[Huawei Mate 20 X Questions & Answers] ohthree:
UPDATE 2 - 1/23/2021 - EMUI 11

UPDATE 1 - 9/17/2019

Hi all, got my EVR-TL00 from Aliexpress (Shenzhen JTWX Store) about a week ago. I was apprehensive initially, but after a few minor tweaks, including using Huawei default launcher (Drawer Home screen style + gestures) and uninstalling some apps... its a keeper!! I like it a lot! Here is how;

Requirements - adb, time (about a couple hours :) )

Do not uninstall Huawei Default launcher! give it a try, it's actually ok.... Here is my experience, I uninstalled it (via ADB) and installed Nova instead, I lost EMUI gestures and Nova is not optimized for full screen (hides notch with black bar... urgh!). I had to Factory reset phone to get Default launcher back.

Factory reset the phone (how to below) ... I should have done this as soon as I received the phone!!.. so Do it!

Follow below steps

1. Factory reset phone via Settings > Reset > Reset phone. (NOT Reset all settings) FYI Using hard keys (Vol up + down + power) did not work.

2. Uninstall all uninstallable Chinese bloatware. Settings > Apps > Apps (Uninstalled all uninstallable Chinese apps. UPDATE - 1/23/2021- you will need to click the 3 dots on top right click 'Show system processes' to unhide some apps)

3. Update google play store via Huawei app store UPDATE 9/17/2019: Playstore is no longer available in Huawei app store, download from APK mirror

3. Download google play store from APK mirror.

4. Add google accounts.

5. Install google apps from google play store

6. Give google apps necessary permissions.

7. Install latest patched google phone beta from here.

8. To enable "Ok google" and google feeds (replace HiBoard) on right swipe from home screen UPDATE 9/17/2019: Google feed no longer works even after removing HiBoard :(

Remove rest of unwanted Huawei apps using adb

- If you don't know what adb is read this.

- install adb (packaged with Android platform-tools) from here.

- Turn on USB debugging; Settings > System > About phone > Android Version (tap several times till you see 'You are now a developer') > Back to previous menu (System) > Developer options > USB debugging (enable) (login to Huawei ID, obtain ID if you don't have one)

- Connect phone to computer via USB and select File transfer option, If phone is not connecting to PC then you may need the Huawei drivers, install HiSuite (I immediately uninstalled it, the drivers did not uninstall.)

- FYI if the "adb devices" command still keeps returning nothing even after successful connection to PC, it is because USB debugging keeps turning off, to fix this turn on USB debugging when phone is connected; Connect phone via USB > select File transfer option > re-enable USB debugging (Settings > System > Developer options > USB debugging > pop should appear, ALLOW fingerprint.

- verify "adb devices" on cmd returns your device.

- Using adb remove bloatware as follows,

> adb devices [you should see your device connected]

Type the below commands, you should see "success" if uninstall was successful

adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.huawei.intelligent

adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.huawei.search

adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.huawei.vassistant

[Instructions below to list the apk's and if you want, download it to your PC for backup, incase things dont go as you expected and need to reinstall]

[FYI: you can type "adb shell" <PRESS ENTER> which will take you to the shell prompt "HWEVR : / $" then type the command "pm uninstall -k --user 0 <package>" to uninstall]

8. Enable Google Feeds on right swipe from home page: Home screen and wallpaper > Home screeen settings > Google feed (enable) [UPDATE 1/23/21 - No Longer works]

9. Restart to enable Google feeds when you right swipe at home screen. [UPDATE 1/23/21 - No Longer works]

10. Install Android Pie (Pixel) font... its beautiful.. find it here

UPDATED- 1/23/2021 - Old way to enable Google font no longer works

Download, unzip, place the .hwt file in Huawei/Themes on your internal card.

Go to Me in the theme app, select my text. And you will see it. Apply, done!

Go to Settings > Home screen & wallpaper > Themes > scroll to bottom to find Product Sans > Select > APPLY

Fix fonts Settings > Home screen & wallpaper > Icons > Select EMUI 11 default fonts > APPLY

------ other things I uninstalled with no impact --------

adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.huawei.wallet

adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.huawei.hidisk

adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.huawei.android.findmyphone

adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.huawei.phoneservice

adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.baidu.input_huawei

adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.android.calendar

adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.huawei.browser

adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.android.contacts

adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.huawei.himovie

How to list apks via adb... and download from phone to you PC just incase

// list all the packages plus the system path

adb shell pm list packages -f

// if you want the results in a file eg "huaweiapks.txt" instead of scrolling on screen do the following

adb shell pm list packages -f > huaweiapks.txt

// download the apk using "adb pull" from phone to your PC. USE THE PATH NAME for example

adb pull /system/priv-app/HwPhoneService/HwPhoneService.apk

// rename apk if necessary

Backup your phone to your PC

> adb backup -apk -all

additional OPTIONS

-f (specify to file to backup to. If no -f option is supplied then the data is written to "backup.ab" in the current directory.)

-apk | -noapk (enable/disable backup of the .apks themselves in the archive; the default is noapk.)

-shared | -noshared (enable/disable backup of the device's shared storage / SD card contents; the default is noshared.)

-all (means to back up all installed applications. This will include SD-Card backup)

-system | -nosystem (toggles whether -all automatically includes system applications; the default is to include system apps)

To restore

> adb restore C:\path\to\backup.ab