[Update] Huawei not allowed to pre-install Facebook on new smartphones

[ UPDATE 11/06/2019 12:10PM ]: Huawei Malaysia has responded to our enquiries with the following reply: “Facebook is a third-party application, and can be installed and used without any issue on HUAWEI devices.”

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According to a new report by Reuters, Facebook has suspended app pre-installs on Huawei smartphones. This new restriction is only applicable to brand new Huawei devices that have not left the factory.

It was reported that Huawei customers that are currently using Facebook will still be able to use the app and continue to receive software updates. However, new batches of Huawei devices will no longer be able to have Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram pre-installed out of the box.

Depending on the market, it is normal for smartphone makers to include pre-installed apps on their new smartphones as part of a special arrangement with various providers. Apart from Facebook, some phones may come with WhatsApp, Twitter and Booking.com apps built-in.

From the looks of it, Facebook isn’t blocking Huawei users from accessing the social network and the app should still be available for download via the Google Play Store. For some users that view the Facebook app as bloatware, this could be a good thing.

The bigger concern for Huawei is its relationship with Google. When the US Government added Huawei to its Entity List, Google had to comply by not providing Huawei with access, technical support and collaboration involving Google’s apps and services. However, the ban was put on a 90-day reprieve and as a result, Google had committed to providing software and security updates to Huawei devices until 19th August 2019. Even if the problem is not resolved, Google has assured that the Google Play Store and Google apps will still be able for existing Huawei smartphones.

We have reached out to Huawei on the matter and we will update the post when we get a response.

[ SOURCE ]

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