Google Play, Security Protections to Function on Existing Huawei Devices

All is not lost for consumers of Huawei devices following Google’s move to suspended business with Huawei in compliance with the U.S. government’s order to place it on its Entity List.

“For users of our services, Google Play and the security protections from Google Play Protect will continue to function on existing Huawei devices,” a Google spokesperson said on Monday.

According to Reuters, citing a source close to the matter, “Huawei Technologies Co Ltd will immediately lose access to updates to the Android operating system, and the next version of its smartphones outside of China will also lose access to popular applications and services including the Google Play Store and Gmail app.”

“Huawei will only be able to use the public version of Android -known as Android Open Source Project (AOSP)- and will not be able to get access to proprietary apps and services from Google,” the source said.

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The US government placed Huawei and some 68 affiliates on Entity List, a trade blacklist, following an executive order signed by U.S. President Trump.

“This action stems from information available to the Department that provides a reasonable basis to conclude that Huawei is engaged in activities that are contrary to U.S. national security or foreign policy interest,” read part of the order.

Google’s compliance with the US order would likely mean that future Huawei devices will lose access to Google services.

David Indeje

David is a Kenyan Journalist with a depth of experience in business, agriculture, technology, democracy and governance. He is passionate about health, youth engagement, women and girls’ empowerment issues that resonate with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

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