Owning a Huawei smartphone in the US has never been more complicated thanks to the relationship (or lack thereof) between Google and the phone-maker. Here’s what you need to know, and especially if you plan on buying a Huawei phone soon.
The U.S. government recently placed a ban on companies based in the United States from doing business with Huawei. This evidently included Google which was then stopped from being able to work with Huawei on new devices or making available its range of Google apps and services to owners of those products. However, the ban only relates to devices that were released after a certain date with Google allowed to continue supporting older Huawei phones and devices.
To help consumers understand the issue and what it means for them and their devices, Google recently released a blog posting designed to clear up some of the confusion. The first, and most important thing for existing Huawei device owners to be aware of is that Google is legally allowed to continue supporting devices released and purchased before the ban. To reassure those owners, Google says it will continue to support them “as long as it is permitted.” When it comes to any Huawei device purchased recently, everything comes down to when the device was released, not when it was purchased.
How To Check If Your Huawei Phone Is Certified by Google
The obvious way to know if your smartphone is certified and supported by Google (and likely to continue receiving updates) is by the release date. The rules regarding the ban relate to a May 16, 2019 deadline. Any Huawei phone (or device in general) released after that date would not have gone through Google’s certification and security process. Therefore, those devices will not come with Google’s apps and services installed, are not certified, or guaranteed any Android updates from Google.
An easier way to check if your Huawei device is certified or not is through the Google Play Store. Technically, newer Huawei phones are incapable of installing the Google Play Store and therefore if there’s no Google Play app installed on the device, then that’s a pretty clear indication the Android phone hasn’t been certified. However, the lack of an app is not the only thing to watch out for as the Google Play Store app can be unofficially sideloaded onto a device. This is particularly important if the device is purchased through a reseller or online. To relieve any concerns about this, users can check the validity of the Google Play Store by opening the app, then tapping on “Menu” and then on “Settings.” Towards the bottom of this sub-menu there will be a “Play Protect certification” section which will clearly state “Device is certified” if it is. Any other message will indicate the app has been sideloaded, as well as any other Google apps on the device, such as Gmail, YouTube, and Maps.
Source: Google