US ban restricting Huawei from using Android extended until May 2021

Huawei has been barred from fully using Android for at least another 12 months, after Donald Trump extended his executive order banning US firms from working with companies deemed a national security risk.

The order, first imposed a year ago, does not explicitly name companies considered “foreign adversaries” but effectively blocks the Chinese tech giant from trading with US firms.

This resulted in Huawei not being able to use all of Google’s Android operating system on future devices, meaning no access to the Google Play app store, and no direct availability of popular apps such as YouTube and Google Maps.

Phones launched before the ban was enforced – such as the P30 series – have been able to continue using the full Android experience due to a temporary license agreement, but that too is set to expire on May 15 and there has been no word on whether it will be extended once again.

Newer handsets, like the Mate 30 and P40, have relied on a modified operating system using Huawei’s own app store, AppGallery.

The White House said that the threat from such companies “continues to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States”.

Huawei responded saying it is “ready and willing” to engage with the US government and come up with effective measures to ensure product security.

“Restricting Huawei from doing business in the US will not make the US more secure or stronger; instead, this will only serve to limit the US to inferior yet more expensive alternatives, leaving the US lagging behind in 5G deployment, and eventually harming the interests of US companies and consumers,” a spokeswoman said.

“In addition, unreasonable restrictions will infringe upon Huawei’s rights and raise other serious legal issues.”