Honor View 10 & Honor 7X (U.S.) haven’t received software updates in months, support says it’s by design

We are no strangers to all that is happening between the U.S. and Chinese governments, the victim of which is Huawei. Due to the Trump ban, Huawei has been denied access to all Google apps and services that are usually part of Android OS.

Even though Huawei is still able to release new phones running Android OS out of the box, these devices won’t benefit from things like the Google Play Services, Play Store, Gmail, YouTube, and so on – functions that have become part and parcel of our daily smartphone lives.

The most recent victim of the U.S. trade ban is Huawei Mate 30 series. The phones, no matter how great they are, won’t be the same without Google apps and services. Sure, there are ways to bring the Play Store aboard the Mate 30, but who’s up for the hassle after parting with $1000? Yea, I thought so too.

The U.S. trade ban, fortunately, is only limited to new Huawei and Honor phones. This means that all phones that had already been released by the time the ban came into effect are not affected, among them Honor View 10 and Honor 7X, two popular phones that were also sold in the U.S.

This, however, seems to be only true on paper or at least for those using the two devices outside the U.S. Apparently, the U.S. variants of the Honor View 10 and Honor 7X haven’t seen new software updates in months.

Huawei has already updated the View 10 and Honor 7X to EMUI 9.1 in China and other markets across Europe and Asia and is also in line to provide the former with an update to Android 10, probably with Magic UI 3.0 on top. But the story is quite the opposite in the U.S.

I have the Honor View 10 (BKL-L04) and my daughter has a Honor 7x (BND-L24). Both have not received updates for a few months despite being a few EMUI 9.1 updates available. I know those 9.1 updates have been pushed to those same phones in other countries but the US models have not received anything yet. Honor USA keeps telling me they have no information about updates for the US phones. I find it strange. Did Honor just abandon the US models then? Anyone hear differently?
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It’s easy to argue that U.S. variants of the Honor View 10 are probably affected by the trade ban. But what about those in India who haven’t seen new security patches since the update that brought July security patches?

@HiHonorIndia @HuaweiEMUI @HuaweiIndia Hey guys, any update on security patch tor Honor View 10 in India? My phone is still on July security patch and its end of September. Would you please also take a look at your older flagship devices rather than launching too many midrangers?
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The latest Android security patches available are for September 2019, which makes the Honor View 10 two months behind and in a week or so, it will be three months behind. According to Honor India, though, this isn’t by mistake but by design, which is pretty strange if you ask me.

Google releases monthly security updates that all Android device makers can pick up and push to their respective devices. However, going by Honor India support statement, Google’s efforts are not worth it, but we all know that’s not true.

The Honor 7X outside the U.S. isn’t that bad off given that it recently received August security patches. However, for folks in the U.S., the wait for new software updates is still on and worse off is that Honor USA isn’t helping either.

I assumed that was the case but it would be nice if I would get an honest answer from Honor USA about it. According to Firmware Finder the 9.1 updates are approved for installation on my model phone, they just haven’t pushed them.
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Whether Honor still has plans to keep pushing new software updates to the U.S. variants of the Honor View 10 and Honor 7X is not known, but with other markets still receiving updates on these devices, it would be prudent for Honor USA to at least make an official statement on this matter.

NOTE: We have more Honor-related coverage in this section. If interested in wider Huawei-related coverage, check out this section.

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