r/mildlyinfuriating • u/No_Lynx_9098 • 10h ago
Infuriatig Ik very few people know about this but Samsung made a bad decision for consumers
With one ui 8 samsung removed the option which gives us ability to unlock oem. In simple terms if we have oem unlocking we can later intall some custom roms after unlocking the bootloader until one ui 7 like most of the other androids. This made the custom rom community for samsung devices almost die. All we can do is trying to get samsung attention and make them bring back oem unlocking. If you want to help with this then you can sign this petition https://c.org/dgsZpMwxCb I didn't make this and it has over 300 signatures
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u/wingardium_dosa 10h ago
Android is dying slowly. There used to be a wave of Custom Roms that would let you do things. But now you have to do 10 additional things just to make sure your device looks certified and you can run/update the apps.
The open-ness of Android is fading slowly due to restrictions in the name of security.
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u/PandaECaricas 4h ago
To be fair, are we even 1% of the total Android userspace?
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u/Careless_Chip626 4h ago
I lightly doubt. Unfortunately even if every single person who unlocks their phone left android (which isnt very feasible) phone brands would at most lose a few million (in revenue).
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u/wingardium_dosa 4h ago
Absolutely more than 1%, I would say atleast 20% if I am being generous given all the devices. But the number seems to be declining.
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u/PandaECaricas 3h ago
I doubt it. From sources online there's around 4.2 billion Android phones worldwide.
LineageOS accounts 1,5 million devices. That's very close to 0%
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u/HardCoreLawn 2h ago
Honestly, I think when my current phone fails I'll simply buy a dumb phone and a small dedicated camera.
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u/acethegamer42 6h ago
I knew about this when they made the change. They didn't hide the option, they literally cut the code out of the OS. It just isn't there anymore.
Problem is it matters to so few people, the vast majority don't even know about OEM unlock and obliviously let Samsung dictate when their device reaches end of life, that they won't change it, regardless of how many complain.
Samsung sold 241 million phones in 2025 alone. Petitions are pointless.
All you can do is look at brands where OEM unlock remains, and never auto update your phone. Always do it manually once you know it won't screw you.
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u/lnfIation 2h ago
I had auto update off and prevented updating in restart. Guess what, it fucking updated anyways.
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u/acethegamer42 2h ago
Did you only turn it off through the main menu software update, or in developer options?
Developer options ensures it doesn't auto download
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u/lnfIation 2h ago
I had it off in developer options too. The update was back from august and I thought i was in the clear, but yesterday it just randomly decided to update.
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u/Front_Expression_367 3m ago
Is it just a minor update? In my case I have held off from moving to One UI 7 since last year and nothing has automatically changed, and I didn't even disable the option in dev mode.
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u/FriendsNone 9h ago
Not just Samsung btw. Oppo, Xiaomi, etc. are also preventing you from unlocking their phones.
From what I know. Pixels and Sony phones can still be unlocked (let me know if there are other brands that lets you unlock).
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u/No_Lynx_9098 9h ago
From what i know Xiaomi allows unlocking although it got more restricted but Samsung removed it completely.
Motorola supports it and recently it got grapheneos support too. Nothing supports it and there are many other companies which supports unlocking bootloader but like I said it is getting more restricted. With samsung removing the oem unlocking more companies will get 'inspired' from it
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u/Mineplayerminer 7h ago
Lenovo (Motorola) blocks the OEM unlocking after the first setup and has a 7-day unlock period during which the phone must be connected to the internet. I don't understand how they're going to support GrapheneOS if they're the ones blocking access to the bootloader, requiring an internet connection on top of that.
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u/No_Lynx_9098 7h ago
But they recently got support for grapheneos? maybe it is only the case with lenovo ig?
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u/Mineplayerminer 6h ago
It's a case with both. Louis Rossmann also covered this when he wanted to unlock the bootloader on his Motorola phone, only to find the option grayed out.
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u/Ptmooore 7h ago
Too bad pixels disintegrate after a 2 foot fall. Most delicate trash hardware I’ve ever used
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u/Drasnore 4h ago
My pixel 10 pro literally got ran over on the highway by (at least) a car and was still working.
So who's right?
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u/tallbutshy 3h ago
My Pixel 6 survived a 10 metre fall. Or rather a 7 metre fall onto another roof then a 3 metre fall onto paving slabs
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u/Valoneria 10h ago
Samsung ? Making bad consumer decisions ?? Say it aint so, who would have thought.
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u/BSModder 9h ago
Guess I'm never buying a Samsung phone/tablet ever again
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u/ZarathustraGlobulus 8h ago
Most OEMs aren't much better. Seriously, it seems everyone's locking down the bootloaders with no way to unlock it these days.
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u/TheBamPlayer 6h ago
At least Google pixels don't have a fuse in their SOC that blows, if you install a custom rom.
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u/sisisisi1997 5h ago
I'm sorry, what?
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u/Jealous_Web_4869 4h ago
Yup Samsung uses fuses that blow to prevent downgrades and deny warranty if you have ever flashed custom firmware
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u/luiest123 2h ago
yeah, this news didn't affect me directly but it kinda contributed to me selling my s24 ultra and buying a pixel 10 pro xl to install graphene OS, now ill never go back to samsung, unless they support graphene, thats why im buying the new Motorola
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u/Reproman475 1h ago
As much as I like Pixel software and disliked my Moto from 10 years ago, the new Moto might twist my arm enough. It's much closer to stock android than One UI and it looks like performance wise it'll be a wonderful phone. Cant wait to see some hands on reviews
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u/HardStroke 10h ago
Dick move. Just don't update. Still have Android 10 on my n20u and Android 15 on my s23u. Works just fine.
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u/FreshNeedleworker235 6h ago
> Just don't update
nothing like auto-downloaded unremovable update that prompts you for installation every time you unlock your phone.
i used to have android 11, now i'm at 13.
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u/HardStroke 5h ago
I swear this shit pops up every time my phone restarts. Its annoying as fuck. I was able to turn it off on my n20u but can't on my s23u, guess because the software is newer. Getting used to a new OS version was pretty annoying too.
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u/Ogulsbi 8h ago
I'm still on 10 as well but more and more apps have been removing compatibility. An app my work uses for insurance is no longer usable when it was fine at the beginning of the year and my bank is no longer updating the old one. At least it still works for now but it's only a matter of time.
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u/StellarCoder_nvim 8h ago
I used to cry when I tried unlocking bootloader of a Huawei device which never worked because the process was very very tedious (back in 2019) and now you can't do it altogether
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u/No_Lynx_9098 8h ago
I don't know much about Huawei unlocking method (yeah it can be hard as it is Chinese company) but the one on pixel is actually pretty easy and motorola made it easy too. If companies wanted to give us some freedom they can make it easy to access.
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u/StellarCoder_nvim 8h ago
Huawei never exposed their oems, we had to request a bootloader key from official Huawei which was verified at the kernel level to access the bootstrap and then patch a ROM (this I'm talking about Huawei nova 3i which was a 2017 phone, now I use the latest Huawei (non Chinese I'm in Europe) and I gave up on that because now it's simply impossible)
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u/Yoksul-Turko 7h ago
That's why I am stuck on One UI 7 on my tablet. I will probably install full desktop Linux when I have time and willpower to do it.
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u/No_Lynx_9098 7h ago
Lucky for you. I made a really bad decision updating my tablet to one ui 8 (i was unaware of oem getting removed)
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u/Yoksul-Turko 7h ago
You probably already know this, but iirc first few One UI 8 versions didn't change the revision bit, you can install One UI 7 rom back.
I hope an exploit comes out for people who updated.
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u/hummingbird1346 6h ago
If I'm not wrong as long as the bootloader hasn't been updated with the update, you can always flash the previous rom back
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u/56kul 2h ago
As an iPhone user, what the hell is even happening with the Android ecosystem lately? It seems like every time I hear news about that ecosystem, it only gets more locked down. I thought iOS was supposed to be the locked down one while Android was supposed to be the more ‘open’ one? Why butcher literally one of the biggest advantages it has over iOS??😭
Well, at the very least you can still just switch to a third-party fork that focuses on openness/privacy if you really wanted to… you can still switch out your OS, right? Because if that was blocked, too, then Android has lost the plot.💀
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u/anythingers 2h ago
Well, at the very least you can still just switch to a third-party fork that focuses on openness/privacy if you really wanted to
The worse part is, while yes you can do this, some vital apps like banking apps will straight up not working except if you do some tinkering that's not guaranteed to be work for a long time. Practically similar to what happened if you jailbreak your iPhone.
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u/TheFallen092 2h ago
oem unlocking was supposed to be what allows u to switch out ur OS . im guessing it has to do with graphene OS gaining popularity .
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u/crazymouse2525 7h ago edited 7h ago
I had a samsung. this comment is now being sent from a (sandboxed google play) pixel phone running graphene os
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u/mutantmonkey14 7h ago
OneUI8 killed both of the A53 phones I updated to it anyway. They both worked perfectly before and immediately completely lost the ability to get network signal. NOTHING reverses the problem. Not even a reflash according to the community.
I looked hard for an alternative to Samsung, here in UK and they all sucked. So got an A54, too afraid to update it, since apparently it may affect some of those also, and it is somehow a worse phone too - battery life is noticeably worse.
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u/Erlend05 3h ago
My tab s9 is on oneui7 but i tried my hardest to stay on 6 and eventually i woke up one morning and it had updated without my consent. Anything i can do to stop it from doing the same now?
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u/TheFallen092 2h ago
not really , these updates are basically pushed to stop as many people as possible from using oem unlocking to switch to graphene os . its a type of control thing . if u value ur privacy i would recommend keeping that tablet off the internet .
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u/DrunksydePhil 10h ago
Damn… I was thinking of going to Samsung when I was done paying off this phone
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u/Slow_Call_6155 3h ago
Hermano, eso va mas allá de Samsung, Google está influyendo demasiado.
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u/TheFallen092 1h ago
it really doesnt matter how much google influenced samsung as long as samsung were the ones that pushed the update . huawei were threatened by google and they stood their ground . now their phones dont even have google .
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u/then_jay_died 6h ago
Lol. Samsung don't care about consumers. The moment you have an ad supported product your the product. Story over. They have been pretty aggressive about flashing for years.
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u/Anustart2023-01 9h ago
I'm on One UI 7 on the S23 and the option is not there. I was more than mildly infuriated when I discovered this.
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u/Mariuszgamer2007 4h ago
This is why my s24 ultra is still on one ui 7 since someone in some live stream said that one ui 8 removed oem unlocking. I used samfw tool to disable updates for my phone so it wouldn't go past one ui7
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u/joe-dirt-1001 10h ago
Like anything else which requires "modding", the percentage of users to which this applies is only a small percentage of the actual users.
So while I understand, I also dont expect it to change, even if all of the users this applies to signed the partition.
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u/SchwanzLord 3h ago
Luckily I turned my back from samsung back with the A50 and never looked back. Tried to get an A55 for my dad as he wanted one again, came with bad wifi, had to open PayPal claim to get my money back.
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u/Moomoobeef 28m ago
I've seen cell providers do this (VERIZON!!!), but straight from the manufacturer is awful. :(
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u/an-com-42 8m ago
Assholes. Petition signed. Wish there was more we could do cause I doubt the petitions will change much
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u/Venylynn 9h ago
None of the custom roms Samsung phones support are any good anyway.
Graphene or bust, the rest degrade security.
Sadly there isnt a version of Graphene that works on most phones.
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u/anythingers 1h ago
Eh tbf not everyone do custom rom because they want to have "better security" anyway.
For example, I do custom ROM because I just don't like OneUI.
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u/Venylynn 1h ago
I just hate that there's not a Graphene build that works on more phones than Pixels. It feels elitist, like poor people don't deserve security.
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u/anythingers 54m ago
Fair, I also hate that ngl.
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u/Venylynn 52m ago
I was so in the shitter with my finances that I was stuck on an S9 that wasn't getting security updates and then I took one of those free phones which ended up being a Galaxy A16. Guess I'm not getting Graphened but it's whatever.
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u/anythingers 33m ago
How's the performance? I mean SoC wise the raw performance won't be that different but A16 runs a newer software anyway so it must be heavier.
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u/TW1TCHYGAM3R 10h ago
Dude the custom ROM community pretty much died years ago. A lot of countries have had the OEM unlock removed for over a decade on Snapdragon SoCs. There is also less and less reasons to install a custom ROM or custom Kernel.
That being said we have a lot of exploits available for temporary root. KernelSU, LSposed and many modules work fine as long as they don't touch any partitions.
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u/UnnamedRedditor2137 10h ago
The custom ROM community didn't die, it just got smaller and became a bit more of a pain in the ass, also root isn't going to do much when the stock OS itself sucks, and if you could unlock the bootloader you could just flash LineageOS and have clean stock Android.
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u/TW1TCHYGAM3R 7h ago
No the ROM community is basically dead compared to the golden days. Barely even a fraction of what it used to be.
I estimate about ~20% of device can actually unlock a bootloader. Almost zero carrier locked devices can have the bootloader unlocked and like 90% of Snapdragon SoCs you can't unlock the bootloader. It's been like this for quite a while.
As far as LineageOS goes... Less that 0.1% of Android devices can actually run it.
So Custom ROMs and Kernels are virtually dead and has been for a while now.
There is also less and less reasons to run a custom ROM or Kernel. Most custom ROMs are based on AOSP or whatever flavour that device runs anyways. For most custom kernels you can't even overclock the CPU anymore as it's handled at the SoC level now.
So for 99.9% of the things you can do with a custom ROM/Kernel you can do with a Temp Jailbrake like DirtyFrag.
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u/askyidroppedthesoap 9h ago
It's more or less dead, any android device running UI 9.0 or higher can't be permanently rooted. It's safe to assume that every single Android phone on this planet that's had service in the last 3 months, has been patched....an easy, 85%-90% of Android phones in existence. The users of those 10%-15% that even knows what it is, and is interested in doing so, is a decimal number...
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u/Ptmooore 7h ago
Android is such trash. Constant bugs. Samsung is an awful OS developer, Google makes the most delicate hardware of any phone, it dies after a 2 foot fall. I chucked mine after the third UI update in a year. This OS is only popular in the Reddit echochamber
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u/skibidi_shingles 6h ago
"Only popular in the echo chamber" and it's the most popular mobile OS in the world.
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7h ago
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u/acethegamer42 6h ago
When Samsung stop supporting your device, you need OEM unlock to install custom firmware to use it beyond then. Removing it forces it to be obselete when they decide.
Your device that you paid for is no longer your device.
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u/CommodoreCanadia64 7h ago
Gorwing number every day. GrapheneOS is the way to go. But you need an unlocked bootloader for it. After 6 years I'm finally moving away from Samsung for Motorola whenever signature 27 comes out
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u/Fusseldieb 10h ago edited 4h ago
For those who don't understand what that means:
Since always, developers and tinkerers could unlock and modify their own device - making it 'go faster', blocking ads, changing hidden phone settings, removing spyware, keeping it up to date via unofficial methods, etc - which is nice. After all, it's the device the person bought with their own money, and they should be able to do whatever they want with it.
Well, until recently, when manufacturers like Samsung decided to DISABLE and REMOVE the unlock ability altogether. Starting with OneUI 8, it is no longer possible to unlock your device, so you have to abide to what the manufacturer says on what you're allowed to do, period. So, if it becomes "obsolete", for example, the manufacturer can just pull the plug, and there is nothing that you can do.
I don't even need to say why this is bad.
Even if it doesn't affect you today, it's just a matter of time until it does, and by the time it does, it's already too late.
"You will own nothing and be happy"
EDIT: better writing. Thanks for the awards :)