Huawei phones are telling users that the Google app is malware, dangerous, and should be uninstalled،
Pictures and comments are popping up everywhere showing and discussing how Huawei phones label the Google app a virus if it’s installed on one of the manufacturer’s phones. A photo published on Reddit (via 9to5Google) shows a warning that appeared on Huawei’s four-year-old P30 flagship phone. The notification says “Security threat. Google appears to be affected. Immediate uninstallation is advised.” A button at the bottom of the pop-up screen will uninstall the app.
The Huawei P30 owner scanned his device and found no viruses. Another Reddit user saw the same message appear on their Huawei P30 Lite. He wrote: “I just received this too, Huawei P30 Lite. The problem is I don’t even use Google so I was extremely panicked. I have never had a problem like this- this, but seeing as how we all solved it at once, it’s probably an update or something.”
Huawei lists the Google app as TrojanSMS-PA virus. A Trojan is malware disguised as a legitimate application so that the victim installs it. Once installed on a device, the malware could give the attacker the same level of control over a device that the legitimate user has. Some Trojans are designed to steal login information used to open banking and financial applications; the goal is to access the target’s bank account to wipe them out.
Google app is flagged by Huawei
Another screenshot shows a warning that the Google app is infected. Huawei’s warning adds: “This app has been detected sending SMS messages privately, tricking users into paying with adult content, downloading/installing apps privately, or stealing private information, which may cause hardware damage and privacy leaks. We recommend uninstalling it immediately.”
Google apps are not supposed to be available on newer Huawei devices, so the Alphabet subsidiary is not commenting on the situation. And since we all know that the Google app is not a virus (we all know that, right?), the fault for this error must lie with Huawei.
Google accidentally flags Samsung Wallet and Samsung Message
We don’t think Huawei is doing this on purpose to portray Google in a negative light and that an error causes Huawei’s software to identify the Google app as a security threat. After all, last week we told you that Google Play Protect, the tool used to try to keep malware off your Android device by performing a security check before installation, accidentally flagged Samsung Messages and Wallet suggesting that applications are uninstalled.
If this message continues to appear on your Huawei phone, you can try clearing the Phone Manager app cache as this seems to resolve the issue.
