huawei Huawei phones outside of China to lose Google Play services/Android Updates (Worldwide except China)

[MadDuke]

17 minutes ago, Trixanity said:

Yes, you don't lose access to Play Services (yet) but you lose any and all OS updates including security updates hence you're screwed. So the next time a major vulnerability rolls around (which could be any minute) there won't be a patch. We've had a few of those within the last year even so it's just a matter of time.

 

Also, Huawei had promised users 2 years of updates which they can't get now so users aren't getting everything they paid for.

 

Basically it's like being on Windows XP (except Android is more secure and has a lot of hardening built-in and with more to come with Q which users will miss out on) and saying it'll be fine because you can still use your programs and update them. It's even uncertain whether Huawei phones will get Play Services updates. If that's the case your phone will be even more vulnerable.

Nope.

Android is open source. You will get security updates as they roll out (or as quickly as Huawei chooses to patch them).

The problem with next Android updates is that as Google is the one pushing it doesn't release the AOSP as quickly as it should. Which is bullshit in its own right.  So you will never see an update as quickly as something like a Pixel (but probably won't have to wait for as long as LG takes anyway). 

[williamcll]

Huawei did mentioned awhile ago they have a backup plan in case if Android is no longer feasible for them to use.

 

Then again why buy huawei when you can get a Oneplus?

[Bouzoo]

Aparently Intel, Qualcom and Broadcomm are joining Google. Good thing they have Kirins SoCs.

 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-19/google-to-end-some-huawei-business-ties-after-trump-crackdown

[Sauron]

4 hours ago, schwellmo92 said:

Presidential Executive Order would trump (lol) any contract that you say they are stupid for not having (they probably do have a support contract tbh).

I didn't say they were stupid... but yes, of course in that case the responsibility is squarely on the US government

[Trixanity]

2 hours ago, MadDuke said:

Nope.

Android is open source. You will get security updates as they roll out (or as quickly as Huawei chooses to patch them).

The problem with next Android updates is that as Google is the one pushing it doesn't release the AOSP as quickly as it should. Which is bullshit in its own right.  So you will never see an update as quickly as something like a Pixel (but probably won't have to wait for as long as LG takes anyway). 

Android is open source but Play Services are not. While it's hard to get a clear answer, it does seem like any OTA update would require certification and/or CTS. That means your device will be barred. Google partners have early access to any patch or OS code hence the fact they can release concurrently with Google every month. However any code that isn't open source would still be unavailable to Huawei so any of their Snapdragon devices (although those are becoming rarer) are also blocked from SoC updates and any other chip designed in the US that Huawei might use.

 

So yeah, Huawei could patch it but risk the device getting blocked afterwards. Your device needs to be certified otherwise Play Services will block it. Either way we'll know more over the next week or two when everyone involved has a chance to react and issue statements.

 

Edit: Huawei states they will continue to support existing Android devices but it remains to be seen what boundaries they can actually operate within.

[aaradorn]

The US thinks it has china by the balls right now but keeps forgetting that almost all of the tech the us "makes" is being made in Chinese factories. All China needs to do is just "snap with the Thanos glove" and the us economy crumbles to dust. But then again china would most likely go down with them. This is a lose lose situation for both parties. This whole trade war thing is just stupid and should be stopped immediately.  Everyone spies on everyone. No one will "win" this. It just sucks for everyone. 

[abazigal]

25 minutes ago, aaradorn said:

The US thinks it has china by the balls right now but keeps forgetting that almost all of the tech the us "makes" is being made in Chinese factories. All China needs to do is just "snap with the Thanos glove" and the us economy crumbles to dust. But then again china would most likely go down with them. This is a lose lose situation for both parties. This whole trade war thing is just stupid and should be stopped immediately.  Everyone spies on everyone. No one will "win" this. It just sucks for everyone. 

All signs pointed to China narrowly escaping a recession earlier this year by offering cheap loans (basically a stimulus package), which suggests that it may be a lot weaker than it appears. If the US pushes too hard (and I wonder if this is their endgame), it could cause China to slide back into recession, and drag the rest of the world down with it. 

 

In short, Trump wants to contain China, is fine with some collateral damage (ie: it’s okay to lose so long as the opponent loses more), and doesn’t care who gets caught in the crossfire. 

[aaradorn]

6 minutes ago, abazigal said:

All signs pointed to China narrowly escaping a recession earlier this year by offering cheap loans (basically a stimulus package), which suggests that it may be a lot weaker than it appears. If the US pushes too hard (and I wonder if this is their endgame), it could cause China to slide back into recession, and drag the rest of the world down with it. 

 

In short, Trump wants to contain China, is fine with some collateral damage (ie: it’s okay to lose so long as the opponent loses more), and doesn’t care who gets caught in the crossfire. 

 

 

What about all the loans the us needs to give to it's companies? For example, the farmers, the steel industry. This article sums it up pretty good: https://www.imd.org/research-knowledge/articles/why-america-would-lose-a-trade-war-with-china/

[Misanthrope]

Side-load that side-bitch Huawei!

 

No but seriously while this might certainly look scary for international customers, I am mostly interested in China's overall response because guess what? You can't just take such a large number of electronic parts fabricated on China and move them out elsewhere overnight (And even key places for tech manufacturing like Taiwan are certainly grey area enough that China could just fucking take them over if they wanted to) so if China decides to return Trump's favor and cut off key parts of the supply chain, Americans will have to eat a well deserved, huge shit sandwich and oh, that's so fucking delicious (To watch you sick bastards)

[D13H4RD]

2 hours ago, Bouzoo said:

Aparently Intel, Qualcom and Broadcomm are joining Google. Good thing they have Kirins SoCs.

 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-19/google-to-end-some-huawei-business-ties-after-trump-crackdown

I think that'll not be great news for their laptops as that effectively means no Intel or even AMD. 

[Bouzoo]

51 minutes ago, D13H4RD said:

I think that'll not be great news for their laptops as that effectively means no Intel or even AMD. 

That is true but afaik laptops are a really small portion of their business, almost not worth mentioning. 

[captain_to_fire]

14 hours ago, captain_to_fire said:

Chill out guys, this is not yet official since neither of the two companies confirmed the Reuters report. 

And here's Google official statement: 

 

[Arika]

1 hour ago, captain_to_fire said:

And here's Google official statement: 

I’m stealing someone’s reply to that tweet for here

 

Quote

Isn't it ironic that this ban has come around under the fear that China can tell Huawei what to do? Considering the US just told Google to ban Huawei

 

[RejZoR]

This just hit me, it's gonna such for people who bought P20 and P30, you know, $1000 devices and probably won't ever get any major following update like Android Q to the Android Pie they got with the device.

[Quadriplegic]

52 minutes ago, RejZoR said:

This just hit me, it's gonna such for people who bought P20 and P30, you know, $1000 devices and probably won't ever get any major following update like Android Q to the Android Pie they got with the device.

They will probably get an update, just question of how much time it will take

[Deus Voltage]

2 hours ago, Arika S said:

I’m stealing someone’s reply to that tweet for here:

 

"Isn't it ironic that this ban has come around under the fear that China can tell Huawei what to do? Considering the US just told Google to ban Huawei"

 

I'm surprised that I haven't noticed this bit of hypocrisy. Even more surprised that it's not being discussed as much.

[dizmo]

17 hours ago, Trixanity said:

Not screwed? How did you come up with that idea?

 

So how many P30s, Mate 20s and P20s (not to mention equivalent Honor models) are out there right now? It's at least double digit millions. I don't think it's triple but I honestly don't know how many units they've moved in that segment over the last year. 

 

Anyway, all those customers won't even see a single security patch. You could have bought a brand new P30 Pro a couple of weeks ago and now risk having an insecure device and you certainly won't get an OS update to Q.

 

The choice they have is to ditch their phone and buy a new one. That's a bad choice for most people.

 

Of course this is still at a hypothetical level but it looks like it might become reality.

I'm pretty sure phones already out aren't affected by this, and security updates can still be sent out from Huawei. Moving forward, yes, there will be a change, especially since Google is moving to sending security updates out through the Play Store. So, just don't buy a Huawei device unless you're willing to use their store...which already exists, since Google Services don't exist in China.

16 hours ago, porina said:

Note this doesn't just affect Google, it would affect any US company supplying stuff to Huawei. For intents and purposes, this is the US government declaring war on a company. Right now, I think the current US government is more scary than China.

The US does this all the time. This also isn't the only company that's affected in this round of restrictions, merely the most public one.

16 hours ago, BuckGup said:

That is true as the US is a democracy and China dictator but what gives the US the right to harvest and spy on other countries citizens? 

You're aware that every country does that, right? You make it seem like it's only the US and China.

15 hours ago, Delicieuxz said:

It's just a business and espionage tactic the US government is pulling to try to force the 5G market into the US' hands so that it will profit US companies and so that the US government will have unfettered access to spy on everybody. The EU has found no evidence for the US' allegations against Huawei and have soundly rejected the US' pressure to ban Huawei.

No it's not. Why would you think that? IIRC Nokia is the next largest player in the 5G infrastructure game.

14 hours ago, Arika S said:

fucking alphabet...

And yet, completely beyond their control. There's no reason to be mad at them.

6 hours ago, Bouzoo said:

Aparently Intel, Qualcom and Broadcomm are joining Google. Good thing they have Kirins SoCs.

 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-19/google-to-end-some-huawei-business-ties-after-trump-crackdown

Right, as they're required to. Not sure why that'd be surprising, it wasn't only Google, but any US company.

[Rupe]

33 minutes ago, Mr. horse said:

What is there to stop a user from installing these apps or updates manually?

I was thinking the same thing. Presumably, you can still get the Google Play APK from a browser. 

[xAcid9]

Finally i can afford Mate 20 X. Thanks for the ban. 

[bowrilla]

This is massive. While some minor bugfixes and patches can be done by Huawei themselves, the next major release will pass Huawei devices. Security patches will take longer and any modification that isn't certified might result in banning those devices from certain services. Nobody can guarantee that already sold devices will remain having access to PlayStore and other Google services. This is entirely unclear. The only reason, why China isn't impacted by this is the fact that Google services aren't allowed there. Sure, you could try and root your device but that doesn't change certain ID markers in your device and ... Huawei ended their service of providing unlock codes for the boot loader. 

 

Imho everyone who just bought their device might want to reconsider and send their devices back. I guess there's a big party going on at the Samsung headquarters.

 

26 minutes ago, Mr. horse said:

What is there to stop a user from installing these apps or updates manually?

Google could just ban certain IMEIs, serial numbers or require certification for access. Boom, you're out.

[bowrilla]

8 minutes ago, Mr. horse said:

I'm sure there could be away around that. like not giving google play assess to the IMEI or what not. I know I block google play and most other apps from the data/phone side of my phone so that is not to eat up my 500mb of data I get a month.

But I'm not 100% how one could spoof or block an app form seeing the IMEI. I do not do android dev work anymore.

Well, then the services might just not work. Spoofing your IMEI is illegal in most countries. 

 

11 minutes ago, Mr. horse said:

I do not know about Huawei, but I have unlocked other phones without the unlock code in the past. It not fun and takes alot of time. I used to have a unlocked and rooted g900a.

Surely possible but that will most likely a) void the warranty and b) require getting software/codes from 3rd parties who hacked the bootloader. This is not an easy task for the common user.

[CTR640]

26 minutes ago, xAcid9 said:

Finally i can afford Mate 20 X. Thanks for the ban. 

I actually have the Mate 20X and I love it. But if things get really screwed up big time for me, Oppo Reno it is I think.

But damn it, VS can simply fuck it up for everyone around the world. How much power do they have?? It makes EU their biggest bitch

[bowrilla]

6 minutes ago, Mr. horse said:

And if the services do not work with a blocked IMEI how would a tablet work with the google play store and what not?

I didn't say that they were already blocking it. But this would be an option to prevent Huawei phones bypassing any bans. Every device has some unique identifiers that can be connected with certain manufacturers (IMEI, MAC addresses, etc). If Google wanted to or was forced to they could use those to ban certain devices. Blocking those identifiers would then of course just lead to having no access.

[dizmo]

3 hours ago, Arika S said:

I’m stealing someone’s reply to that tweet for here

 

 

There's a very fundamental difference though. While yes, both can be strong armed into doing things, US companies have time and time again refused to give up certain information due to privacy issues. It's not the same in China. They'll just give it up, as they have no protections under the law, like US companies do. 

[D13H4RD]

Just something to note for anyone who currently uses a device from Huawei or their sub-brand, Honor. 

 

No, your phone isn't going to lose Google Play Services. It alongside all the Google apps and such will still remain. You'll still be able to use them. 

 

However, don't expect future software updates to come at the same rate as before due to the loss of support from Google, which may also likely include early access to the development AOSP build for them to test and start developing on. Security patches may come infrequently as well.