Google talks about the Huawei ban, warning customers not to sideload apps like Gmail or YouTube

On Friday evening, Google posted an article detailing what is happening with Huawei. Last year, the US government banned American companies from cooperating with Chinese hardware manufacturers. " Google is prohibited from cooperating with Huawei on new device models, or providing applications including Gmail, Maps, YouTube, Play Store, and other applications to pre-install or download on these devices." - Tristan Ostrowski, legal director for Android and Google Play, writes so.

According to Google, there is still a lot of misunderstanding surrounding what is happening - and exactly which products are in the banned Google services group.

" We are constantly getting questions about Huawei's new devices (for example, new models coming soon, or earlier models released after May 16, 2019 but are now on sale). in other regions of the world) and whether Google applications and services can be used on these devices. We want to provide clear information to those who are asking questions. important that ".

The above article has some of the most directly relevant comments that Google has ever made about Huawei. The company remains clear that its neutral attitude hinges on whether Huawei has any potential threat to US national security - which has been something intelligence agencies and lawmakers are steadfast in. affirmative. " Our focus is on protecting the safety of Google users on the millions of Huawei devices that exist worldwide," wrote Ostrowki. "We have continued to work with Huawei within government regulations, to provide security updates and updates for Google apps and services on existing devices, and will continue to do so as long as is permitted. "

Huawei products launched on or before May 16, 2019 will continue to receive these updates - at least that's for sure at the moment. But any device that is released later is considered " not yet certified," either because Google can't put those devices into its strict security testing process, or it can't install software. Google Play Protect - which is software that can detect when hardware is tampered with - on them.

But Google has a warning for customers who own newer Huawei products: don't try to sideload Gmail, YouTube, Play Store, or other Google software into those unapproved devices. Because the company cannot guarantee that the software packages are "genuine" or not, or whether they are "clean", not installed malware or not.

" Sideloaded Google apps won't work reliably because we don't allow those services to run on unconfirmed devices, where user safety may be compromised." Sideload Google applications also exposes you to the risk of installing an application that has been modified or tampered with to compromise user privacy. "

Google clearly wants to sidestep the political side of the issue, and it also discourages users from following a shady path to gain access to popular company services. Ostrowski ends the article by showing how to identify whether the Android device you are using has been certified by Google Play Protect.

" To check if your device is certified, open the Google Play Store app on your Android phone, select 'Menu' and look for 'Settings'. You will see information about whether the device has been certified. received by 'Play Protect'. "

Reference: TheVerge