How to install the Google Play Store on the Huawei P40
Tyler Lee
With Huawei still being placed on the US Entity list and with the US and China trade war not looking like it will come to an end soon, it means that for the foreseeable future, Huawei users should probably not expect to have Google Play Services available on their devices.
But there is good news for those looking to put a bit of work into it.
This is because thanks to a workaround, you can actually install Google Play Services on your Huawei P40 smartphone. There are a lot of steps involved and it is by no means an official method, but if you absolutely need to have Google on your phone, then do read on as we’ll guide you through the entire process step by step.
Before you get started
You’ll want to backup your phone and all of its files in the event that something goes wrong
You will also need an external USB drive
You will also need an adapter that will let you connect your USB drive to your Huawei P40
How to install Google Play Store on the Huawei P40
Load it onto the USB drive and connect it to your Huawei P40
Go to Settings > System & updates > Backup & restore > Data backup > External storage > USB storage
Select the file you loaded onto the USB drive and tap Restore
Enter the password shown on your screen and tap OK
Clear all background applications
Look for the app on your home screen with a purple G icon and tap on it to launch the app
Tap Activate
Tap Allow
Return to the home screen and clear all background apps again
Relaunch the app and tap on the blue button at the bottom of the app’s screen and let it run in the background
Go to your phone’s files and open the USB drive
Look for the Google installation folder and tap on it
You will have to install the first six files so tap on them one by one to install them
Go to Settings > Users & accounts
Tap Add an account and select Google
You will be prompted with an error message informing you that the app was built for an older version of Android, but tap OK anyway
Tap Existing
Enter your Google login credentials and tap Sign in
Tap Next
At this point you can keep adding Google accounts you want associated with the device, but you will have to do so now because once the process is complete, you won’t be able to unless you restart the entire installation procedure
Clear all background applications
Go to your phone’s files and open the USB drive
Look for the Google installation folder and tap on it
Tap on the seventh file which will be Google Services Framework
Tap Allow
Tap Install and wait
Once installed, tap Done
Give the phone a minute or two and you will start seeing a bunch of error messages which will be normal. You can then choose to mute these error messages if they’re getting too annoying
Go to your phone’s home screen and you should see the Google Play Store app
Launch the app and look for Google Service Framework
Clear your background applications
Go to your phone’s Settings > Apps
Tap the three-dot icon to the top right corner and select Show system processes
Look for Google Play Services
Tap Force Stop
Tap Uninstall
Clear all background applications
Go to your phone’s files and open the USB drive
Tap on the Google installation folder and install the eighth application called GMS Core Mod 1
Tap Allow
Tap Install
Go to your phone’s Settings > Apps
Tap the three-dot icon to the top right corner and select Show system processes
Look for Google Services Framework and tap on it and go to Storage
Tap Clear Cache and Clear Data
Clear all background applications
Launch the Device ID app and you will notice that the Google Services Framework ID is gone
Launch the Google Play Store – At this point some of you might be greeted by an error message asking you to retry. Keep doing this until the app launches without any error messages. This could take several attempts
Launch the Device ID app and check if the Google Services Framework ID has been regenerated
Repeat steps 3 & 4 until the ID reappears
Once the Google Services Framework ID has been stored, go to your phone’s Settings > Apps
Tap the three dot icon to the top right corner and select Show system processes
Look for Google Play Services
Tap Force Stop
Tap Uninstall
Go to your phone’s files and open the USB drive
Tap on the Google installation folder and install the ninth application called GMS Core Mod 2
Tap Allow
Tap Install
Conclusion
Assuming you follow these steps correctly, you should have no issues using the Google Play Store and downloading apps from it. We should also note that Google did previously warn against sideloading its apps onto unauthorized devices, so you might encounter errors in the future when trying to use them,
Now, as we said, this is a rather long series of steps and we imagine that some might feel uncomfortable using this method. If this isn’t for you, then Huawei’s app store should still have most of the major applications available on them.