Huawei Developer Conference 2021: Building a thriving ecosystem ‘Together’

This year’s Huawei Developer Conference (HDC) has the theme of “Together” as the company calls on developers and its industry partners to help build a smart, safe, and flourishing ecosystem.

Huawei’s application store, AppGallery, is already one of the largest in the world. Earlier this year, Developer reported the store had enjoyed a 33 percent growth in monthly active users (MAUs) and distributed 83 percent more apps than over the previous 12 months.

AppGallery...

21 October 2021 | App Stores

Huawei aims for HarmonyOS to connect 300M devices this year

Huawei’s in-house operating system HarmonyOS is aiming to connect 300 million devices by the end of this year.

The OS claims to enable devices to connect and collaborate “in a single language” to deliver a seamless user experience. The concept can be likened to Microsoft’s ambitious Universal Windows Platform (UWP) which, though exciting, has struggled to gain traction.

Huawei’s universal platform effort may fare better than Microsoft’s thanks to support for...

12 April 2021 | Platforms

Huawei’s AppGallery almost doubled its distributions over the past year

Despite the global pressures on its business, Huawei continues to post impressive figures.

Huawei’s AppGallery is one of the largest app stores in the world. Over the past 12 months, AppGallery has witnessed a 33 percent growth in monthly active users (MAUs) and distributed 83 percent more apps.

Zhang Zhe, Director of Global Partnerships & Eco-Development Business Development at Huawei Consumer Business Group, said:

“At the end of 2019, there were 25...

1 March 2021 | App Stores

Opinion: How can overseas developers capitalise on the world’s largest app market?

It’s a question many in the mobile application sector ask regularly – how do you get an app to take off in the lucrative and ever-growing Chinese app market?

The statistics about the smartphone industry and mobile usage in the world’s largest country are emphatic – 1.3 billion mobile internet users, almost 100 billion app downloads in 2019, half of the global consumer spending on mobile apps, and a mobile gaming industry that accounted for US$15B in the first six months of...

5 November 2020 | Android

China blocks MIT’s kid-friendly programming language Scratch

China’s kids have been blocked from accessing the first programming language of many young developers, Scratch.

Greatfire, an organisation which monitors China’s infamous Great Firewall web censorship, found that Scratch’s website has been blocked since at least August 20th.

One user on Scratch’s forum noted that the site was blocked on August 14th. The suspected reason for the CCP’s decision to block the website is a video published on August 11th, but several...

8 September 2020 | Languages

Huawei’s Google license expiry means it’s time to support HMS

Huawei’s license with Google has expired, which means it’s time to support HMS (Huawei Mobile Services) or risk losing users.

The US Chamber of Commerce added Huawei to its now-infamous Entity List in May, meaning no American firm can partner with the company without explicit government permission. A temporary exemption was made for existing relations to ensure US consumers and businesses have a smoother transition away from the firm.

Huawei’s existing devices,...

17 August 2020 | Android

Congress wants Apple and Google to clamp down on foreign apps

Congress is calling on Apple and Google to clamp down on apps that weren’t born in the USA (cue Springsteen).

Trump’s administration is currently mulling a complete ban of any Chinese software but, while that debate is ongoing, Congress wants the two largest mobile platform holders to begin clamping down on foreign apps in less radical ways.

The Congressional Committee on Oversight and Reform has sent two letters to the CEOs of Apple and Google to request they probe...

15 July 2020 | Android

Apple stops updating games without a government license in China

Apple has suspended game updates in China from developers without a license from the government.

The policy, draconian as it is, has been in place for some time – but rarely enforced.

Apple has faced increasing pressure from Beijing in recent weeks to start enforcing the rule that developers must show proof of a license issued by the government.

Google’s Play Store is not available (officially) in China, meaning Android users in the country typically use...

2 July 2020 | App Stores