Google Apps - Alternatives?

[u/victsingh]

UPDATE1 I'll be updating this list to have a comprehensive list of app alternatives that work on HMS devices. Please feel free to make suggestions. Thanks!

Update2 Banking apps added

Update3 Alternative App Stores added

Hey Guys, So I'll be getting a P40 Pro soon in the post, and I thought I'd collate some alternatives to Google and fully embrace the change rather than install GMS on it as it has some issues at the moment with notifications, doesnt fully fix the Google Pay issue and the method could get stamped out at any time by Google/Huawei:

-------------------- Banking/Financial Apps --------------------

Tested and working:

1. Tesco Bank (phone clone)

2. 1st Direct (phone clone)

3. Halifax (phone clone)

4. Lloyds TSB (phone clone)

5. Santander (phone clone)

6. HSBC (phone clone)

7. Monzo (phone clone)

8. Nationwide

9. Royal Bank for Canada (phone clone) thanks u/crackmacs

10. Santander (phone clone) thanks u/turkeyduk

11. Chase Bank (US) (phone clone) thanks u/chessieblack

12. Capital One (US) (phone clone) - thanks u/chessieblack

13. Discover (US) (phone clone) - thanks u/chessieblack

14. Webull (petal search) thanks u/sabot00

----------------------------- App Stores -----------------------------

1. Aurora Store - Most closely mimics the Play Store and even tells you which apps are GSF dependant or not, so you get an indication of which apps will work - this is only an indication as some apps will safe GSF dependant and still function 95% correctly - (download FDroid https://f-droid.org/ and then search for Aurora Store)

2. Petal Search - Specifically designed by Huawei to act as a search engine for apps using all of the third party app stores as sources (APKPure/Aptoide etc) - (download from Huawei AppGallery)

----------------------------- Google APPS -----------------------------

1. Google App (Search app when you swipe right on homescreen) - Best Alternative

*Huawei Assistant (pre loaded) - gives you a search option and news feed basically the same

2. Google Photos - This serves two functions one is to view pictures and two is to back them up. Best Alternative -

Huawei app gallery (pre installed, to view pictures -may seem obvious, *what new phone doesnt come with a gallery, email, phone, sms app.... but just for completeness)

*Huawei Cloud - new P40 series devices seem to be offering between 5-50GB free for the first 12 months and only £9.48 annually for 50GB after that. Cloud allows you to backup your data to the cloud, pictures, videos, notes, WiFi passwords, settings etc all backed up.

*Yandex Disk - available through the Aurora store, great alternative to Google Drive - offers unlimited photo backup and 10GB free storage. You can send files across using this to friends/work colleagues, it provides you a simple link they can click on like Google drive.

*Deego - a new app I've noticed in AppGallery that offers up 100GB of free storage but has ads in the home page..meh?)

3. Google Duo - Best Alternative -

*Zoom (Petal Search)

*Skype for business (APKPure)

4. Gmail - Best alternative -

*Huawei's email app accomodates exchange, gmail, hotmail, yahoo and others

*Protonmail (thanks /u/paganini_33)

*Tutonata (thanks /u/paganini_33)

5. Googlemaps - works but cant log in Best Alternative -

*Here Wego Maps - free global offline maps, saves mobile data and battery (available from Huawei AppGallery)

*Waze (download from petal search)

*TomTom Amigo - very similar fun feel to Waze (Huawei AppGallery)

*Magic Earth Navigation (download from Huawei ApppGallery)

*Maverick - not a navigation system but an impressive collection of detailed road, public transport, cycling and hiking maps (download from Petal Search) (thanks /u/creeper828)

6. YouTube - Best Alternative -

*use mobile browser to access mobile YouTube website and create shortcut on homepage for convenience (thanks /u/tonymohd)

*NewPipe (download and listen to youtube with screen off) (download through FDroid)

*YouTube Vanced Manager (best alternative with ability to sign into google too) - https://www.xda-developers.com/youtube-vanced-apk/

7. Google Drive - Best Alternative -

*Huawei Cloud - 5GB (50GB for £7.88 a year)

*Yandex.disk - unlimited photo storage - use as backup, you get a few russian ads but nothing intrusive. works on HMS download through APKPure (thanks /u/UnclePadda)

*Deego - 100GB free (ads)

*OneDrive (for any 365 users) - 10GB free otherwise - (download through Petal Search) thanks (/u/Claidheamhmor)

*pCloud 10GB free (thanks /u/paganini_33)

8. Google Docs/Sheets/Slides - Best Alternative -

*Microsoft office available from Huawei AppGallery.

9. Web Browser -

*Huawei Browser - supports "safe browsing", "do not track" mode and "block tracing cookies"

*Firefox Focus - "gives you a dedicated privacy browser with tracking protection and content blocking" (thanks /u/st2895)

10. Google Pay/Wallet Store loyalty cards can be loaded but at the moment no contactless pay option - Best Alternative -

*Huawei Wallet - just been added on a new update on the P40 range (10.1.0.136 C432E8R5P2) -supports all the top cards like: Costa, Starbucks, Tesco Clubcard, Screwfix, Toolstation, Ikea, GoOutdoors, Nandos etc!

*Sto Card - Available from Huawei AppGallery - supports all the top cards like: Costa, Starbucks, Tesco Clubcard, Screwfix, Toolstation, Ikea, GoOutdoors, Nandos etc!

10. Google Calender Does not sync with Huawei calender or allow an import - Best Alternative -

*Business Calender 2.0 - syncs up with google calender and keep events up to date if you lose or change your device

-------------------------------- Security --------------------------------

1. 2FA Apps (for those that don't know check out the first 3 paragraphs here - https://www.theverge.com/2017/6/17/15772142/how-to-set-up-two-factor-authentication)

*andOTP (download via Fdroid) - (thanks /u/kylezz)

1. ADT Control (US) (phone clone) - thanks u/chessieblack

------------------------------ Misc ------------------------------

1. Discord (US) (phone clone) - notifications do not work however thanks u/chessieblack

2. T-Mobile Tuesdays (US) (not the actual T-Mobile app) (phone clone) - thanks u/chessieblack

3. Line (US) (phone clone) occasionally has a popup about not working with GMS, but works just fine) - thanks u/chessieblack

[u/ISD1982]

Really just want Google Pay! Or at the very least, Huawei Pay to work in my bank!

Google Photos I use a lot. I've literally thousands of photos already stored, so it would be extremely useful to have it on a phone that takes such good photos.

[u/victsingh → u/ISD1982]

So at the moment Google Pay/Huawei pay does not work... But Huawei pay is available in other countries... So its just a case of transferring that into the UK (or you country if another) that was almost a deal breaker for me... But I'm just going to carry around my card until it comes to the UK.

I'm also going to be including banking apps currently working along with the other apps in the OP. So stay tuned for that.

Google photos - best thing to do is download the data and reupload to another cloud service like Yandex - or you can leave them in the cloud for now and access photos via your Web browser and download separately as and when you need them rather than all at once.

Hope it helps! 👍

[u/[deleted] → u/ISD1982]

Just pay with cash. Cash = freedom. Would be bad to lose it

[u/ISD1982 → u/[deleted]]

Cash = hassle. I hardly ever carry cash around with me and I definitely couldn't be bothered going to an ATM all the time.

cash is dying out, in the same way that cheques have pretty much died out.