Some Huawei Users Allegedly Seeing Ads on Lockscreens Without Permission

By
George Yang
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Even if you’re an Apple fanboy / fangirl who thinks that Android users are missing out in life, you’d have known about Huawei’s latest problem.

From Google banning them to chip makers saying goodbye to them to Facebook not wanting their apps to be pre-installed in their phones, Huawei’s on a crisis management mode.

Though die-hard Huawei fans would still be Celine-Dion-ed and go, “My heart will go on (for Huawei).”

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But this latest news isn’t about another company cutting ties with the China giant; instead, it’s something to do with Huawei internally that’s pissed some fans off.

Huawei Lockscreens Suddenly Have Ads

If you’re such a goody fellow who comes to our app every day, you’d have read an article whereby we explain why sometimes, in the past, you’d see ads when your phone was locked or when you were charging your phone.

(P.S. Nothing to do with our app, of course)

Because I want to punish you for not coming to our app daily, I’m not going to link that article here, but here’s a simple explanation: It’s due to certain apps that aren’t related to Google.

And those apps are now gone (Google Play has been doing quite a bit of housecleaning in their app store), so technically speaking, you won’t be seeing any unwanted ads when all you want to see on your lockscreen is that cute cat of yours.

But to some Huawei users, they’ve had a shock of their lives when they see “Booking.com” on their lockscreen today.

Image: Twitter (@daverooney)

According to multiple media reports (and many complaints), the URL would appear if users are using preinstalled landscape wallpapers. Of course, initially, these wallpapers didn’t have “Booking.com” on them.

They appear to be in various Huawei models in the UK, Netherlands, Ireland, South Africa, Norway and Germany. Just so you know, Europe is Huawei’s biggest market after China.

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People are obviously not happy, given that they’ve expected their wallpapers to be clean.

The solution is to delete those images or use a different wallpaper, but let’s face it: people aren’t angry that they’re being advertised to. They’re just angry that they didn’t expect to wake up one day to see “Booking.com” on their screen.

Huawei is investigating the matter, while a Huawei Germany has replied to a specific user in Twitter:


I don’t know about you, but I’m curious to see if hardcore Huawei fans’ heart will still go on.

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George Yang
Email: [email protected]