Google has now removed the Huawei Mate 20 Pro from its list of Android Q beta devices. The phone was added to the Android 10 Q beta program a couple of weeks ago and now that Huawei’s Android license has been canceled by Google, it is hardly surprising to see the Mate 20 Pro’s removal from the list.
Although Huawei has been cut off from Google’s apps and services, the company’s license was recently extended until mid-August. However, Android Q will most likely not be available until late 2019, and this is presumably why the Mate 20 Pro has been dropped off from the list. It goes without saying that other Huawei and Honor devices will most likely not be getting Android Q either, including the P30 series phones and the Honor V20.
Unlike the upcoming Huawei smartphones, which will not come pre-installed with Google’s services and apps such as YouTube, Gmail, and Google Assistant, existing users can continue to enjoy these. Moreover, they will also continue to get monthly security updates. However, the fact that the company’s high-end devices will not get Android Q will probably not bode well for customers.
Even though Google has removed the Mate 20 Pro from the Android Q Beta page, Huawei’s dedicated page for the update, titled ‘Global Developer Recruitment for Android Q on the Huawei Mate 20 Pro,’ is still live, but the company will most likely remove it soon.
To recap, the U.S. government recently blacklisted Huawei, and following the decision, Google revoked the company’s Android license. With the 90 days extension, there is a glimmer of hope that the U.S. government might reconsider its decision. After all, the same thing has happened with ZTE. This means that there is still a scant chance that existing Huawei devices might get Android Q.
However, given the U.S. governments hard-line stance on Huawei, the reverse is actually more likely which means existing Huawei devices will most likely not be eligible for the next major version of Android. Meanwhile, Huawei is said to be making its own operating system, which will reportedly either be called Kirin OS or HongMeng OS.
Richard Yu, Huawei’s mobile boss, has allegedly said that the new platform will be ready by Spring 2020 at the latest. Huawei has apparently been developing its own OS for three years and the recent blockade has forced the Chinese tech giant to speed up its efforts. Moreover, a new report also alleges that the company’s Android alternative is far from ready.
Apparently, Huawei was originally preparing the new OS for the Chinese market. After testing it out in the local market, it would presumably have been easier for the company to roll out the software to more regions, but given the recent falling out with the U.S. government Huawei has no choice but to accelerate its development efforts.
Even if the company manages to roll out its OS anytime soon, it will still have the uphill task of coaxing developers to tweak their apps to make them compatible with the new system. Otherwise, without popular apps on board, the company might face difficulty selling its new devices.