Got a Huawei Android phone?

Author
Discussion

louiebaby

10,651 posts

190 months

Monday 20th May 2019
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Slushbox said:
We did some firewall testing on a handful of 'Chinese' android devices a couple of years ago. The Moto phones were sending user 'usage' data back to the USA, as was Google, so nothing unexpected there.

A Lenovo Android tablet was pinging a China Telecom server every thirty seconds, which provoked endless paranoia, so they were immediately banned for corporate use.
Is there an easy (ish) way for us to test our phones to see what's being sent where?

It's all very interesting for me, I'm not paranoid about most of my personal data because I'm not a very interesting person... smile

budgie smuggler

5,359 posts

158 months

Monday 20th May 2019
quotequote all
louiebaby said:
Is there an easy (ish) way for us to test our phones to see what's being sent where?

It's all very interesting for me, I'm not paranoid about most of my personal data because I'm not a very interesting person... smile
Yes, block network access from it in your firewall, then look at the log and see where it was trying to connect.

budgie smuggler

5,359 posts

158 months

Monday 20th May 2019
quotequote all
buggalugs said:
I would say that Play Store is the main one. But one big point is, they wouldn't have to try to do what Microsoft did and start up a whole new ecosystem. They just need the store infrastructure, then get people to submit their existing apps there, since it's still Android compatibility wise. It could even end up putting Play Store's margins under pressure due to competition.
I think it's a bigger task than you're giving the impression of.

Location services, authentication, in app payments and various other things in a lot of apps rely on Google Play Services. It's not just a case of uploading the apk (which is a shame because I would like nothing better than to start chipping away at the 30% Google and Apple skim off the top).

RDMcG

19,093 posts

206 months

Monday 20th May 2019
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US policy is now a nightmarish unpredictable mess. Horrible result here.

AJB88

12,263 posts

170 months

Monday 20th May 2019
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Quickest fix is for them to accept Amazon store onto the phones to access apps, still doesn't fix the issue of not being able to access Google services though.


DaveH23

3,230 posts

169 months

Monday 20th May 2019
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I have been looking at the P30 Pro over the s10+, Not having google maps is a deal breaker for me.

Slushbox

1,484 posts

104 months

Monday 20th May 2019
quotequote all
budgie smuggler said:
Yes, block network access from it in your firewall, then look at the log and see where it was trying to connect.
+1

The cheaps way is an Android firewall app like Netguard. Add a 'pro' feature (£3?) to enable data logging. You'll see the horror of Google services trying to connect every 4 seconds, zillions of Location requests, apps phoning home, and all the rest. It provides links to Whois in the log so you can see where all your data is going.

Netguard ( there are others) wil also let you lock out apps from using mobile data, wifi, or both if you're on a restricted data plan, so it also attenuates some advertising.

It 'sinks' outgoing requests to its own internal black hole VPN. Good for PAYG sim plans.

budgie smuggler

5,359 posts

158 months

Monday 20th May 2019
quotequote all
AJB88 said:
Quickest fix is for them to accept Amazon store onto the phones to access apps, still doesn't fix the issue of not being able to access Google services though.
Good idea, Amazon already have alternatives to the Google Play Services APIs and a process for vetting apps etc so that's a good shout.

AJB88

12,263 posts

170 months

Monday 20th May 2019
quotequote all
budgie smuggler said:
Good idea, Amazon already have alternatives to the Google Play Services APIs and a process for vetting apps etc so that's a good shout.
Would imagine though Amazon will be told to stop doing business with them as well like Google?


Ubuntu stopped their MobileOS development ages ago, I know there is some others out there but most use Google as the backbone, like LineageOS.

Gojira

899 posts

122 months

Monday 20th May 2019
quotequote all
budgie smuggler said:
AJB88 said:
Quickest fix is for them to accept Amazon store onto the phones to access apps, still doesn't fix the issue of not being able to access Google services though.
Good idea, Amazon already have alternatives to the Google Play Services APIs and a process for vetting apps etc so that's a good shout.
Problem I foresee is that Amazon are another American-based company...

Unless they think they can out-stubborn the Trump, I can see them, and anyone else US based, stopping doing business with Huawei fairly soon.


DuckSauce

390 posts

66 months

Monday 20th May 2019
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It's been delayed until August 2019.
Huawei have stated that current phones will still receive the updates, it just affects anything new. Some news sites suggest that even the next version of Android will be fine, as most of the stuff has already been released to Huawei.

I have a P20 Pro and it's by far the best phone I've had, even contemplating getting the Mrs one as her iPhone has the battery issue (always flat)
I'll wait for the 2nd hand market to plummet

Blink982

760 posts

103 months

Monday 20th May 2019
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I've recently bought a Huawei tablet. I assume this mess also relates to tablets? Thankfully, I only use it for Netflix but I was intending on using it for my DJI drone which I assume needs access to Google maps....

zedx19

2,703 posts

139 months

Tuesday 21st May 2019
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Seems to be a lot of panic here over not much bar delayed security updates for current devices? Any current Huawei device will not suddenly stop working with Google apps and services, not now or ever. Next gen devices will also be fine, it's much further down the line with next next gen devices. By then whatever the problems are may have been resolved or you just buy one of the other flagship Android phones instead?

clonmult

10,529 posts

208 months

Tuesday 21st May 2019
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DuckSauce said:
It's been delayed until August 2019.
Huawei have stated that current phones will still receive the updates, it just affects anything new. Some news sites suggest that even the next version of Android will be fine, as most of the stuff has already been released to Huawei.

I have a P20 Pro and it's by far the best phone I've had, even contemplating getting the Mrs one as her iPhone has the battery issue (always flat)
I'll wait for the 2nd hand market to plummet
According to an article by an "expert" in the Daily Mail, Huawei phones will continue to work, but won't get any app updates. But my Mate 20 Pro is still getting plenty of app updates, maybe thats down to the extension (one of those this morning was a core google service too).

But I'm also aware of major OS updates that are incoming to the devices - so we will continue to get some updates.

I am however slightly concerned about the next devices to come along - the Mate 20 X 5G and the Mate Fold are due out shortly. They could have problems unless everything is clarified.

james_tigerwoods

16,287 posts

196 months

Tuesday 21st May 2019
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I read that DM article and parts of it read as scaremongering to be honest. That said, I do wonder what will happen with regards to apps on the play store - Will, for example, whatsapp stop receiving updates because I have a Huawei phone?

The values of second hand Huawei phones will start to tank too...

OnaRoll

3,695 posts

190 months

Tuesday 21st May 2019
quotequote all
DaveH23 said:
I have been looking at the P30 Pro over the s10+, Not having google maps is a deal breaker for me.
Yeah people seem to be playing it safe, however......

P30 pro has already been certified so in reality Google with be dealing with you the end user directly not the manufacturer.

So you will still get your apps updated.

Where I see a problem arising is security updates and future rollouts. I'm sure there will be workarounds but anyone with an older phone from these guys or tablet for that matter shouldn't be panicking just yet.

I'm dusting off my old CB Radio just incase.


clonmult

10,529 posts

208 months

Tuesday 21st May 2019
quotequote all
OnaRoll said:
DaveH23 said:
I have been looking at the P30 Pro over the s10+, Not having google maps is a deal breaker for me.
Yeah people seem to be playing it safe, however......

P30 pro has already been certified so in reality Google with be dealing with you the end user directly not the manufacturer.

So you will still get your apps updated.

Where I see a problem arising is security updates and future rollouts. I'm sure there will be workarounds but anyone with an older phone from these guys or tablet for that matter shouldn't be panicking just yet.

I'm dusting off my old CB Radio just incase.

I don't think I'd be panicking unless we had confirmation that existing devices would somehow completely stop working. Which would be a potential problem for the second largest phone manufacturer.

As for a potential lack of security updates, that could be a concern, but most people really won't be affected. They don't care about updates, as long as their apps work.

OnaRoll

3,695 posts

190 months

Tuesday 21st May 2019
quotequote all
clonmult said:
OnaRoll said:
DaveH23 said:
I have been looking at the P30 Pro over the s10+, Not having google maps is a deal breaker for me.
Yeah people seem to be playing it safe, however......

P30 pro has already been certified so in reality Google with be dealing with you the end user directly not the manufacturer.

So you will still get your apps updated.

Where I see a problem arising is security updates and future rollouts. I'm sure there will be workarounds but anyone with an older phone from these guys or tablet for that matter shouldn't be panicking just yet.

I'm dusting off my old CB Radio just incase.

I don't think I'd be panicking unless we had confirmation that existing devices would somehow completely stop working. Which would be a potential problem for the second largest phone manufacturer.

As for a potential lack of security updates, that could be a concern, but most people really won't be affected. They don't care about updates, as long as their apps work.
I'm just about to pull the trigger on a Mate 20 pro myself. New prices are around 500 quid on some. Stonking piece of kit for the money.

The news doesn't worry me in the slightest. Having said that, a friend has just sent his P30 back and asked for an iPhone. He reckons Google are going to run into all sorts of problems which is of course nonsense IMO.

PR disaster though.


AJB88

12,263 posts

170 months

Tuesday 21st May 2019
quotequote all
In theory you could still side load the apps by downloading them from the likes of APK Mirror which obviously has security risks.

budgie smuggler

5,359 posts

158 months

Tuesday 21st May 2019
quotequote all
AJB88 said:
In theory you could still side load the apps by downloading them from the likes of APK Mirror which obviously has security risks.
It does, and also as I mentioned a lot of apps rely on Google APIs for example, many mobile banking apps will use SafetyNet.

At the moment you can download Google libs and apps via 'Open GApps' and run them on most any device. However Google could easy start enforcing a blacklist inside the software to prevent this.