Huawei now banned from pre-installing Facebook on its phones

These days, basically every Android phone you buy comes with Facebook’s app pre-installed (scary, huh?). But Huawei won’t have that privilege anymore. 

According to Reuters, Facebook has banned Huawei from pre-installing the Facebook app on its phones, a continuation of the pressure U.S. companies have exerted on Huawei ever since the Chinese tech giant was placed on the U.S. Department of Commerce’s dreaded “entity list.”

The ban, which has been confirmed by Facebook, also extends to WhatsApp and Instagram, both of which are owned by the social media giant. 

From the consumer side, this won’t be a huge difference — users will still be able to install Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram from the Play Store, and receive updates for them. But it’s another little annoyance that will make Huawei phones generally less attractive to users. 

After the U.S. Department of Commerce placed Huawei on its entity list, which means the company cannot buy U.S. parts and components without the approval from U.S. government, companies such as Intel and Qualcomm said they would not sell parts to Huawei. 

But the biggest blow to Huawei came when Google revoked its Android license, which makes it a lot harder for Huawei — the second largest smartphone maker in the world — to keep building Android phones. Huawei has since gotten a 90-day exemption from trade restrictions. 

That deadline is important, because it means all Huawei phones will still have access to Google’s Play Store until the 90-day deadline expires in August — even phones that aren’t yet on the market. But according to Reuters’ report, Facebook’s ban is effective immediately, and it applies to any Huawei phone that hasn’t yet left the factory.