In a shocking turn of events, Google – the owner of the popular Android OS has suspended business with Chinese smartphone maker Huawei. This includes the transfer of hardware, software along with technical services with the company except the open source licencing. The news comes after the US government and Donald Trump asked to blacklist Huawei around the world. Alphabet Inc’s Google has also cut the Android licence of Huawei and has blocked it from using the major products and services from Google Play Store including Gmail and YouTube.
According to a report by Reuters, further business with Huawei will be blocked and suspended by Google. But the holders of the current Huawei smartphone will be able to use and download the Google application and their updates. A Google spokesperson said, “We are complying with the order and reviewing the implications. For users of our services, Google Play and the security protections from Google Play Protect will continue to function on existing Huawei devices.”
With this suspension and blockage of Google services from Huawei’s smartphones, the Chinese company could take a lot of damage both on the international markets as well as its home market. The biggest problem for Huawei will be that the future smartphones that the company will launch won’t get support of Android updates or the popular Google services.
According to Reuters, “Huawei will only be able to use the public version of Android and will not be able to get access to proprietary apps and services from Google.”
The US government led by Donald Trump on Thursday added Huawei to a trade blacklist which was enacted into action immediately. It basically means that the Chinese company won’t be able to do business with many of the other American companies, and Google is certainly a key player as it owns the whole Android platform along with many services which goes into making a smartphone.
The US Commerce Department said that it was considering to put restrictions on Huawei to “prevent the interruption of existing network operations and equipment.”
As mentioned above, the Chinese OEM maker will continue to get access to the Android operating system but only the versions that are available via open source license. The open source license of Android by Google is known as the Android Open Source Project (ASOP) and it is publicly available.
But other than that, Google will stop providing the Chinese electronics maker with access, technical support and collaboration. In this regard, Huawei said that it was developing its own technology as a backup plan in case it was blocked from using the Android platform. And some of the new Huawei technology is already being sold in the Chinese market.
Although Huawei has the right to use the Open Licensed Android system on its devices but it won’t be able to use Google services on its smartphones. Those services include popular apps such as – Gmail, YouTube, Google Play Store and so on. To use these services, the company needs to take commercial permission from Google itself.
It might not be a good news for the existing users of the Huawei smartphones but as we mentioned earlier, people who already own a device from the company will still be able to use Google’s services. Users will also be able to get the app updates, but it is highly unlikely that they will be receiving the new Android updates on their devices.
For the latest gadget and tech news, and gadget reviews, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. For newest tech & gadget videos subscribe to our YouTube Channel. You can also stay up to date using the Gadget Bridge Android App.
