Samsung appears to be locking its boot loaders for everyone with One UI 8

A new report suggests that once Samsung phones update to the upcoming One UI 8 they will no longer be able to unlock their boot loaders to run custom operating systems.

While Samsung might sell the most Android phones in Canada, anyone wanting to tinker with their device will need to buy a OnePlus, Motorola or Google Pixel phone.

Unlocking your boot loader means that you can run software like GrapheneOS on your phone. However, if you do this it will reset your phone and likely void your warranty. You may also loose access to some services like Google Pay and some advanced Android security features.

A user in the XDA Forums forums found that after updating their phone to One UI 8 there was no longer the option to unlock the boot loader. Investigating further they found that in the device’s code it says, “androidboot.other.locked=1” which means that you can no longer get access the boot loader.

Since there are only a few user reports this could be a mistake or something that is only happening in some parts of the world with others still having the option to run third-party operating systems.

Source: XDA forums