An easy-to-use app enabling the installation of Google apps and services on the Mate 30 devices, called LZPlay, has disappeared, Bloomberg reported Thursday.
LZPlay had emerged alongside the devices' release, as Security researcher John Wu published an illuminating post Tuesday that explained how users of Huawei’s Mate 30 Pro were able to manually download and install Google apps.
This was big news because a US blacklisting prohibits Huawei from using American components and software. The process allowed the Mate 30 Pro (along with the basic Mate 30) to run popular apps like Google Maps and Gmail that otherwise would not be permitted.
But only two days after the workarounds were found, they were taken away.
In the wake of Wu’s revelations, the Mate 30 devices lost their clearance to manually install Android apps, as reported by a number of smartphone experts.
Only Google is able to make that kind of change through what’s known as its SafetyNet anti-abuse check.
“Although this ‘backdoor’ requires user interaction to be enabled, the installer app, which is signed with a special certificate from Huawei, was granted privileges nowhere to be found on standard Android systems,” Wu wrote on Medium.
Effectively, the change makes sure that the US ban on Google services for the Mate 30 Pro is ironclad -- and many of the users outside of China who might have obtained or imported the device will now have only the bare Android-based Huawei user experience.
At the heart of Huawei’s problems is the Google Play Store, a system-level app that’s part of Google’s licensed bundle, which opens access to the full panoply of Android applications.
With it on board, an Android device can more effectively compete with Apple Inc.’s iPhone and App Store, equipped with globally popular apps like YouTube, Instagram, Netflix and Spotify.
Without it, no matter how great its specs and performance, an Android device is a tough sell for US or European customers.
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