Hi everyone,
A lot of you have had questions about what the recent news for Huawei means for giffgaff. If you haven’t been keeping track of the news recently, a few things have happened over the last week:
The US Government set out some limitations on some types of communications equipment.
Google, as a result, put restrictions in place over what services Huawei could use on their Android devices.
The US Commerce Department granted a temporary licence to allow Huawei to maintain existing networks and provide software updates to their phones until August 2019.
Understandably, this has left some of you wondering - if I have a Huawei phone, what does that mean for me? This situation is still developing, and we’ll be monitoring it closely, but here’s what we know so far.
Huawei has said that if you have an existing Huawei or Honor phone or tablet that - for now - things will stay the same. Your phone will operate normally and you’ll continue to have access to Google services such as Google Play, Gmail, YouTube and so on. You’ll also continue getting Android security updates and will be covered by Huawei’s after-sales service.
After the 19th of August, however, things may change. That’s when the US Government’s temporary licence to Huawei expires, which may mean that Google are no longer able to support Huawei devices after that date, and that updates after this date might not be available.
We expect that this situation will continue to develop. We will be providing updates as often as we are able, and we expect Google and Huawei to do the same. We know that many of you will have some specific questions, so we’d like to cover these below.
I am an existing Huawei smartphone user, what does this mean for me?
Based on Huawei’s statements, your device will continue to work as normal as it does today. All the Google services and apps will continue to function and you will be able to download & update applications from the Play Store.
Huawei will be able to issue Android security updates based on patches provided by Google.
Based on the current situation, availability of software updates (including bug fixes) after 19 August 2019 cannot be confirmed.
I am thinking of purchasing a new Huawei smartphone from the current available range, what does this mean for me?
Based on Huawei’s statements, your device will come with full current Android software, including all the normal Google applications. All the Google services and apps will continue to function and you will be able to download & update applications from the Play Store. Huawei will be able to issue Android security updates based on patches provided by Google. Based on the current situation, availability of software updates (including apps and bug fixes) after 19 August 2019 cannot be confirmed and it’s possible the ongoing issue could prevent the upgrade of existing apps from taking place.
Can I return my Huawei/Honor device for a refund or exchange as a result of this issue?
If you’ve changed your mind as a result of this, then you can make use of our returns policy and claim a full refund shortly after purchase, as usual. In order to do this, please log in to "My giffgaff", click on "My payments" and then "My order history". Select "View details" of the phone order you would like to return, then select "Return phone".
Follow the on-screen instructions to register your wish to cancel your phone purchase. We will provide you with a confirmation and with a postage-paid label to return the phone.There’s more information on returning your phone here.
What about Honor products?
Honor is not officially included in the list, but as a Huawei subsidiary and as confirmed by Huawei and Google, it is likely that Honor is impacted in the same way as Huawei.
Will Google Services continue to work on existing Huawei phones?
Google have publicly stated, “We assure you while we are complying with all US government requirements, services like Google Play & security from Google Play Protect will keep functioning on your existing Huawei device.”
Will Google apps/services continue receiving updates?
Google and Huawei have confirmed for now that Google apps will continue being updated through Google Play. Based on the current situation, availability of software updates (including apps and bug fixes) after 19 August 2019 cannot be confirmed and it’s possible the ongoing issue could prevent the upgrade of existing apps from taking place.
I heard that Huawei have been granted a 90-day license extension, what does this mean?
The US government has issued a partial and temporary licence (expiring 19 August 2019) which permits Huawei to provide service and support, including software updates and patches to existing Huawei handsets that were available to the public on or before 16 May 2019. Based on the current situation, availability of software updates (including apps and bug fixes) after 19 August 2019 cannot be confirmed and it’s possible the ongoing issue could prevent the upgrade of existing apps from taking place.
Thanks,
Sean
Update - 29 Aug 2019
Hi everyone, Catharine here - if you don’t know me, I work on the phones team.
I can see it hasn't escaped your notice that we’re past the original date for the temporary licence in mid-August. The US government has now announced that the temporary licence to Huawei has been extended to mid-November, but the situation otherwise remains the same.
As soon as we have more information about how the situation may change for giffgaffers, we’ll provide a further update.
