Google Warns Huawei Users Not To Install Its Apps For Security Reasons

We all know the story by now, Huawei was placed on the US government’s Entity List which prohibits the Chinese company from collaborating with any US company.

Because this is the case, Google posted an update confirming that they’ll only support Huawei devices released on or before May 16 – when the ban was announced.

Google also says users of Huawei devices shouldn’t sideload their apps citing security as a major concern:

Due to government restrictions, Google’s apps and services are not available for preload or sideload on new Huawei devices.

To protect user data privacy, security, and safeguard the overall experience, the Google Play Store, Google Play Protect, and Google’s core apps (including Gmail, YouTube, Maps, and others) are only available on Play Protect certified devices.  

Play Protect certified devices go through a rigorous security review and compatibility testing process, performed by Google, to ensure user data and app information are kept safe. They also come from the factory with our Google Play Protect software, which provides protection against the device being compromised.  

This has been our long-standing approach to user security and privacy and is applied consistently across all device manufacturers.   

Because of the government restrictions described above, new Huawei device models made available to the public after May 16, 2019 have not been able to go through this security process nor will they have Play Protect preloaded. As a result, they are considered “uncertified,” and will not be able to utilize Google’s apps and services.  

Google representative

The tech giant also says sideloading is a thankless effort because you may end up installing apps that have been tampered with.