'Recent' Huawei phones can no longer download VLC from Google Play
When it comes to Android media players, it’s pretty hard to find a simpler to use, more feature-packed, versatile and popular title than VLC. The free and open source app might not be updated as frequently as some of its rivals, but that hasn’t stopped non-profit organization VideoLAN from amassing over 100 million Play Store downloads and an average of 4.4 stars based on more than a million reviews.
Obviously, VLC’s mobile success is owed in large part to the fact the app serves no ads, has no in-app purchases or hidden fees, and no built-in spying code. You can easily play essentially any video and audio files out there, as well as network streams, network shares, and drives, on any Android device running OS version 2.3 and up... except for “recent” Huawei handsets.
Wait, what? It’s true (and kind of ridiculous), as the passionate volunteers behind the development and evolution of the VideoLAN project have taken the drastic measure of blacklisting certain products from the world’s third-largest smartphone vendor.
This obviously has nothing to do with Huawei’s recent struggles of penetrating the US market, but rather the company’s “ridiculous policy of killing all background apps.” All background apps except those developed by Huawei, which is a sketchy tactic in itself. What’s worse is VLC’s widely praised audio background playback functionality is impacted by this unusual policy, which in turn forced Videolabs to strike back.
The decision came as the media playing app started collecting negative Google Play reviews without actually doing anything wrong. But for what it’s worth, you can still download the apk from this link and manually install the app. It’s also important to stress not all Huawei phones are banned from getting VLC in the Play Store, while Honor-branded devices are entirely unaffected by the (hopefully temporary) embargo “so far.”
Obviously, VLC’s mobile success is owed in large part to the fact the app serves no ads, has no in-app purchases or hidden fees, and no built-in spying code. You can easily play essentially any video and audio files out there, as well as network streams, network shares, and drives, on any Android device running OS version 2.3 and up... except for “recent” Huawei handsets.
This obviously has nothing to do with Huawei’s recent struggles of penetrating the US market, but rather the company’s “ridiculous policy of killing all background apps.” All background apps except those developed by Huawei, which is a sketchy tactic in itself. What’s worse is VLC’s widely praised audio background playback functionality is impacted by this unusual policy, which in turn forced Videolabs to strike back.
The decision came as the media playing app started collecting negative Google Play reviews without actually doing anything wrong. But for what it’s worth, you can still download the apk from this link and manually install the app. It’s also important to stress not all Huawei phones are banned from getting VLC in the Play Store, while Honor-branded devices are entirely unaffected by the (hopefully temporary) embargo “so far.”
source: VideoLAN (Twitter)
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