this post was submitted on 08 Nov 2023
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Android

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[–] [email protected] 27 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (6 children)

Overlooking the title, the real news to me in this article is the rapidly increasing difficulty of getting permission from that vendor to unlock your bootloader in the first place.

And why should you need permission to do this?

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago (2 children)

It's so weird that Google's phone has been the most accessible for unlocking your phone. Oneplus used to be good too, but then they became bad in that area too and now custom rom scene seems dead for newer Oneplus phones.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago

Oneplus used to be good too,

On that note, Xiaomi also used to be good. In fact, xiaomi's initial popularity is for the ease of unlocking and rooting. Once it gain popularity, it started to lock down, much like the path OnePlus is on.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

Oh, did they? Easily unlocking the bootloader was exactly what I chose my OnePlus 6t for. Sad to see how fast they dropped that.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I wish flashing custom ROMs was like flashing custom firmware to routers. With most routers you can return it back to stock and no one will know the difference.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Is this not the case with the pixel?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

It is the case for a Pixel. Flash stock, relock and no one will know you've messed with your device.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Once its unlocked it trips a fuse on a hardware level.

A pixel is better but not perfect

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

Yeah, I've been waiting since a week to unlock my bootloader. I still have to wait 4 more days to be able to unlock. Once it's done I'm going to Lineage OS.

Xiaomi phones have a good hardware to price ratio. I've got a headphone jack, dual SIM, and a dedicated memory card slot.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Many years back if I am not mistaken the bootloader came unlocked. That led to some resellers flashing their bloatware on to the phones.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

It does seems that they just made it nearly impossible to unlock the phone for the Chinese version of their phone: You need to be 'level 5' in their shitty forum. And from what I gathered this involves posting hundred or thousand of messages with a lot of likes.

I don't think it will take long before they pull the same kind of bullshit for the global version of the phone unless there is a general outcry.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

And why should you need permission to do this?

Xiaomi historically had a problem with resellers installing malware in custom ROM on their phones, so they started putting up more and more obstacles to unlocking the bootloader over time, while still providing an avenue for legitimate customers to unlock.

I don't know what spurred the current action though.