The news came unexpectedly: Huawei is preparing a joint venture with major Chinese telecom players to build an alternative to the Google Play Store, according to Reuters. As we read the published data, Xiaomi, OPPO and Vivo are working on the & # 39; Global Developer Service Alliance & # 39; a consortium of four companies with the aim of "facilitating the development of games, music, movies and other marketplaces beyond China".
While the vision goes beyond that create something else in the Google App Store, it is possible to comment on the challenges they face in this regard and argue why it is so difficult that, outside of the Chinese market, this proposal is gaining strength in the short term.
Difficulty fighting Google using its own operating system
The main point here is that it is a major problem try to fight Google using your app. On paper, Android is a free operating system (AOSP), but the fact is that its commercial version comes from Google (with the exception of Huawei, with a few manufacturers selling Android phones without Google Services). An ecosystem of applications that has been developed to work on Android Work was done under the Google Services framework, a critical point to consider.
While Huawei is working on another Android, it is unavailable and unexpected in the short term. Some members of the coalition also use Android
Huawei is running HarmonyOS, another operating system on Android that was announced in August 2019 and on it, today, there is no smallest sign in Europe. On the OPPO side, Xiaomi and Vivo, the other three members of the coalition, continue to use custom-made platforms for Android, excluding Google services in China, as well as worldwide.
So we have four giants fighting the "enemy from within", trying to surrender outline of existing services and that, with a lot of complexity, it is programmed at the user level in a big way, as the details will show later.
Current data on usage habits at application level
Unless it's possible to create alternatives to Google apps, it's worth looking at the current state to see the status. According to SensorTower, globally (and to keep in mind the impact of China's applications on global data) The most downloaded application in the world has been WhatsApp, followed by TikTok, Facebook, Messenger and Instagram. At the European level, the details are not the same, just in order, but for the same top 5 apps.
Without leaving the top 5, We find that four of these applications use Google services. Without them, it is not possible to perform some basic functions of the application itself, which we will talk about later, or we can install it via APK from external support. Similarly, for the first time in over five years, Google has become the largest publisher of the app, beating Facebook and more relevant than ever.
Without leaving the top 5, we can see that most of the popular Android apps require Google services to perform some of their basic functions
When we get out of the top 5 and navigate in the top 20, we find YouTube, Netflix, YouTube Music, Google Pay or the Telegraph, apps from Google, or use some of their services.
Virtual reality, among the three giants that feed apps on the market we find Google first, second on Facebook and third on ByteDance. There is a Chinese presence in the top 3, but this is due to the existence of TikTok, within the top 20 applications worldwide there are no more Chinese applications.
Google apps and related services
Given that Google worldwide is the largest distributor of apps and that few other well-known apps use Google services, this second point should be explained. GMS (Google services) is a series of tools that Google puts in the hands of developers to create their own applications. What is the interpretation of this? That a good portion of them have been improved based on GMS and, right now, they do not work well without them.
Without Google Maps API, forget to share location or backup to Drive
For example, on the Telegraph, WhatsApp, Instagram or Facebook We will not share our location without GMS installed, because they use the Google Maps API. You know, we're not talking about an installed Google Maps APK, but with Google's mapping tools, which require full Google services. The solution to this is that using a different app framework which allows to share location with the specified service API maps, something that is far away.
Applications like Tinder, CityMapper, Waze, games like Pokémon GO, other home-ordering services or car ordering also don't work outside of this API. In other words: We will not use basic functions (or use these apps directly) without a Google service installed.
Another important point, often overlooked, is Safetynet, an API that Google uses to determine whether a connection to a server or device is genuine. Applications such as Netflix and many banking applications use it. If the mobile doesn't transfer to Safetynet, you may not be able to use any of these programs (in our case, with Mate 30, we had no problems with Netflix).
Status of alternatives to Google
More than 55,000 applications are already using Huawei HMS Core capabilities #HuaweiDeveloperDay pic.twitter.com/dMh82tRpBF
– Francisco Jeronimo (@fjeronimo) January 16, 2020
After you see the limitations of not being able to use Google apps or the apps you're connected to, you can ask how GMS alternatives are developing. The main character here, when we talk about building a complete suite of other services on Google, Huawei, which has Huawei Mobile Services and App Gallery. In our experiments with some of them, such as the Map Kit, we see that they are making good progress, but that they are not far from Google's suggestion.
As for the app gallery, the news is not very promising. When we look at its cover, we see that Most of the world's most popular apps are lost. With TikTok in the lead (at least here they manage to capture the main character), most of the store's applications remain small. There's no sign of WhatsApp, Netflix, Sotify, Instagram, Facebook, Prime Video, HBO and more.
More doesn't mean much, but the +55,000 apps in the App Gallery compared to the nearly three million apps in the Play Store show a lot
The latest data tells us about 55,000 apps available. Paying attention to the Play Store, according to AppBrain, three million applications, the effort that should be made is considered.
With the exception of Huawei, there are Google Play store alternatives such as Aurora Store, Aptoide or APKPure, all of which are little known and, as we mentioned in the Aurora test, risk the misuse of Google's credentials or the uncertainty of the origin of A specific APK.
Movement is possible, but it is complex
In short, it's obviously possible to create alternatives to Google Play, both in the store itself and in the app's service level. However, analyzing global spending trends and focusing on major markets such as America or Europe, the challenge of create an ecosystem that takes the user away from the systems they use on a daily basis.
Since Xataka we've been dealing with Android without Google for over a year and the results were clear: you can live without it, but it's all about the best part of the application.
From Xataka, of course, we've used Android without Google in a personal way, as well as in the analysis of terminals like the Huawei Mate 30 Pro. Our conclusion is clear: it is possible to live without these services, but life is too complicated for us and We are not willing to do it. Competing with the Android Store within Android is a daunting task, though not impossible.
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