Huawei wearables will no longer work unless you download HMS via the AppGallery instead of the Google Play Store, and people aren't happy about it

It seems that Huawei has made it compulsory to download its App Gallery and Mobile Services (HMS to use its Health app. Previously, it has been possible to run the Huawei Health app with HMS downloaded from the Google Play Store, but that is no longer possible.

At the time of writing, Huawei has published version 3.0.3.300 on the Play Store, having last updated its Mobile Services on December 2, 2019 However, the latest version of Huawei Health requires HMS 4.0.0 to run, which is not available on the Google Play Store. Instead, Huawei is pointing people to get the latest version of HMS from its AppGallery, its alternative to the Google Play Store.

While the AppGallery comes pre-installed on Huawei smartphones, it is not available to download from the Google Play Store. Hence, if you have a non-Huawei Android smartphone, then you must download the AppGallery from Huawei to then download HMS 4.0.0.

However, the AppGallery will only work if you share your device's IMEI with Huawei. Setting that privacy concern aside, the company is effectively holding its wearables to ransom until people download the AppGallery, unintentional or not.

Huawei last updated the Health app on May 1, 2020, so hopefully this is a temporary oversight before it updates HMS on the Play Store. Nonetheless, Huawei is currently leaving people that have bought its wearables stranded unless they download the AppGallery. Unsurprisingly, people have been voicing their concerns on Huawei consumer forums and in the reviews section of the Huawei Health app.