Huawei searches through piles of APKs across the internet and put it into AppSearch
Since the latter part of last year, new Huawei phones like the Mate 30 Pro are rid of Google Play Store. Thanks to the flexibility of Android OS, users can sideload apps by downloading the APK file of an app and installing it on their mobile devices. With the US further tightening its leash on Huawei, Google recently prevents uncertified Google Play Protect devices from sideloading Google’s core apps and services which lets users install Google’s major apps, such as Play Store, YouTube, Gmail, and many more. As a result, Huawei has to make its AppGallery support more apps. But, we all know that’s going to take time. In the meantime, Huawei is testing out AppSearch that should eventually make way to existing and future Huawei devices.
Spotted by the keen eyes of XDA Developers, a German version of AppGallery has been seen testing out AppSearch. Called AppSuche in German, the app scours through a list of different places wherein APK files exist. You can see the list below:
- Amazon App Store
- APKMirror
- APKMonk
- APKPure
- HuaweiAppGallery
- Official website of the apps
Of course, installing APK from different mirror sites isn’t the most secure way to privacy. It’s a bit concerning that Huawei is going for this approach. But, the Chinese company probably knows that it’s doing. If it’s true that Huawei isn’t spying on anyone, then there must be a reason why it’s thinking of letting its users download APK files from different sources.
READ: Google, Sideloaded Apps on Huawei Products Will Not Work Reliably
Huawei is just doing this to survive, any company would do the same. Good to know there are still ways to install these apps.