Galaxy S7 Owners Fuming Over Locked Bootloader

[CherlynnLow]

T-Mobile versions of the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge come with locked bootloaders, which upsets plenty of power users and developers. What's a lockd bootloader, and what's the big deal?

Galaxy S7 Owners Fuming Over Locked Bootloader : Read more

 

[inirasawa]

Thanks for the review. We already have over 1000 votes!

Also, I think the Samsung guy's comment is not about locked bootloader. Not seeing the original article, I can only guess that the guy was saying "no phones are shipped rooted". "locked bootloader" and "rooted" are similar in concept but they are different. It's easier to root a phone if the bootloader is unlocked. There are other similar terms like "s/on, s/off" for HTC devices.

 

[shojus]

Samsung is just getting worse and worse by the year! They just pissed off a large chunk of the development community by doing what they did. That's OK, we have a choice in America as far as what device we hold in our hands on a daily basis. That choice just cost Samsung a pretty penny because they decided we should NOT have a choice! So we vote with our wallets, and then they FEEL the choice may have been a bad one. Ah well, plenty of great phones coming out very soon! Thanks for the write-up @cherlynnlow !

 

[v4npro]

My thing is, if you buy a phone it should be yours. If you choose to risk security or void the warranty, you should have a right to do so and take that responsibility. Just like the car analogy, I buy a car, if I want to put exhaust, intake, headers, ecu tune, when something goes wrong and I take the car to the dealers nothing will get fixed by warranty since it has been customized. My choice, should be my right.

 

[JBFountain]

So Verizon actually convinced the government that modifying a individual phone would affect other customers? That's the most ubsurd thing I have ever heard. As for Samsung making the T-Mobile S7 and S7 Edge with locked down bootloaders, they might as well provide a method to unlock them. If not someone will come up with one, and it will probably work on non-T-Mobile versions. So in essence Samsung will be making it possible to unlock even the variants that the bootloader is requested by the carrier to be locked down. Smart move Samsung.

 

[Bill_55]

How will Samsung unlock the S7 bootloader and leave it locked for those who want the extra security? Will it be a flashable update?

 

[inirasawa]

Reply to Bill_55 (I hit the wrong button)

It should be able to be done individually.

But if you're talking about your own security, unlocking the bootloader won't make it "less secure". It will make it easier to root the phone. If the phone is password protected and data is encrypted, whether it's rooted or not is irrelevant. The carriers are worried about their network, not your privacy.
But the whole idea here is "YOU should be the one to control/decide how secure YOUR phone is!" And that's why we are fighting here.

 

[CherlynnLow]

Samsung is just getting worse and worse by the year! They just pissed off a large chunk of the development community by doing what they did. That's OK, we have a choice in America as far as what device we hold in our hands on a daily basis. That choice just cost Samsung a pretty penny because they decided we should NOT have a choice! So we vote with our wallets, and then they FEEL the choice may have been a bad one. Ah well, plenty of great phones coming out very soon! Thanks for the write-up @cherlynnlow !

Thanks for the comment, shojus =)

 

[CherlynnLow]

Thanks for the review. We already have over 1000 votes!

Also, I think the Samsung guy's comment is not about locked bootloader. Not seeing the original article, I can only guess that the guy was saying "no phones are shipped rooted". "locked bootloader" and "rooted" are similar in concept but they are different. It's easier to root a phone if the bootloader is unlocked. There are other similar terms like "s/on, s/off" for HTC devices.

Congrats on getting the votes you needed! I believe Samsung is looking into this. Philip and I know each other in real life and I've been trying to figure out what he meant. We'll get you a statement from Samsung as soon as they have one =)

 

[Shane_24]

Both Boot loader and Carrier Unlocked is the only way to go with a new smart phone if you are a serious user.

 

[tteksystems]

Where do people vote or sign these petitions?

Bottom line is I am guilty for the utmost hatred of Samsung due to the ongoing battle every time a new phone is released. I was with Verizon for the longest and realized that T-Mobile had a way better service in my entire state but that T-Mobile variants of Samsung phones had more success with unlocking of bootloaders. Now, I am almost finished gloating about how I ditched Verizon for their worthless service that cost me triple what I now pay with T-Mobile but now there is this issue with the new S7. I ALMOST bought it and now I am glad I did not. I was finally getting happy that I could use the otherwise good equipment Samsung has to offer but as long as they are not giving me the freedom to choose how I use my phone, I'm not buying. It's personal with me anymore. I've had alot of struggles with Mobile Phones and service and my entire existence in the smart phone world was all Verizon and Samsung up until now. I hope T-Mobile gets a bone here or else it's a Nexus phone for me

As far as my ongoing struggle with Samsung and their choice to start locking bootloaders, It started as concern, evolved into a frustration and has become full blown hatred. II now watch Vizio TVs too. Instead of the term Petition, maybe they nwill listen more intently when they see people BOYCOT their products. I'm all in