Huawei Pledges to Keep Smartphones Updated

Despite its U.S. blacklisting, Huawei this week committed to delivering both security updates and Android system updates to its handsets.

“All Huawei smartphones and tablets will continue to receive security patches and Android updates,” a statement on the firm’s website reads. “Anyone who has already bought, or is about to buy a Huawei smartphone, can continue to access the world of apps as they have always done. All devices continue to be covered by our manufacturer’s warranty and will receive full-service support accordingly.”

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“Our most popular current devices, including the P30 series, will be able to access Android Q,” the firm continues. “In fact, we have already launched a beta developer program for Android Q which is running right now on our Mate 20 Pro device.”

The firm also debunks some “rumors” on the page. Among them that Android would somehow be automatically uninstalled from existing handsets because of the blacklisting. Not true, Huawei says.

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Conversation 14 comments

  • lvthunder

    Premium Member
    20 June, 2019 - 11:26 am

    <p>Sounds reasonable. My guess is the phones with Android already on them are grand fathered from the blacklisting. They just can't add it to new devices.</p>

  • MacLiam

    Premium Member
    20 June, 2019 - 11:42 am

    <p>Nice to know, but I don't think it's enough under the circumstances to overcome my hesitation about the P30 Pro, a phone whose specs look very much like what I would like to have in my pocket at all times. I guess I will just have to wait until next year, when some non-embargoed manufacturer will rip off Huawei for their own new flagship.</p>

    • StevenLayton

      20 June, 2019 - 1:52 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#436467"><em>In reply to MacLiam:</em></a><em> Not sure why someone downvoted you for your comment. When there are so many good options available, why would you opt for the one you have a niggling doubt about? Huawei can give all the assurances it wants, but 'slight doubt' has taken the shine off their otherwise excellent devices, and will probably turn many people to another phone.</em></blockquote><p><br></p>

      • Rycott

        Premium Member
        20 June, 2019 - 7:19 pm

        <blockquote><em><a href="#436493">In reply to StevenLayton:</a></em></blockquote><p>Agreed 100%.</p><p><br></p><p>I'm due for a new phone next month and was thinking about the P30 Pro. Now with the black cloud surrounding updates and all the Google Play stuff I'll probably just get another Samsung.</p><p><br></p><p>Even if they do exactly what they say there is enough doubt there to make me hesitant.</p>

        • wright_is

          Premium Member
          21 June, 2019 - 3:04 am

          <blockquote><em><a href="#436570">In reply to Rycott:</a></em></blockquote><p>What black cloud? The device will get 2 years of security updates at the very least and Google has already declared that all current models will continue to work with the Google Play Store and Google apps.</p><p>If Huawei can also get Q onboarded, then it will be current until R comes along, but even if it doesn't get R, it should still get security updates to Q until it is end-of-life. The updates for P and Q come over AOSP, so there shouldn't be more than the usual 15 – 30 day delay that the handsets now have – the time between Google releasing them into AOSP on the same day that their Pixels get the binary updates and the manufacturers integrating it into their devices.</p><p>I'm not too worried about it yet, with the half dozen devices we already have.</p>

          • StevenLayton

            21 June, 2019 - 8:26 am

            <blockquote><a href="#436618"><em>In reply to wright_is:</em></a><em> The issue isn't necessarily whether or not they can and do continue to support and update their phones going forward, the issue is the introduction of doubt for the average person, however small that doubt may be. As I said in my post above, given all of the excellent choices we have for phones, if you have doubt about </em><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Huawei&nbsp;</span><em>, you're more likely to choose a phone that you don't have that doubt over. </em></blockquote><blockquote><br></blockquote><blockquote><em>For the record, I have a P20 lite that I'm more than happy with, but even with </em>Huaweis&nbsp;<em>re-assurances, I'll probably not put down several hundreds of pounds with them any time soon, when I have so many other great choices. Is that fair on </em>Huawei, and do they deserve it? Probably not. Buts thats the way it is.</blockquote><p><br></p>

  • Daekar

    20 June, 2019 - 11:42 am

    <p>This shouldn't surprise anyone. It's not like the blacklisting is retroactive to some arbitrary point in the past. Stuff already sold and in the pipeline should be covered, it's everything in the future that hasn't yet been developed which is hanging in the balance.</p><p><br></p><p>Between the invasive insects ravaging Chinese wheat and rice crops and the bad problem they're having with swine flu (many millions of hogs put down, and many millions projected to go), we're going to be lucky if this dinky spat over technology is the biggest news about China in the next 18 months. I'd rather read about Huawei 7 days a week than the potential food crisis they're shaping up to have over there. It's brutal to think this, but if it goes as badly as I've seen projected, they may be forced to the bargaining table in order to get favorable terms on US grains. I wouldn't wish another Great Leap Forward type famine on them for any trade agreement though, that was a tragedy.</p>

    • Bats

      20 June, 2019 - 1:17 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#436468">In reply to Daekar:</a></em></blockquote><p>Dinky? Tell that to US Intelligence.</p>

    • wright_is

      Premium Member
      21 June, 2019 - 3:10 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#436468">In reply to Daekar:</a></em></blockquote><p>It isn't just China, either. Italy, I think Sicily in particular, was ravaged by a plague of locusts last week and southern Germany has a plague of caterpillars eating people, literally, out of house and home.</p><p>The caterpillars are turning up in their millions and plaguing whole communities. In several villages and small towns, the people had to be evacuated, because they were eating there way into home (even the fly screens and the rubbers in the window frames). One municipal swimming pool had 2 extra staff on duty who did nothing other than run around the whole site vacuuming up the little blighters!</p>

  • Pbike908

    20 June, 2019 - 12:21 pm

    <p>Watching this Huawei/Trump/Xi spat is one of the most interesting tech/trade issues in a long time…It's too soon to tell how it will all unfold…</p>

  • UK User

    Premium Member
    21 June, 2019 - 2:41 pm

    <p>After my wife had to tear my Lumia 650 away from me, still works, I trudge around the mobile phone shops, no I didn't look online oddly enough. Samsung, ZTE, Pixel, Nokia, Motorola, and no, Apple do not come into my vision or price range. So then this phone by a company called Honor, spelt wrong for us Brits, there is a u before the r, anyway it looked, and felt like a classy phone. So I jumped in, and for £200, do your own conversions, I got an Honor 10 Lite, and yes I like it. I am still getting to grips with the camera options but overall I'm pleased with my Lumia replacement. That was until this tariff thing from Trump, Honor is a Huawei brand. So todays announcement cheers me up but although it says about updating, and access to Android Q, whatever that is, there was no mention of new features, oh well, hopefully I won't have go phone hunting again pretty soon.</p>

  • chaad_losan

    21 June, 2019 - 4:52 pm

    <p>And how are they going to that? PFM?</p>

  • anderb

    Premium Member
    21 June, 2019 - 5:08 pm

    <p>“And they’ve got a backdoor to do it!”</p>

  • wright_is

    Premium Member
    22 June, 2019 - 10:44 am

    <p>My wife's P-Smart got the upgrade to Pie 9.1 today, with June patches.</p>

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