Huawei’s smartphones will not have Google apps

Chinese Huawei’s next flagship smartphone will not come with Google’s popular apps including Maps, YouTube, and Gmail, which are part of the Android operating system.

US search giant Google told Reuters that under the current US restrictions on trade with Huawei, the new phones cannot be sold with licensed apps.

This means the next Huawei phone won’t also have access to the Google Play app store, which could leave customers without other popular apps.

The temporary reprieve that the US government announced last week does not apply to new products such as the Mate 30, Google’s spokesman said. Huawei is just weeks away from launching its next flagship phone.

While US companies can apply for specific products to be exempted from the ban, Google did not say whether it had applied for any such licenses.

“Huawei will continue to use the Android OS and ecosystem if the US government allows us to do so. Otherwise, we will continue to develop our own operating system and ecosystem,” the Chinese telecom said in a statement.

Huawei says it will continue using Android for as long as the US government allows it, but the company is also developing its own operating system called HarmonyOS. The firm also plans to unveil its own mapping service which could become a competitor to Google Maps.

Last Monday, Huawei was granted a 90-day reprieve allowing it to continue buying technology and equipment from American firms. US President Donald Trump said earlier that he does not want the US to continue doing business with the Chinese tech giant, citing a “national security threat.”

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