HUAWEI could pre-install 70 popular Android apps on its phones, says source

We expect to see the HUAWEI P40 and P40 Pro launch quite soon. However, we are relatively certain the HUAWEI ban enacted by the United States will not be over by then, which means the devices will likely come without Google apps. That doesn’t mean, though, that there can’t be Android apps on the HUAWEI phones.

According to a shaky source, HUAWEI could be planning to pre-install 70 of the most popular Android apps on its future phones, which would presumably include the P40 series (via MobilTelefon). The publication lists a Telegram channel as the source for this information, so take this as rumor and approach it with some heavy skepticism.

However, this strategy does make sense. Although you can’t install the Google Play Store on a HUAWEI phone launched after the ban took effect, you can sideload Android APKs for thousands of other applications. HUAWEI’s plan could be to pre-install dozens of these apps on its phones so that general smartphone consumers won’t need to sideload many APKs on their own.

Related: Everything we know so far about the HUAWEI P40 series

Unfortunately, though, a large portion of the most popular Android apps rely on Google Play Services to function properly. The HUAWEI phones will certainly not have Google Play Services on board, which will make at least a portion of Android apps function on a limited scale — or possibly not at all.

The source for this information says that the 70 apps that could be pre-installed on HUAWEI devices will vary depending on the region, so it’s impossible to say which apps are in the running.

We can go ahead and assume that HUAWEI will also be pre-installing many of its own applications in place of Google apps. We already know that the company has a plan for replacing Google Maps on its devices, for example.