Huawei's banned Mate 30 Pro may offer Google apps on the side
Huawei is gearing up to announce what could amount to the most amazing phones this side of foldables, and none of them will have Maps, Play or Gmail at launch. Yes, we are talking about the Mate 30 Pro and its Mate 30 sidekick that will be stuffed to the gills with technology that meets or exceeds the best that Samsung or Apple can offer.
Unfortunately, Huawei is a pawn in the larger trade war between the White House administration and China, so it’s blacklisted as an entity that US companies are forbidden to sell goods or services to.
That includes Google and licensed Android, so Huawei can only use the open-source one that doesn’t come with system-level Google Play, Maps, Gmail, Photos and other apps we are used to take for granted on our Android phones.
It also means rare if any updates, but we will cross that bridge if Huawei finds customers for the Mate 30/Pro without Google apps at all. It turns out that the company may have some contingency plan in place that doesn’t involve its obscure Harmony OS that so far is present only on one smart TV from the company.
While it will introduce Mate 30 Pro with open-source Android, it may also tip ways to sideload the Google apps afterwards, and we will be all ears in Munich when September 19 comes about to see if and how Huawei has managed to solve the conundrum it was placed in by the trade war with China.