Ever since the US Government cut off Chinese giant Huawei from cooperating closely with Google and subsequently, Google Mobile Services, the company has been pouring billions of dollars into strengthening its own app ecosystem. The result is the company’s own app store, dubbed AppGallery, powered by Huawei Mobile Services (HMS). AppGallery has been the primary source of apps for many of Huawei’s customers and users, and the company has diligently expanded the selection of apps available from AG ever since its inception a few years ago. The Petal Search Widget is a way around that.
The Petal Search Widget, in a nutshell, is essentially a search engine for apps in a handy widget that you can access right on your phone. The app scours several legitimate app sources, places like APKPure for apps that may not be present in AppGallery. It comes pre-installed in new Huawei phones and can be downloaded via AppGallery. What’s nice about it is that you can pin the app directly to your home screen, acting as a search bar.
This streamlines the way people search for apps, as the Petal Search Widget shows users aggregated results from App Stores and repositories where users can download the apps. Search results are shown depending on several metrics, and what’s nice is that the Petal Search Widget is smart enough to know about potential problems that may occur depending on how integrated an app is to Google Mobile Services and warn you beforehand.
The Petal Search Widget, for example, will redirect you to mobile versions of YouTube, Google Photos, Gmail, and other apps that can’t function without GMS. Apps that simply can’t work without GMS or which don’t play nice with HMS are given “may not be available” badges so you know up front that these apps aren’t compatible with your device.
When you press the Install button on the app you searched for, you’ll either be redirected to the app store’s page or start the installation immediately. We found that the former happens more than the latter, which indicates that Huawei has either forged partnerships with the stores that show up in Petal Search Widget or have access to their API to directly download it to your device. The Petal Search Widget is also smart enough to know what apps matter to you Geographically, sending you results for apps that are used in the Philippines, for example, giving you more accurate results with your searches.
While Huawei is continuing the expansion of the apps available in AppGallery, the company is also cognizant of the fact that there are still gaps in the coverage of its own solution. The Petal Search Widget is a great app that solves many of the potential issues that users may run into when using their new Huawei device and makes it easier for them to find apps that are still not present in their own platform. Huawei’s doing incredible work in creating and populating AppGallery in such a short time frame, and Petal Search is a powerful tool that complements that effort.