At the IFA 2018, smartphone brands and tech giants unveiled their latest products. Brands like LG, Motorola and Sony launched their phones and Huawei also took a lot of limelight thanks to its unveiling of Honor Magic 2 smartphone. It was during this event only that Huawei announced the Mate 20 smartphone's launch date as October 16 with the event happening in London. It is also worth noting that the manufacturer announced the Android 9 Pie based EMUI 9 which would be seen in the market for the first time on devices like Mate 20 Pro. The smartphone maker also announced that later in the year it would launch its new flagship processor, Kirin 980.
Like you would expect, the new EMUI 9 comes with lots of improvements some which are apparent and some on the backend. The performance definitely improves, there are bug fixes and visual changes as well. Huawei has also claimed a smoother UI, better gaming experience and has hinted towards the inclusion of the new Google Digital Wellbeing functionality. As per an Android Central report, the new EMUI comes with a lighter colour palette, changed visuals for calls and alarms although, the overall visuals of the EMUI stay pretty consistent.
EMUI 9 Beta – Which Phones Will Get it First?
Following the tradition, Huawei has also put out the word for Beta version of the EMUI which would start rolling out to devices like Huawei Mate 10, Mate 10 Pro, P20, P20 Pro, Honor 10, Honor View 10, and Honor Play. Although Huawei has spared us the details and hasn’t said anything about when the Beta will go live, we have compiled a list of steps which you can follow to install the EMUI 9 Beta when it releases.
How to Sign up for EMUI 9 Beta on Honor or Huawei Devices
1. On your Huawei or Honor Device head over to the browser and open the following link to download the “Friendly User Test” application - https://consumer.huawei.com/en/support/fut/
2. When you install the app, check the terms and conditions and after proceeding you will be required to signup with your Huawei ID. If not you can create a Huawei ID and then log in.
3. When you are logged into the application, slide for Personal Tab > Join Project > Available Projects.
4. If your region is supported then, EMUI 9 will show up on the list. Click on the sign-up option to proceed.
The Android 9 Pie based EMUI 9 will download on to your device as an Over-the-Air (OTA) update. We have tried this on the Honor Play, however, there was no active project shown. Maybe, Huawei is yet to open the EMUI 9 Beta for Indian users. Do make a note that the beta program is limited to just 100 members in each country, which is underwhelming.