration within 60 days from 1st use of device on local mobile networks in Pakistan. However, due to extraordinary circumstances, blocking of non-registered device IMEIs, which were to be blocked between18th March to 18th April 2020, will now start from 19 April as per due date of each device.

PTA launched Device Identification Registration Blocking System (DIRBS). The system is aimed at ensuring a healthy mobile device ecosystem in Pakistan through usage of legal devices on mobile networks. PTA has provided three mechanisms for registration of mobile devices; through website (https://dirbs.pta.gov.pk/drs), by dialing *8484# or visiting mobile operators’ franchises/service centers across Pakistan.