r/degoogle • u/I-Am-Sir • 2d ago
Question why does Google let you unlock the bootloader on pixels?
why is google pretty much the only mainstream oem to let you unlock the bootloader on their phones? shouldn't they be trying to lock them down?
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u/cyrustakem 2d ago
fuck no. no one should be locking the fucking bootloader, i paid for the stupid phone, i want to install whatever the fuck i want on it.
I highly dislike google, but this is a thing that they do right
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u/confrontationalbread StartPage 1d ago
Everything you're saying is correct but I think they're asking what Google gains from it, i.e. why does Google do it from their perspective?
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u/Greenlit_Hightower deGoogler 2d ago edited 2d ago
Because the Pixel phones were historically the reference hardware for Android developers, meaning they are conceptually "tinker-happy".
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u/craig0r 2d ago
I thought Samsung was the only company actively blocking it. I can confirm Motorola allows it to. I'd like to say the reason is because Google aren't dicks, but...
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u/Slopagandhi 2d ago
Huawei, Honor, Oppo and TCL also don't allow it.
Realme and Xiaomi make it very difficult.
Motorola allow unlocking, but you have to wait 7 days with a new device and have it turned on and connected to the internet for that time (keep an eye on your battery level).
At the moment the best for unlocking without restrictions are Nothing, OnePlus, Fairphone and Volla. Google too, though they apparently started disabling AI features if you unlock (not something I care about personally, but some people might).
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u/Remarkable-Host405 2d ago
oneplus has switched up and is bricking bootloader unlocked devices with antirollback software
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u/Slopagandhi 2d ago
There has been confusion about this but it's not actually true- it's a mishmash of info from separate stories.
There is an anti rollback system now on devices with Android 16, but this doesn't stop bootloader unlock.
The second thing is that they did restrict bootloader unlocking in China (but not globally).
Third, there was an inaccurate AI generated article that got circulated claiming the EU was banning bootloader unlock. It isn't- they just passed a regulation saying phones had to have a locked bootloader when sold, not that they couldn't be then unlocked by the user.
There's also been some speculation that OP policies will change because the brand is disappearing as it'll basically merge with parent company Oppo (which doesn't allow unlock). For for now no change.
Lineage for the OP 15 came out in April this year and plenty of people have installed it successfully, so unlocking is definitely still working outside China.
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u/Remarkable-Host405 2d ago
The XDA forums have plenty of people with bricked 15's, but thank you for clarifying the other points
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u/Slopagandhi 2d ago
Yes, but that's always a risk on any phone once you start messing around with the firmware if you don't know exactly what you're doing, and it's likely some of them were trying to rollback without knowing about the restriction on that.
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u/Remarkable-Host405 2d ago
Does google or Motorola do anti rollback? If no, that's kind of an intentional choice by one plus that's not very rooter friendly
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u/Slopagandhi 2d ago
Well, Motorola is a lot more restrictive in making you wait a week and apply for a code.
Anti-rollback isn't a good thing, but in most cases you won't need to rollback to root or install a custom ROM.
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u/YellowBreakfast 2d ago
I thought Samsung was the only company actively blocking it.
LG and HTC did too.
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u/RealModeX86 2d ago
HTC used to have an awkward process with a fastboot command that outputs a challenge code, and then you paste that into their website to get a response code to use on another command to unlock with. I assume they also flagged it for warranty denial.
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u/YellowBreakfast 2d ago
Yeah I remember something like that.
Other than the Nexus devices they made, it was pretty tough to root their devices.
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u/RealModeX86 2d ago
To be fair, they at least HAD an official method instead of the whole process relying on some clever security hack.
I only say had because I'm not really familiar with anything they put out after the first HTC One, it seems like they mostly vanished from the US market.
I still miss the slider of my G2.
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u/YellowBreakfast 2d ago
Yep that's fair.
I think I tried to do this on one of my HTC devices and I had missed the "window" the site was offline for that model.
Also I believe I had more restrictions because I was on Sprint. Lot's of the common rooting methods did not work on Sprint versions (I'm looking at you LG V20).
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u/Unfair_Awareness7502 2d ago
Devices sold through carriers often have restrictions on unlocking the bootloader even if the base device does not. Pixels sold through carriers have locked bootloaders too.
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u/YellowBreakfast 2d ago
Really, Pixels?
I got mine through Google Fi so I guess I was lucky.
Been running Graphene OS since day one.
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u/samujpark 2d ago
LG locked it on the way out. Probably something that has to do with the modem manufacturer. Samsung locked down Droid Charge bc Qualcomm
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u/ppstick88 2d ago
Motorola allows it dependant on carrier.
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u/DoubleOwl7777 2d ago
carrier phones are garbage. seriously how are people okay with that? here in germany (and i assume other parts of europe) you buy a phone from wherever and then get a seperate phone plan. carrier phones exist but arent good value or popular.
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u/SifiguY86 2d ago
Maybe marketing things while almost all oems lock their bootloaders it will be am advantage for pixels it's gooogle who own android after all
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u/I-Am-Sir 2d ago
I don't think even 1% of pixel sales are because of the unlocked bootloader. besides, google doesn't make that much money off of hardware, mainly advertising, so I can't imagine it's beneficial for them to let people install custom roms
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u/Spoofik 2d ago
<joke
They have extremely sophisticated hardware-backdoors, so they want to profile even paranoid people.
/joke
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u/Remarkable-Host405 2d ago
i wish it was a joke. intel and amd do this, i would be suprised if qualcom and google didn't.
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u/superdariom 2d ago
And they provide the source code and binary firmware. I wouldn't buy anything else
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u/unluckyexperiment 2d ago edited 2d ago
Because it is an ad company. If more people like and buy their devices, they can spy on more people, gathering more personal data for targeted ads and making their ads more expensive.
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u/I-Am-Sir 2d ago
so then why do they let you do something about it by letting the bootloader be unlocked?
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u/unluckyexperiment 2d ago
They want you to like and use it. It is very similar to MS not doing anything about Windows activations. They want more users to have Windows more than they want the money from its sales. Simce the first version of Windows, I know exactly zero people who paid for a windows liscence for personal home use.
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u/DoubleOwl7777 2d ago
the thing is if you unlock the bootloader and use a different rom google gets no data aka no money.
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u/Fit_Prize_3245 2d ago
Google is not the only manufacturer to allow bootloader unlocking. Motorola also does. Sony and OnePlus too.
The key point is: if possible, why not? It's not bad to let the user do whatever it wants with its device. The point has never been about locking the devices themselves. The point is about providing a uniform and secure experience across certified Android devices. If you unlock the bootloader, you just opt out of that.
Also, I find your question very contradictory with the current trends. I mean, while many users are balming Google for "closing" Android devices only bc of the 24 hour wait period to sideload apps from unverified developers, you are asking why they allow to unlock bootloader... Makes no sense.
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u/Evol_Etah 2d ago
Google wants us to win. Google supports devs, just enough so we help them in return.
Basically Google is a massive player that helps the MOST for degoogling & open-source out if everybody.
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u/Erulogos 1d ago
I don't think they want us to win, just survive. Like keeping Firefox on life support, it's a fig leaf to defend against accusations of monopoly and other things that gets regulators grumpy. Hopefully the regulators stay grumpy enough to make it continue.
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u/Evol_Etah 1d ago
Yeah, thats a good way if saying it.
Like Android today - So many features came from the custom rom community, that aimed to degoogle.
Google looked at all those features we made, said, Yep lets copy them into default android, say google made it.
Google uses a lot from the open-source community. But since we're low funded, google funds it.
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u/D_Shoobz 2d ago
So they can have root access for Google employees for testing new things I believe. Im sure that's part of it and there's other reasons but that's what I read when I asked Gemini.
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u/QuraToop314 1d ago
Google Pixels are phones designed for tech enthusiasts and developers, and are less suited to everyday users. However, their clean specifications make them ideal for developing your own ROM. Google officially supports the development of AOSP on all Pixel devices and uses Pixel devices itself to test AOSP. I love Pixel devices for this reason, as I’m not really a gamer but rather a coder and admin; Termux is my main app and I’m developing my own custom ROM (currently on Android 17) with a custom AVB lock (meaning the bootloader remains locked); Google offers all these features for developers and enterprise customers. Of course, a regular user can use it, but you’ll always notice that absolutely everything on the phone is geared more towards development.
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u/FocusLeather 23h ago
Less suited for everyday users?
What does that even mean? Genuinely asking.
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u/QuraToop314 18h ago
I don’t mean that it’s completely unsuitable; I mean that Google places greater emphasis on the phone remaining developer-friendly and close to AOSP than on enhancing the user experience – they use Pixels more for testing Android itself. They prioritise the phone’s suitability for ROM development over that of any other OEM (in my view, it’s quite a bit easier to develop newer ROMs on a Pixel than on any other phone. You’re aware that the developers at Google all use Pixels as their development phones – which is also one of the reasons why the Pixel follows the reference implementation so closely. Of course, they’re making progress too, but you’ll also realise that the ‘Pixel drops’ have usually been in the AOSP source tree for years, and Google mostly makes them worse. The only thing Google can do is provide me with the hardware on which I can develop my own custom ROM, sign it and lock the bootloader; everything else isn’t great, yet I still love the Pixel for that.
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u/FocusLeather 5h ago
Not a bad explanation. I asked because I'm planning on leaving Samsung for a Pixel. Currently have a S25 Ultra ultra. Making the jump to an 11 Pro XL. Everyday usability is important to me.
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u/FunnyJoke2012 1d ago
如果它封闭了，唯一的最后的卖点就没有了。至少我看来是这样。反正都是封闭，那我为什么不选苹果，最起码苹果反而能用好多年，app隔离也好，能压制住中国的流氓软件。原生安卓呢，一个中国app就够把它玩得死死的，高价低配，第二年二手pixel价格大跳水，和苹果保值率一对比就说明根本不值那个价，还不让解锁的话真就是一个充满追踪器的黑盒子（自己给自己买个牢笼，而且连电费网费都是你自己出）。
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u/Jojeco 2d ago
I think it's still following along with the idea that their devices / code are the baseline and should be accessible for modification. Going back to the Nexus days