Here’s a fast and easy solution to run Google apps on the Huawei Mate50 Pro

Whenever I review a Huawei phone, the first thing that people come to ask almost every time is if it has Google apps. While it hasn’t been the case in the last few years, the new Huawei Mate50 Pro that will be arriving in Malaysia sometime next week will indeed have the means to run Google Mobile services via an interesting app. Here’s how you can run Google apps on the Huawei Mate50 Pro.

How to get run Google apps on the Huawei Mate50 Pro

I’ve been issued a test sample of the Huawei Mate50 Pro for review and the phone runs their own EMUI 13 firmware under the hood with apps accessed via their Huawei AppGallery. To be fair, the AppGallery is relatively well populated with all the usual apps we’ve come to rely on including Whatsapp, TikTok and the like, it doesn’t by default, feature Google Mobile Services and the selection of apps dependent on it like the YouTube app, Google Maps, Gmail, Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Drive and the like.

Fortunately, there’s now a simple workaround that simply involves installing one simple app on the Huawei AppGallery called Lighthouse that is free for download.

According to its official listing, Lighthouse is an open source project and allows users to log-in and use Google apps and, more importantly, enable the usual Whatsapp message back-up into Google Drive. 

How to run Google apps on the Huawei Mate50 Pro – The linchpin to get GMS working is installing the new LightHouse app on the Google AppGallery

How to install Lighthouse in order to to run apps on the Huawei Mate50 Pro 

Step by Step Tutorial to Use Google Apps:

• From Huawei AppGallery, search for the ‘Lighthouse’ app
• Install Lighthouse app
• Go to Setting > App > LightHouse > Setting Button (top right corner) > Add account > Sign in to Google account
• Go to the AppGallery, search for any Google Apps you want and install
• Voila, the Google apps are signed in with your account

Rather than the somewhat clunky prior GSpace workaround, the implementation of Lighthouse runs smoothly in the background and once you’ve signed into your Google account on the Mate50 Pro, you’ll need to source the appropriate Google apps you want off the AppGallery and thus far, the following apps work flawlessly –

• Google Maps
• Gmail
• Google Drive
• Google Translate
• YouTube
• Google Docs
• Google Sheets

What other Huawei phones work with the Lighthouse app to run Google apps?

At present, the following devices support the Lighthouse app. The list is not exhaustive but at this present point in time, this is what is currently supported for now:

• HUAWEI Mate50 Series
• HUAWEI Nova10 series
• HUAWEI Nova Y90
• HUAWEI Y70
• HUAWEI Nova 9
• HUAWEI 9SE
• HUAWEI P50
• HUAWEI P50 Pro
• HUAWEI P50 Pocket
• HUAWEI Mate Xs 2
• HUAWEI nova 8i
• HUAWEI Matepad 10.4
• HUAWEI Matepad Pro11
• HUAWEI MatePad T10
• HUAWEI Matepad SE
• HUAWEI Matepad Pro 12.6

If you don’t see the Lighthouse app on the Huawei AppGallery yet, try again in a few days as it has so far only been activated for Malaysia with other regions slated for deployment later on.

The ability to run Google apps on the Huawei Mate50 series and their other phones puts them back in the running as one of the biggest contenders for smartphones in the market and we’re certainly looking forward to what they have to offer in the future.

As their most powerful phone to wrap up 2022, it features hardware that can go toe to toe with other flagship phones save for the omission of 5G connectivity. In Malaysia, Huawei will be deploying the Mate50 and the Mate50 Pro, both of which will run on the latest Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 CPU, have 8GB RAM and feature a powerful triple camera array with their XMAGE imaging tech.

Google apps on the Huawei Mate50 Pro – Google Maps offers full pathing and navigation

Google apps on the Huawei Mate50 Pro – YouTube runs straight off the native app after Lighthouse is installed

Google apps on the Huawei Mate50 Pro – After installing Lighthouse – Google Docs runs smoothly

Google apps on the Huawei Mate50 Pro – Google Sheets runs after installing the Lighthouse app

Google apps on the Huawei Mate50 Pro – Google Drive is up and running after installing Lighthouse

The Huawei Mate50 series will be arriving this coming 3rd November 2022 in an official launch in Malaysia and if you’re fast, you can preorder it for RM1 and win a slew of prizes too in the bargain on their official Huawei Mate50 series preorder page here.