Doesn't this break laws in the EU, JP, and US?
this post was submitted on 30 Jul 2025
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As long as they grease the right palms in the US it’s fine.
There's definitely no law in the US. In fact the vast majority of Android device bootloaders come locked. Pretty much just Pixels and Galaxies that allow this.
Yeah they might come locked, but the owner needs to be able to remove that lock if they want to.
I can't remember owning an Android device it wasn't possible on. What do you mean just pixel and galaxy allow it?
And even when it comes to Galaxies, you can't buy from a carrier in the US or you'll often get a special version that, you guessed right, has a locked bootloader. (Two phones now, never again).
I bought unlocked (no carrier) phones from samsung's website and got locked bootloaders. I'm in the US.
that probably only means that its carrier unlocked, so that you are not forced to use a specific carrier that someone decided for you.
Exactly, which makes the "you can’t buy from a carrier in the US or you’ll often get a special version that" invalid, since its locked bootloader whether or not you get it from a carrier
Even the non-carrier variants in the US, misleadingly called "International variants" despite of being regional to the US, have locked bootloader.
Yuck, TIL.
Yuck indeed.
People tried many ways to get around it, back when I was still using an US variant Samsung Note 9, people went as far as using a leaked engineering/preproduction ROM, which can be flashed using Samsung's official tool because it does have the correct key for the locked bootloader to accept, being built and compiled by Samsung, and because it's an engineering ROM it would give you root and everything despite of the bootloader still being locked.
But it was an exceptionally rare leak, and it was only meant for preproduction for a reason, it is very VERY unstable and not exactly usable for a daily driver lol
So happy I am leaving all that BS from Samsung behind with my current Sony Xperia 1 VI which is bootloader-unlocked and rooted and deeply modded and truly my own device lol
That's Carrier Unlocking, not Bootloader Unlocking.
When they say One UI 8 does this include phones besides the Galaxy S25? I have an S24 and am hoping it won't hit me
I have a s24 here and the last update to One Ui 7 removed the bootloader unlocking option in dev mode. But that was mounts ago and no one talked about it back then so they did it hidden in the dark. Disgusting. See by your self and confirm it.
I just checked my s23 and you're right, the bootloader unlock option is completley gone - this is a disturbing trend of manufacturers taking away control of devices we actualy own.
Huh, I have the s23 and just updated yesterday. I still have it in dev options (haven't tried enabling it though)
Wierd if they allow it for older but not newer phones on the same os version.
I would hate that though, I am really hoping to flash some other OS when Samsung stops with security updates.
No it's gone for s24 one UI 7.
Next major Samsung OS update is One UI 8 and the S24 is getting that update
That would be illegal here, so I'm assuming this will depend on regional differences.
Great news! Stop buying them.
OT but form factor looks like a Sony Xperia. The trend points to sleek now?
Edit: right, it's a foldable.
Sony got a lot of shit for making their phones skinnier and 21:9 but I honestly think it was great
The screen being less wide meant typing one handed was easier, and I frequently have my apps split one on top and one below
If only their phones weren't so bloody expensive upon release. It's always the same with them. Good phones that cost way too much, they get panned in reviews for it, then 3-5 months later they drop the prices because people aren't buying at the full price... but by that point the reviews are already out there and public opinions are set! So stupid!
Reading this comment in Zek's voice was quite amusing.
What "shit", that's one of the reasons i bought it. The other being sdcard for backups. And got the Xperia 10 VI on Ebay for $250, factory-unlocked but it wasn't. No shady stuff on it either but on it goes LineageOS anyway. Well, i would like to, but google thought i meant the IV, VI has no releases yet. But Sony is working on adding it to their Source program, trying Generic System Image (GSI) for now.
I have a foldable, and it's the best thing to happen to phones since they started creeping up in size towards phablets. One UI is terrible for the amount of bloatware that comes with it, though.
Are there foldables with custom ROM support?
Not ðat I'm aware of.
The move towards Chinese market lol
I checked, I didn't know but if you reside in Canada or in the states they are hardware blocked so its literally impossible to hack the device and unlock the bootloader. Thats only for the snapdragon chips not for the exynos ones. So yes don't buy samsung phone anymore.