Huawei announced their second flagship for 2019 overnight — their flagship sans-Googley apps and services. One of the big advantages of Android with Google is the Google Assistant but of course without Google Services Google Assistant will not run (and of course won’t be installed).
For this reason they have also released their own Assistant, Huawei Assistant, out of necessity (not out of some strange idea that they can do better like Samsung) that will come installed on the new Huawei Mate 30 and Mate 30 Pro.
The Huawei Assistant will be able to search within the phone itself for files and other information stored on the phone such as apps, emails, memos, calendar appointments etc. Online searches will be completed using the default browser — yes you will be able to sideload Chrome and use Google search within there, or even just use the default Huawei browser which can of course access Google Search on the web. It is unclear whether Huawei Assistant will speak these results back or not.
Huawei Assistant will be able to access information within the apps on the phone including the weather, scheduled appointments and notifications. It will also be able to cultivate a news feed for the user according to their searches and preferences.
Huawei have said that, just as Google said about their Assistant in early days, the functionality and performance of Huawei Assistant will improve over time the more people use it and the more they updates its functionality. Future enhancements planned include restaurant reservations, and flights and stock market information.
Huawei Assistant will come pre-installed on the Mate 30 phones and will arrive for other Huawei phones in the future via their AppGallery.
There is no way I’m giving Huawei that kind of access to my life. Absolutely no chance.