What you need to know
- Android and Google Play vice-president Sameer Samat has revealed that Google has applied to the U.S. government for permission to resume business with Huawei.
- If the application is approved, Huawei would be able to resume shipping phones with Google services out of the box.
- Thanks to the U.S. ban, Huawei's latest phones come with Huawei Mobile Services instead of Google Mobile Services.
Google recently warned users against sideloading its apps on new Huawei devices, as doing so could pose a security threat. Due to the trade ban on Huawei, the Chinese company's latest devices are not Play Protect certified. Its foldable Mate Xs and Honor's 9X Pro, which were announced earlier this week, will ship with Huawei Mobile Services out of the box. As per a new report, however, Huawei may soon be able to resume using Google services on its devices.
Speaking to DPA, Android and Google Play vice-president Sameer Samat has revealed that Google has applied for a license to resume business with Huawei. If the U.S. government grants a license to Google, it would mean that future Huawei smartphones can ship with Google services out of the box. In November last year, Microsoft was granted a license to export mass-market software to Huawei, after which the Chinese company resumed shipping notebooks with Windows.
Sadly, however, Samat did not say how long it could take for a decision to be made on the license application. In case the application is rejected, Huawei will have to continue using Huawei Mobile Services on its phones. It will also need to further bolster its AppGallery, which it claims is now the third-largest app store in the world, with more than 400,000 monthly users.
