Huawei’s Use Of Android Restricted By Google

Google has barred the world’s second biggest smartphone maker, Huawei, from some updates to the Android operating system, dealing a blow to the Chinese company.

New designs of Huawei smartphones are set to lose access to some Google apps.

“We are complying with the order and reviewing the implications,” Google sources told news agencies Sunday. “Huawei will only be able to use the public version of Android and will not be able to get access to proprietary apps and services from Google.”

What does that mean if I have a Huawei phone?

Right now, this ban shouldn’t mean anything. Google has said the Google Play Store, the Android app store through which Android device owners get their links to the outside world, and the security features which come with Android, will continue to be available on existing Huawei devices.

That means anything from the recent Huawei P30 range release, the upcoming Huawei Mate 20 X 5G, and previous devices are all fine.

However, it looks like anything the company releases in the future, such as the upcoming Mate 30 range, which is slated for an October release, could lose access to crucial Android services, including Google Play, Maps and the Gmail app. 

In a statement, Huawei said: “Huawei will continue to provide security updates and after-sales services to all existing Huawei and Honor smartphone and tablet products, covering those that have been sold and that are still in stock globally.”

The company does have a back-up plan. Huawei’s head of consumer, Richard Yu, told the German publication Die Welt back in March that it had been working on its own operating system, should it ever come to this.