
Answering your questions on Huawei devices and Google services - sohkamyung
https://support.google.com/android/thread/29434011?hl=en
======
aneutron
That is akin to effectively eliminating a market player overnight. It's like
saying "Sure, you can still sell bikes, but you can't include Wheels. Oh and
using after market wheels is not recommended."

This somehow feels very sad and unfortunate, especially given the amazing
handsets that Huawei puts out (P30 Pro).

It's a shame really. Also goes to show what happens when monopoly over
anything is established. Especially in this case, where your phone is almost
unusable as most publishers won't opt to publish on 17 different platforms.

~~~
hilbert42
_" This somehow feels very sad and unfortunate, especially given the amazing
handsets that Huawei puts out (P30 Pro). ..."_

Well, it's all in the eyes of beholder, isn't it. Franky, as I see it, that
P30 Pro won't have Google's crappy spyware installed is an absolute blessing
(it saves those who don't want Google spying on them a great deal of trouble
by not having to root the phone, which is now quite difficult given that
Huawei has stopped handing out keys to unlock the bootloader).

 _[BTW, I don 't like Huawei one iota as a company but from my experience from
using its technology—both phones and other communications equipment—I have
found that it works very well indeed. It's often the small attention to detail
that counts and that makes all the difference: for example, the OTG port on
many of Huawei's smartphones reads NTFS drives directly out of the box without
any mucking about—most other phones do not (they're usually limited to FAT32
and exFAT), which is a damn pain! In the past, this feature has been so
important to me that I've chosen Huawei over other brands specifically because
of it.]_

~~~
29083011397778
> it saves those who don't want Google spying on them a great deal of trouble
> by not having to root the phone

You don't actually need root anyways. XDA has a walkthrough on disabling
system APKs [1] - meaning one is able to (and I have, on my BlackBerry KeyOne)
disable Google Play Services, the Services Framework, Play Store, and anything
else you don't want running.

[1] [https://www.xda-developers.com/disable-system-app-
bloatware-...](https://www.xda-developers.com/disable-system-app-bloatware-
android/)

~~~
hilbert42
Thanks for raising that, XDA provides much useful info and it is often the
first place to start. However there's many instances where certain apps cannot
be uninstalled or disabled. For example, often Google Play Services cannot be
disabled let alone uninstalled without rooting the phone.

------
masayoshis_son
It's difficult to imagine Huawei allowing themselves to be forced out of the
lucrative international market for mobile devices, especially as they are
bound to remain a strong player within China, where Google is irrelevant.
Instead, they will now be more inclined to invest in freeing themselves from
Google's stranglehold, and be more brazen about as they have not much to lose.
In particular, I wonder will this affect Huawei's membership in the "Open
Handset Alliance," [1] which (ironically and contrary to its name) is about
constraining how its members can release Android devices in exchange for
Google's blessing.

Other Chinese manufacturers also seem to have got the message and are pushing
with initiatives like the "Global Developer Service Alliance," [2] an app
distribution mechanism independent of the Play Store. Although it's too early
to say if anything comes out of it this time (similar attemps have failed
before), one way or another this will lead to more competition in the long
run, which is a welcome development for all the users, regardless if they ever
entertained the thought of purchasing a Huawei device.

Separately, the literal reading of Google's statement is also that side-
loading Google Apps on top of AOSP or LineageOS should be expected to cease
working anytime. So far they have been allowing a way out on a per-device,
per-account basis, [3] so it's interesting to see whether they'll be willing
to close that loophole now, although it seems to be hardly in Google's
interest and contrary to the very purpose of Android.

1\.
[http://www.openhandsetalliance.com/oha_members.html](http://www.openhandsetalliance.com/oha_members.html)
2\. [https://www.gdsa.com/en](https://www.gdsa.com/en) 3\.
[https://lineageos.org/Google-Play-
Certification/](https://lineageos.org/Google-Play-Certification/)

------
hilbert42
I wouldn't be seen dead using Google's GApps on my mobile. Before even
inserting a SIM card for the first time on a new phone, I disable or remove
all of Google's GApps. (If they can't _all_ be fully disabled, then the phone
is rooted and they're just uninstalled/removed completely).

I find it ironic and rather quite delightful that the US Government is in some
small way aiding and abetting what many of us would love to see happen which
is for the public to reclaim its public telephone system back from Big Tech,
Google _et al_ who usurped and monopolized it without our or anyone's
permission.

That Huawei is the reason is all the better. Huawei won't take this lying
down, and having seen how capable the company is and what it's done to date,
it'll almost certainly find a solution/be successful. When Huawei is seen to
be successful sans Google this hopefully may inspire others to do the same (or
encourage new startups not already encumbered by Google's contracts/terms of
service which make it difficult for current players—which, incidentally, is a
monopolistic, restrictive trade practice).

As Governments have consistently failed to protect both us and the internet
from these damn monopolies then perhaps this unusual form leverage is the only
chance we'll get. Thus, we should take full advantage of the situation whilst
it lasts.

~~~
thedance
Hold up bro. The only thing you've ever posted on HN - and you posted it a lot
- is that you never put a SIM in a phone.

~~~
dang
Come on, can you please follow the site guidelines? There's no need for
personal swipes, especially ones which are trivially untrue. It took me a few
seconds to find
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21948286](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21948286).

[https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html)

~~~
hilbert42
Thank you sir.

------
Wowfunhappy
...this didn't answer anything for me. Can or can't you sideload Google
services?

~~~
hilbert42
It will depend on (a) the state [upgrade status] of your phone and (b) the
version of GApps.

If you have both a phone and GApps of similar vintage (similar/compatible
release dates, etc.) which were developed and released _before_ this
imposition was forced upon Google then it should update.

The way I read that document is that code generated from now on will test the
hardware and if it's found to be incompatible with the directive then it will
not install. Simply, I read this statement to mean that for the foreseeable
future you will not be able to sideload current or newer release of GApps onto
Huawei phones.

The only true way to find out is to try it.

