Huawei and Honor devices worldwide began flagging the Google app as a virus, causing widespread concern in the tech community.
Various Chinese-built smartphones, including Huawei, Honor, and Vivo devices, displayed a “Security threat” warning, identifying the Google app as “TrojanSMS-PA.”
These warnings were observed on devices manufactured before the China ban, where the Google app was pre-loaded rather than sideloaded.
Users reported this issue, with some believing it was a virus attack and changing their device credentials.
Google disclaimed responsibility, stating that the warning was not triggered by Google Play Protect, and users should contact the device manufacturer.
The reason for the warning remains unclear, but some users suggested that modifications in the October 27th update of the Google app might have triggered the virus alert.
Interestingly, no other devices from different manufacturers seemed to have this issue. It was reported that Huawei Optimizer was the cause of these warnings on Huawei devices.
Huawei provided an explanation, stating that Avast was responsible for virus detection and removal on their devices.
Clear the cache and data for the Optimizer app and update their antivirus software. The issue can be safely ignored if users did not install the Google app from unverified sources.