Can I use an Android device that is not compatible with Google applications or the Play Store? Yes and we have tried it firsthand by spending a few days with the Huawei Mate 30 Pro. Starting from a fact: the Google applications are not there. They cannot be sideloaded and, in any case, without Play Services (replaced on Mate 30 by Huawei Mobile Services) they would not work. 
Methods have already been found to install Google apps and the Play Store equally, but there are two contraindications. The first: it is an illegal method: Google has issued a statement specifying that Play Services can only be installed by a manufacturer through a license agreement and for a fee. Doing it without paying is not correct, just as it would not be fair for us to publish a guide explaining how to do it with Google. Furthermore, this operation does not offer all the guarantees of the case, so we decided to play it safe: we have Huawei Mate 30 Pro with Android and without Google. While Google and its app store are an advantage for many, the Mountain View company is still a company that has based its business on our data and not everyone might like the idea of being tied down. to Big G.
The problems arising from the absence of Google support are basically two. The first: replace Google's services, especially YouTube, Gmail, Maps or Chrome. The second (much more relevant): find an alternative store that can, among other things, ensure a convenient update process every time a new version of an application is published. Single application sideloading - i.e. downloading the app's apk file from a website, for example, to install the application - does not include automatic updating. From time to time, in essence, you should download the updated version: impractical and inconvenient.
The best alternative shops. Starting with Amazon
The advice is, therefore, to base your experience on an alternative shop. For Android, we suggest four: Amazon App Store, F-Droid, Aptoide, and Uptodown. The first is known and is the one pre-installed on Amazon's Fire OS devices. The second is a store focused on open source services. Finally, the third is a valid alternative that covers most needs and has a section dedicated to presenting the best content.
While on Amazon the official applications are published by the official developer, on Aptoide the same apps (such as Facebook or Twitter) have been uploaded by users. As if it were eBay, each user on Aptoide has his own profile, where, for example, the applications loaded and the number of followers are listed. In this way, you immediately get an idea of which ones are considered most reliable by the community of people who use Aptoide. Finally, Uptodown is as complete as Aptoide. 
Any of these stores can be easily installed. Just browse the respective sites directly from your smartphone browser. Going, for example, to the Amazon site and tapping on "Download Amazon Appstore". An instruction screen will follow, including enabling the device to install applications from unknown sources.
Whenever we try to install an application directly from the apk, the system will ask specifically if we want to allow the application to do so. Furthermore, the system will check the security of the file that is installed by comparing the hash of the file that is downloaded with the hash of the file on the Google Play Store: in this way you avoid installing apps that have been altered by someone. , perhaps inserting malware.
Messages and social. For WhatsApp, no backup from Google Drive, but that's not a problem
Social networking and messaging applications are the most critical. The Amazon App Store is already an excellent starting point to fill the absence of the Play Store. There are, for example, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Messenger and Skype. Telegram can be downloaded from Aptoide and Uptodown.
WhatsApp issue. The application can be installed both through Aptoide and through the file that WhatsApp itself makes available on its official website. Of course, on the Huawei Mate 30 it works fine, but the possibility of restoring a previous backup via Google Drive is missing: you will have to rely on manual backup. 
Local backup of WhatsApp chats, if activated in the app settings, can be found in the WhatsApp> Databases folder. Just transfer the most recent backup from the previous Android smartphone to the Huawei Mate 30 after installing WhatsApp and insert it in the equivalent folder (WhatsApp> Databases, but on the Mate 30). In the initial configuration phase, after verifying the phone number and allowing the application to access the archive, WhatsApp will give the possibility to restore a previous backup.
For social networks, another way that can be done without any digital store should be considered: using web apps. The various Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn can also be easily accessed via the mobile version of the browser. The advantage? This way native applications get less data on device usage. Information that companies then use to strengthen user profiles. And it also consumes less battery.
Navigation: without Maps it is not easy
Doing without Google Maps is honestly difficult, but not impossible. The mobile version from the browser is accessible and usable for the indications, but the navigation part with the step-by-step directions is not available via the web.
The open source alternative is OpenStreetMap, downloadable from F-Droid. The interface is nice and the directions are convenient, but a lot of extra features are missing: no real-time traffic monitoring, for example. Furthermore, many house numbers are totally absent. For surface navigation, therefore, OpenStreetMap is very good, but it is not on the same level as Google Maps. 
Here WeGo defends itself well. We are talking about Nokia's former navigation application which was later bought by a consortium of German car manufacturers. The interface is certainly cleaner than OpenStreetMap and there is traffic monitoring. Here WeGo is available on Uptodown.
There is also Maps.me, great for tourists: it contains points of interest, hotels and can be used totally offline.
Games: Fortnite is safe. DAZN and Netflix crash for no reason
The play part is also delicate. The Play Store is full of proposals. The best known are accessible directly from the Amazon App Store (such as Clash of Kings, Minecraft or Hearthstone). Aptoide and Uptodown cover other major names, such as PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds or Dota Underlords, and there are also recent releases, such as Dr. Mario World.
The choice of Epic Games not to publish Fortnite on the Play Store helps Mate 30: you must, in any case, go to the developer's official website to download the game client. In short, the situation on Fortnite's Mate 30 is the same as that of all other Android devices. Play Store or not. 
When it comes to entertainment, the Amazon App Store naturally includes Prime Video or Prime Music as well as Spotify, DAZN and Infinity. Netflix is available on Uptodown. Despite this, we haven't always been able to use these apps: DAZN and Netflix, for example, have sudden crashes and often execution is interrupted as the app is launched. Unable to determine the reason for the problem: there is not even a warning: the application just closes by itself. Spotify, on the other hand, works well.
NFC payments and banks: this is the real problem
On one aspect, the Mate 30 can do little: the absence of NFC payments. To date, the main solutions for Android users are Google Pay and Samsung Pay. The second is exclusive to Samsung devices and the first cannot be used without Play Services. What to do then? Basically: nothing. As Huawei does not have one of its proposals in mobile payments, using Mate 30 to pay with various debit or credit cards is not possible.
The situation is also very difficult for the banks. If Unicredit, Hello Bank and Intesa San Paolo, to name a few, are officially available on the Amazon App Store, other institutions remain dry (such as Ubi Banca, for example). Some financial services (such as Satispay or Hype) can be found in their most recent version on Aptoide and, in some cases, even on Huawei's own App Gallery.
In still other cases, such as Bancoposta, there are old versions. With the entry into force of PSD2, the applications have been updated to allow two-factor authentication: without the updated version, in short, the app cannot be used. 
The web versions are an option to consult the balance or movement list, accessing the various personal areas. The situation of banking and mobile payments, therefore, is the main Achilles heel of the experience without the Play Store at the moment. Some users will be able to use all financial services. Others don't.
A "trick": transfer apps with Phone Clone. But no updates
Also, we noticed a little "trick". By transferring applications from another Android device to the Mate 30 using Phone Clone, a Huawei application available on the Play Store and pre-installed on the Chinese manufacturer's devices, all applications are transferred, regardless of the Play Store. So we found many applications on the Mate 30, from newspapers and parking payments to supermarkets.
In some cases, the Play Services incompatibility warning appears immediately, warning that the app "will not work without Google Play Services". But that's not always true. In the case of a minor application in everyday use such as Esselunga, the warning is there, but the app is usable in all its parts. With the trade-off of having to put up with the warning at each new screen. The same goes for the official application of some newspapers.
Other times, however, despite having the application installed after the transfer with Phone Clone, it cannot be used. For example, with Microsoft's Authenticator and Your Phone Companion. No problem with Office applications: transferred with Phone Clone they are immediately usable. In addition, they are also available on Aptoide to be able to make updates more conveniently.
For many other applications, such as YouTube, the rule of web apps applies. The Google video platform is also perfectly usable in mobile sauce. While losing some functions, such as the ability to transmit content from the smartphone to a TV via Wi-Fi. There are third-party alternatives, such as SkyTube.
A digital life without Google and Play Store
We could go on and on, talking about how many applications there are, how many there aren't and how to do them to get them or what alternatives exist. But let's open a parenthesis on Huawei's integrated store: App Gallery is currently meager in the number of apps present. At a time when Huawei is positioning the various pieces to be able to manage itself (from the Kirin processors to the Harmony OS operating system), the few apps in the App Gallery leave a little perplexing: the main applications are missing and the store is full of clones and of apps designed for the Chinese market. However, it must be said that the service is in the launch phase: until a few months ago, Huawei would never have thought it needed the App Gallery for Europe, and started working on it very recently. App Gallery is a bet on the future, it needs some time.
Let's go back to the question at the base of the article: is it possible to live without Google and the Play Store? The answer can only be: absolutely yes. The open nature of Android offers at least four alternative stores, and the ability to use sideloading to download apk files makes it possible to fill most of the software gaps.
In most categories (including wearable devices, for example, or multimedia), official applications can be downloaded from alternative digital stores.
The situation of banks and mobile payments is the most difficult and the one that most of all can actually negatively affect a user's daily life. The absence of Google applications is a "false problem": there are many alternatives.
The absence of the Play Store is the real issue to be solved. We would be short-sighted if we said that it is convenient to have to search for the application in four different stores: it is not and it can often be frustrating. But those who appreciate the hardware of the Huawei Mate 30 should not overestimate the lack of Google and the Play Store. Living without the Play Store is possible. With some compromises.