Strict new restrictions on Huawei’s use of the Android mobile operating system could have severe knock-on effects for users of Google’s most popular apps.
Google has reportedly barred Huawei from all business transfers involving hardware, software and technical services, except for those publicly available as open source.
The BBC reports that existing Huawei devices will still be able to access Google apps like YouTube and Google Chrome, as they have already been certified under the Compatibility Test Suite and the Vendor Test Suite.
They’re also likely to be able to update to Android Q (the next iteration of Android) when it launches later in 2019, as it will also be open source — but we’re less sure about the following upgrade, Android R.
More concerning is that upcoming Huawei phones, which haven’t received the certifications, will either have to run a completely new operating system, or only be able to access Android Open Source Project (AOSP), a restricted version of Android that doesn’t offer access to many of the apps Android users rely on a daily basis.
