We can boldly say that the US ban on Huawei forced them to create an alternative solution that’s causing waves in the market. This solution is referred to as the HMS.
What ban are we talking about?
Tech enthusiasts, developers, and other people following the global tech space for a while now have probably heard of the ban the US government placed on Huawei and its subsidiaries. Before now, Huawei thrived on the lifeblood of its Google Mobile Services (GMS) created by its American counterpart, Google.
This ban was very disruptive and dislodging because it implied that Huawei could no longer do business with any American tech company and could not make use of services like Gmail, Google Map, Drive, YouTube, Google Chrome, and most importantly, Google Play Services, etc. It could not also include popular social media platforms like Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, WhatsApp, etc.
The Solution to the Ban
The only way they could stand up tall in their market was to create a competition, and that’s how the HMS was birthed.
Fortunately, Huawei had plans to create its own Mobile Service platform, so the ban came as an accelerator. The AppGallery offers developers and users the opportunity to create, maintain, secure, and distribute their Android apps without the Google Play Store.
The US ban affected developers in that region who had apps that were broken and inaccessible. But the AppGallery gives them better alternatives to promote their work to a global market.
Without further ado, let’s look at a comparison between Google Mobile Services (GMS) and Huawei Mobile Services
GMS vs HMS
We can’t understand the uniqueness of Huawei as an alternative until you understand what GMS does for other android apps.
Google Mobile services contain popular user-apps like Gmail, YouTube, Play Store, Chrome, Maps, Photos, etc. There are also APKS for background services such as SetUpWizard, GMSCore, etc.
Hint: For those who don’t know what GMSCore is, it’s what you know as Google Play Services.
Talking about Google Play services, this service is a great medium Google used to erase some of the issues they had in the early stages of Android. For instance, although they were always to give Android app updates, it wasn’t done at a simultaneous rate. Some functions won’t be available for some users until a later time.
But with the Google Play service, developers had more control and could run their activities without depending solely on the Android OS.
Let’s move over to the HMS
The HMS serves as an alternative to GMS. The aim is simple- to create a seamless and easy experience for its users through various devices, and one that doesn’t wait for platform update.
As the GMS has both core and app components, the HMS has it as well. The HMS ecosystem contains the Core, Apps, and Capabilities (that the core powers through its APIs).
One unique and beautiful feature of the HMS is its Account Kit. It is an alternative solution to Google Sign-in. It offers secure login, enhanced two-factor authentication, data encryption, one-click authorization, integration on different mobile platforms (phones, tablets, etc.), and widespread coverage.
