Expired temporary license for Huawei in U.S. endangers Google, Android support

By Aaron Mamiit August 16, 2020

The temporary license granted by the Trump administration to allow trade between certain U.S. companies and Huawei has expired, placing the Chinese company’s Android-powered smartphones at risk.

The license, which expired on August 13, was meant to help telecommunications companies operating in the rural areas of the U.S. to replace Huawei equipment with devices from other suppliers. The expiration was confirmed by the Commerce Department in an email to The Washington Post.

The reprieve, however, also allowed U.S. software providers to keep sending updates to Huawei for dissemination to its smartphones. This includes Google and the support that it provides for the Huawei smartphones running on Android.

While older Huawei smartphones may continue to receive security updates for Android, Google will not be able to provide assistance if any compatibility issues arise, according to GSM Arena. Huawei may also not be able to distribute Google apps, as Google will not be able to certify the updates.

Digital Trends has reached out to Google for comments on the expired license for its relationship with Huawei, and we will update this article as soon as we hear back.

Huawei in trouble

Huawei may have sold the most phones in the second quarter, beating Samsung and Apple for the first time in nine years, but the company is just aiming to survive through the new restrictions placed against it by the U.S. government.

Huawei also recently said that it is struggling to secure enough processors for the manufacturing of its mobile phones due to the bans initiated by the U.S. government, adding to the challenges currently affecting the Chinese company.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Contributor

Aaron received a NES and a copy of Super Mario Bros. for Christmas when he was 4 years old, and he has been fascinated with…

Mobile

When is my phone getting Android 13? Google, Samsung, OnePlus, and more

Android 13 has been available for Android phones since late 2022, and it's a pretty minor update from Google. Well, we say minor, but that's only in comparison to the positively gargantuan number of changes that were in Android 12 — and in light of Google's policy of trickling out improvements to Android apps over the course of a year as soon as they're ready. Android 13 is more of a tune-up to the engine that powers your phone than anything else. But it's still one worth getting excited for.

Tablet and foldable owners will see the most benefits, and there will be some updates to Material You to improve Android's customizability. There really isn't much else to say about Android 13. It's a very under-the-hood update, and that trend appears to be continuing with the upcoming Android 14 as well.

Mobile

How Android 14 is Google’s secret weapon to make Android tablets great

Galaxy Tab S8 sitting at an angle above the tenth generation iPad.

Over the years, Google has earned itself a bad rep for abandoning the cause of Android tablets. At its most generous, Google’s interest in redeeming Android on tablets can be described as an on-off romance. Apple, on the other hand, poured some serious energy into building up iPadOS as it continued to diversify its iPad portfolio — most recently with the iPad Pro (2022) and iPad 10th Gen.

Then came Android 12L, Google’s first sign that it was taking foldable phones and tablets seriously. With Android 13, the company doubled down on building a standout experience for larger screens that can also scale the UI for different aspect ratios without making apps look like a magnified mess.

Mobile

The Nothing Phone 1 has finally launched in the U.S. — kind of

The Nothing Phone 1's camera module.

The Nothing Phone 1 launched globally last year with vague promises of a future U.S. release, but now Nothing fans don't have to wait any longer for the smartphone to make its way stateside. Soft-launching through a "Beta Membership," the Nothing Phone 1 is finally available for Americans who are willing to be a part of Nothing's test program before it officially launches with retailers later in 2023.

While it's certainly exciting for the Nothing Phone 1 to be making its way to the U.S., the release and branding of the membership program are a little odd. It gives fans the opportunity to try out the phone and test Nothing OS 1.5, which is based on Android 13 and represents a major update from Nothing OS 1.0's Android 12 foundation. If you want in, you need to pay $299.