Huawei Mobile Services (HMS) is the Chinese smartphone maker’s answer to Google Mobile Services. While Android still forms a crucial layer to the operating system and user interface of newer Huawei devices, HMS is what brings the entire mobile experience together.

For anyone who has set up an older Huawei phone using Google, the new experience on an HMS-enabled Huawei device, such as the recently launched P40 Lite, is virtually the same, but for those unfamiliar with the process, here’s what you need to know.

Huawei ID

Gone are the days of a Google profile, or needing those credentials in order to set up your device. Instead, the replacement is your Huawei ID. Much like the Huawei AppGallery, this platform has existed previously, but was perhaps under utilised in favour of Google.

Regardless of this, Huawei ID serves as the key to unlocking all the functionality on the new Huawei smartphone that you recently purchased.

Much like Google’s Android setup, or that of iOS for Apple devices, the Huawei ID will require users to sign into their profile, or create one if they have not done so already.

Here your full name and an active email address will facilitate the process.

Once set up, logged into and verified, your Huawei ID will serve as the digital platform for your profile on your current and future Huawei devices. It also serves as a link to the applications you download and use, as well as being the method through which cloud-based backups of contacts, photos and other data are handled.

From there, depending on the device you have, users can set up different types of biometric security for their smartphone – whether that be PIN, pattern, fingerprint or facial recognition.

As such there are a few different layers of security that one can employ to keep the data stored on your Huawei smartphone secure and safe from prying eyes.

Phone Clone

The next phase in the setup pertains to those users who have an older Huawei phone they are upgrading from.

Here, Huawei’s quick and easy Phone Clone tool can assist in porting over contacts, notes, photos, apps and other important information stored on the device, to make the move from one smartphone to another as seamless as possible.

One of the other nifty elements of Phone Clone, depending on the applications you have installed on the previous device, is the ability to workaround not having access to specific Google services.

If you have Google Maps on your older device for example, Phone Clone will be able to port it over to your new device without needing access to the Google Play Store to do so.

Phone Clone also negates the need for cables in order to facilitate the porting of information from one device to another. Once you have selected all the information you wish to clone, a QR code is generated, which can then be scanned by your new device to begin the cloning process.

Depending on how much information is being transferred, the entire process can be completed in a matter of minutes.

New normal

While HMS is still in its infancy compared to some of the other mobile platforms on the market, much like Huawei’s other endeavours, it has begun and continues to evolve rapidly.

The quick and easy setup process is a clear example of this, showing what Huawei has been able to do in less than a year, in order to provide an optimal mobile experience for its users.

As HMS makes its way onto new Huawei smartphones, and the Huawei AppGallery continues to grow in terms of its catalogue, there will be plenty to explore and enjoy on devices moving forward.

To find out more about the new P40 Lite and Huawei Mobile Services, head here.