Google s license to update Huawei smartphones has expired
Huaweia’s license for updates from Google has just expired. What’s next for smartphone security?
I feel sorry for Huaweia and I feel sorry for us, customers. Due to the trade war between the US and China, the ban on Google services for Huawei entered into force a year ago and since then it is not possible to buy a new model of the manufacturer with the services of Giant from Mountain View. Older Huawei smartphones, including the wildly popular Huawei P30, P30 Pro and P30 Lite, could use the already installed services without any problems and even received an update to the new version of the operating system. So far, they have also been provided with security patches from Google. Now, however, customers have probably been left on their own.
Huawei smartphones may no longer get updates from Google.
Although the latest models with Google services are by technological standards devices near the end of their lives (read: they are two years old or more), so many users – quite rightly – still use them. These are great phones, it’s hardly surprising. Now, however, it is worth considering replacing the phone with a new one, because the older Huaweia models will not only not get a new version of Android, which will also not get any update from Google.
As reported by the Washington Post , the license that allowed Google to work with Huawe on devices released by the ban on trade expired last week. This license was to give time to current users of the equipment, especially companies that use them massively, to switch to equipment from another manufacturer. Now time is up.
The expiration of the license means nothing less that now only Huawei is responsible for updating its devices. Google services will probably not be updated on them, and this applies not only to new functions, e.g. in Maps, but most of all security patches.
Every Android phone gets (or rather should get, because in practice it is different) monthly security updates, taking into account the latest threats. If there is a vulnerability or a new type of malware, monthly updates are a guarantee that these threats will not affect your phone. On Huawei smartphones, these updates have just been paused, so in the event of problems, users are on their own.
Theoretically, Huawei can still update its phones with security patches – they are made publicly available by Google, so after the patch is publicly available, Huawei can attach its content to its own software, which it does by updating smartphones with proprietary HMS services.
As xda-developers rightly points out , it is also not known whether Google will be able to distribute its applications on Huawei phones after the license expires. The future of the company’s smartphones, even those with Google services, is currently very uncertain.
Google’s license to update Huawei smartphones has expired
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