One Google app that Huawei users have been able to use without certification from Google is video chat app Duo. But just as Messages will be unavailable on uncertified Huawei devices this coming Spring, the same fate will befall the Duo app. According to XDA, strings of code found on version 123 of Duo (and now available from the Google Play Store) reveal sentences that say, “Duo is going away soon,” and “Because you’re using an unsupported device, Duo will unregister your account on this device soon. Download your Clips and call history to avoid losing them.”
Note that the strings of code for Duo refer to unsupported devices as opposed to uncertified devices as with Messages. While unsupported phones do not comply with the Google Mobile Service ecosystem and are treated mostly the same as uncertified models, the difference is that after Duo shuts down for these handsets on March 31st, there will be a grace period of 14 days during which users will be able to save and download their data from Duo before the service shuts down.
Right now, Duo can be installed and used on the Huawei P40 Pro series without requiring the phone to be running Google Mobile Services (GMS). This will end on March 31st unless Huawei is removed from the Entity List and is allowed to install GMS on its models missing Google’s ecosystem. For this to happen, the new U.S. president will have to decide what to do about the Chinese manufacturer in general. So far, there hasn’t been any word from the new administration on how it plans to treat Huawei, TikTok, Xiaomi, SMIC and other Chinese tech firms.