After nine months of being stopped from working with Huawei by the US Government, Google has published a support article that aims to clarify the situation. Tristan Ostrowski, legal director for Android and Google Play wrote a post that hopes to answer questions regarding the ban and also warn any current Huawei owners about sideloading Google applications.
“We have continued to receive a number of questions about new Huawei devices (e.g., new models launching now, or earlier models launched after May 16, 2019, but now becoming available in new regions of the world) and whether Google’s apps and services can be used on these devices. We wanted to provide clear guidance to those asking these important questions,” Ostrowsky wrote in the post
Ostrowsky reiterated that due to the restrictions put in place by the US government, new Huawei devices that were made available to the public after May 16, 2019, will not have Play Protect preloaded. This means that they will be considered ‘uncertified’ and will not be able to make use of Google’s apps and services. The post notes that Play Protect certified devices undergo “rigorous security review and compatibility testing process, performed by Google, to ensure user data and app information are kept safe.”
Users are also invited to check if their devices are Play Protect certified or not by clicking here.
For those users who do not have Play Protect certified devices, Google has warned those users without Play Protect services to not try and sideload its apps and services. “Google apps will not work reliably because we do not allow these services to run on uncertified devices where security may be compromised. Sideloading Google’s apps also carries a high risk of installing an app that has been altered or tampered with in ways that can compromise user security,” Ostrowsky wrote.