<story><title>Pixel phones are sold with bootloader unlocking disabled</title><url>https://www.fitzsim.org/blog/?p=545</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>pbasista</author><text>&amp;gt; connect the device to the Internet before they are allowed to install the operating system they want&lt;p&gt;Phoning home before undertaking such an activity takes away the ownership rights from the customers. They do not actually own these devices even after they have purchased them.&lt;p&gt;The reason is that an important part of their ownership rights, i.e. the freedom to use the software of their choice, has been withheld from them. With a &lt;i&gt;promise&lt;/i&gt; that it will be given to them on request. Unless, of course, the manufacturer changes their mind.&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately, there are cases when the manufacturer did not even make such a promise and disabled bootloader unlocking permanently with no way of enabling it again. On Pixel phones.&lt;p&gt;This used to happen (and perhaps still happens) to some Pixel phones purchased in the USA from Verizon. They have been known [0] for disabling the bootloader unlocking and for giving their customers no way to enable it. Not even after phoning home.&lt;p&gt;Some people claim [1] that they paid someone from China to unlock their Pixel 1 phone remotely using some shady approach. I assume that someone with inside information from Google has leaked some software and instructions for doing so. It is unclear whether later Pixel phones sold by Verizon with locked bootloaders could be unlocked in a similar way.&lt;p&gt;As a result, it seems like the only way to have a chance at unlocking such Pixel phones, which have been made by a US company and purchased from a US carrier, is to pay someone in China and hope for the best. It has gotten that far.&lt;p&gt;[0] &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;forum.xda-developers.com&amp;#x2F;t&amp;#x2F;how-to-unlock-bootloader-on-verizon-pixel-xl.3796030&amp;#x2F;page-73&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;forum.xda-developers.com&amp;#x2F;t&amp;#x2F;how-to-unlock-bootloader-...&lt;/a&gt;
[1] &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;forum.xda-developers.com&amp;#x2F;t&amp;#x2F;how-to-unlock-bootloader-on-verizon-pixel-xl.3796030&amp;#x2F;page-73#post-88299591&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;forum.xda-developers.com&amp;#x2F;t&amp;#x2F;how-to-unlock-bootloader-...&lt;/a&gt;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>j1elo</author><text>Xiaomi does the same (or at least did until my latest phone change i.e. around 3 years ago). You must unlock the bootloader before being able to install a custom recovery image such as TWRP, which itself is used to install custom ROMs.&lt;p&gt;This unlock involves: creating a user account in the Xiaomi services website, logging into that account from your phone&amp;#x27;s system, then &lt;i&gt;having the phone logged in for at least 7 days&lt;/i&gt;, then using a Windows software which sends a request for unlocking, which they will grant (at least in my experience).&lt;p&gt;The most outrageous part of all this process (apart from the fact that it exists at all) is the 7 days of usage with the phone logged in. If you attempt an unlock earlier than that, the software will say: &amp;quot;You have to wait X days and Y hours before you can unlock this device.&amp;quot;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: This Reddit wiki page explains the process. I&amp;#x27;m flabbergasted that it actually takes &lt;i&gt;720 hours&lt;/i&gt; aka 30 days:&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.reddit.com&amp;#x2F;r&amp;#x2F;Xiaomi&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;bootloader&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.reddit.com&amp;#x2F;r&amp;#x2F;Xiaomi&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;bootloader&amp;#x2F;&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>
<story><title>Pixel phones are sold with bootloader unlocking disabled</title><url>https://www.fitzsim.org/blog/?p=545</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>pbasista</author><text>&amp;gt; connect the device to the Internet before they are allowed to install the operating system they want&lt;p&gt;Phoning home before undertaking such an activity takes away the ownership rights from the customers. They do not actually own these devices even after they have purchased them.&lt;p&gt;The reason is that an important part of their ownership rights, i.e. the freedom to use the software of their choice, has been withheld from them. With a &lt;i&gt;promise&lt;/i&gt; that it will be given to them on request. Unless, of course, the manufacturer changes their mind.&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately, there are cases when the manufacturer did not even make such a promise and disabled bootloader unlocking permanently with no way of enabling it again. On Pixel phones.&lt;p&gt;This used to happen (and perhaps still happens) to some Pixel phones purchased in the USA from Verizon. They have been known [0] for disabling the bootloader unlocking and for giving their customers no way to enable it. Not even after phoning home.&lt;p&gt;Some people claim [1] that they paid someone from China to unlock their Pixel 1 phone remotely using some shady approach. I assume that someone with inside information from Google has leaked some software and instructions for doing so. It is unclear whether later Pixel phones sold by Verizon with locked bootloaders could be unlocked in a similar way.&lt;p&gt;As a result, it seems like the only way to have a chance at unlocking such Pixel phones, which have been made by a US company and purchased from a US carrier, is to pay someone in China and hope for the best. It has gotten that far.&lt;p&gt;[0] &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;forum.xda-developers.com&amp;#x2F;t&amp;#x2F;how-to-unlock-bootloader-on-verizon-pixel-xl.3796030&amp;#x2F;page-73&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;forum.xda-developers.com&amp;#x2F;t&amp;#x2F;how-to-unlock-bootloader-...&lt;/a&gt;
[1] &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;forum.xda-developers.com&amp;#x2F;t&amp;#x2F;how-to-unlock-bootloader-on-verizon-pixel-xl.3796030&amp;#x2F;page-73#post-88299591&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;forum.xda-developers.com&amp;#x2F;t&amp;#x2F;how-to-unlock-bootloader-...&lt;/a&gt;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>ls65536</author><text>&amp;gt; With a promise that it will be given to them on request. Unless, of course, the manufacturer changes their mind.&lt;p&gt;Or if the manufacturer decides to simply shut down those servers after some time, at which point the effective default situation will almost certainly be a denied request. In this case, they may not necessarily even be actively changing their mind, but rather just trying to reduce some overhead for those devices they deem to be &amp;quot;no longer supported&amp;quot; but which are nevertheless still out there being used.</text></comment>