And then last week hit. The U.S. celebrated the blacklist’s first anniversary by exponentially increasing the stakes, changing everything for Huawei. All flagship phones will be hit by Taiwan’s TSMC cutting off supplies—those sold at home and overseas. The key beneficiaries—somewhat ironically—may well be other Chinese smartphone vendors able to replicate Huawei’s successful recipe.

Despite all this, Huawei has suddenly unveiled a surprise alternative to Google’s search and Play Store, a defiant move against both the blacklist and Google, another targeted attempt to offer a viable full-fat Android and Play Store alternative.

Huawei and its supporters in Beijing have around 12-months to find a compromise with Washington or a workable replacement for that silicon supply chain—after that, stockpiles will diminish. Huawei is taking the view that a compromise or workaround can and must be found. The alternative is too drastic to contemplate. This time, the use of the word “survival” is not melodramatic.

 

And so to the company’s hastily rejigged HAS2020—its global analyst conference. There’s little surprise that, as management recoils from the shockwave of the latest U.S. beating, there has also been business as usual talk of new tech and impressive innovation stemming from the 15% of sales it commits to R&D. And, of course, the continuing search for those elusive Google gap-fillers.

Piece by piece, we have seen Huawei build an ecosystem that it sees as a third-way alternative to Google’s full-fat Android and iOS. Last year, hopes were pinned on the most radical possible option, an entirely new, ground-up OS—but that was soon watered down into an expansion of the open-source version of Android that Huawei will not lose. What we did see, though, was a huge acceleration of Huawei Mobile Services (HMS), a swap-out for Google’s GMS, and the app ecosystem to go with it.

In recent weeks, we have seen a trail of confirmations around replacements for Google apps—like maps, and a revamped AppGallery to replace the Play Store. We have even seen Huawei talk up app security measures as a differentiator to Google, which has had issues with screening the millions of apps now on Play Store.

Back in March, just ahead of the P40 launch, I reported on pilot testing of two new Huawei apps, “Search” and “AppSearch,” both intended as replacements for Google functionality on Huawei phones. The first to replace core search itself—a major money-spinner for Google, the second to make it easy for users to search for and install popular apps, either from Huawei’s AppGallery or third-party stores.

 

Both these apps had their issues. The use of a Chinese search engine, subject to Beijing’s influence if not laws outside China, is clearly an issue. We have seen reports of how other such platforms might be subject to interference. We have also seen reports about China’s efforts to control the messages received overseas, and with its close ties to Huawei many will fear the worst.

 

How to find 3D animals on Google

Google’s AR objects in search are incredibly easy to access. The objects are added to search in the belief that the easiest way to learn about something is to see it. By seeing things in augmented reality (AR), users can see the scale of an object and also details they might not notice from just a simple picture.

To keep this easy to access, Google puts its 3D animals and other AR objects right at the top of search. For example, searching for “tiger” will show a Google Search Knowledge Panel. These panels are often shown for movies, famous celebrities, and other subjects. In the case of a 3D animal through Google, you’ll see an overview of what the animal is, a few images or it, and a section which says “Meet a life-sized tiger up close” and a “View in 3D” button. That button launches the AR experience.

Google’s 3D animals are different on every device. Typically speaking, you might not see AR or 3D objects on a desktop computer or laptop. Rather, you’ll need a supported smartphone to view these objects using Google’s “view in space” option.

The good news? Most modern smartphones are supported! To view AR objects in Google Search you’ll need:

This includes most popular smartphones including Samsung Galaxy S8/S9/S10/S20, Note 8/9/10, any Google Pixel smartphone, and other Android devices from LG, Motorola, and other brands. As for Apple devices, iPhone 6S, 7, 8, X, and 11 are all supported as well as most iPads.

How do you access the “view in space” option? after you press “view in 3D,” any supported device will show a “view in your space” button underneath the 3D animal.

Notably, you can resize the animal from its life-size by pinching on it. Slowly, it will go down in size to better fit into your setting.

If you’re not sure if 3D animals and other AR objects in Google Search will work, just give it a shot!

So, what AR animals can you view on Google Search? For a while, Google didn’t offer an official list, but the viral nature of these objects triggered the company to finally put one up. The list below clearly shows every 3D animal currently available on Google Search. We’ve also gone hands-on with many of them so you can see how they work in action.

These include:

Google is adding more of these over time, too! This list has expanded since Google originally announced 3D animals in 2019. Google is also expanding the functionality of these panels with video recording tools and quick shortcuts to other animals.

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