The Huawei Mate 30 range was recently launched in Munich, and CEO Richard Yu graciously answered some questions from various press. Among the issues tackled had to do with the unlocking the Mate 30 Pro bootloader.
By now, everybody knows that the Mate 30 and Mate 30 Pro won't be having any Google apps. The only way users can sideload services from the search giant is via an unlocked bootloader. Huawei itself has discouraged users from unlocking the bootloaders of its devices.
In Yu's original statement, the CEO said that bootloader unlocking will be allowed to give users "more freedom."
"We limited [bootloader unlocking] because we wanted to guarantee more security for consumers," Yu said. "But this time we will leave more freedom for the consumers so they can do more customization by themselves. So we are planning to let consumers do that."
However, a spokesperson for Huawei has made clarifications about Yu's original statement, now stating that Huawei has "no plans" to unlock the Mate 30 series' bootloader. This means that those who want to sideload Google Play Services will be disappointed, and how this will affect users is yet to be seen. It's not clear if the company will change its decision in the future as well.
With the lack of Google apps and Google Play Services, the Mate 30 series will face a serious battle against its Android competitors. But knowing Huawei, it may have other plans to make the new range of phones more attractive without having to use Google's services.
Services such as the Google Play Store and Google Play Services are not your regular apps and have permissions that cannot be granted to standard user applications. So, downloading and installing an APK won't cut it as these applications must be installed as system applications with privileged permissions.
Huawei has big plans for the Mate 30 though, despite lacking Google apps. According to Android Authority, the Chinese tech giant plans to ship approximately 20 million units, mostly on the back of sales in China. So far, the Huawei P30 series has shipped about 16 million units.
With the lack of bootloader unlocking, however, shipping 20 million Mate 30 devices seems like a tough feat.
Huawei has made no other comments about the bootloader issue. For now, those who plan on buying the Mate 30 will have to deal with the fact that Google will be noticeably absent.
