HUAWEI reveals a way for developers to easily turn GMS apps into HMS apps

Huawei‘s recent phones all lack Google Mobile Services (GMS), forcing the Chinese manufacturer to come up with its own HUAWEI Mobile Services (HMS) suite as an alternative. One side-effect is that apps with GMS integration (i.e. using Google services for notifications, mapping, location etc) either don’t work properly or at all on these recent HUAWEI devices.

Now, HUAWEI has announced the availability of an open-source solution called Choice SDK. This solution essentially turns existing GMS apps into HMS apps, saving app developers time and resources. According to the SDK’s GitHub page, the solution currently supports features like location, sign-in, analytics, maps, and messaging.

The SDK was originally developed to help make an Austrian bank app (Raiffeisen Bank) available to HUAWEI device users. But developer BlueSource adds that Austria’s national TV broadcaster, railway service, postal service, and a local deals app have all used this solution to bring their apps to HUAWEI’s AppGallery.

Related: How to download apps on HUAWEI phones without the Play Store

It’s a rather interesting and nifty approach to the issue of GMS apps working on HUAWEI devices, and should theoretically mean less development work for studios. It doesn’t seem like a one-click process though, so there’s still some measure of work that needs to be done by developers. In any event, HUAWEI and BlueSource told Android Authority that developers can deliver HMS support twice as fast using this tool compared to standard methods of enabling HMS in an app.

It doesn’t sound like end-users can convert their favorite GMS-enabled apps to run on HUAWEI’s HMS devices though. Still, this is a welcome development as the US trade ban against HUAWEI doesn’t look like it will end soon.