Huawei claims that its new Google-free ecosystem will be open yet user privacy-conscious

It has recently been confirmed that the new Mate 30 line of phablets will be unable to secure licensed Google Mobile Service (GMS). In other words, those who buy these phones may end up reliant on in-house Huawei apps for common and often crucial use-cases, cloud storage being a prime example.

However, the OEM claims that privacy and security are at the core of EMUI 10, with which the Mate 30, 30 Pro and 30 Pro RS will ship. This new OS incorporates “intuitive” swiping gestures, as well as the touch-free gestures with which the Pixel 4 series has also been linked.

Huawei also asserts that it has the option of dual biometric authentication, in which both a 3D form of Face Unlock and an in-screen fingerprint sensor can be required to unlock the phone. The personal data used to set up these 2 functions are apparently safeguarded by a CC EAL 5+ certification: the highest received by any smartphone hardware to date.

This biometric material is also stored in a specific space within the Mate 30 series’ storage that is governed by a Micro Kernel OS, a version of Harmony OS segregated from the rest of the system for security. In addition, Huawei claims that IMEI data will be anonymized within apps in order to prevent user tracking. Furthermore, cloud data will be encrypted end-to-end so that it can only be accessed by a given user.

Huawei also unveiled a feature in which the front-facing cameras may detect when a second party is looking over a user’s shoulder. In such cases, messages containing sensitive or important information viewed from a lockscreen will be collapsed beyond reading.

Finally, the HMS will be open-source, with SDKs to help developers create apps for services such as mapping, account management or content-scanning. There will also be more enterprise-focused kits such as those for analytics, payments and digital wallets. To this end, the OEM has instituted a US$1 billion dollar fund, split between marketing, userbase and development concerns, in order to boost their uptake.