ASUS is apparently killing the ability to root present and future Zenfones
www.androidauthority.com
ASUS is reportedly telling customers they can no longer unlock the bootloader on their phones, including the Zenfone 9 and Zenfone 10.

Update from Asus

The service team reply misunderstood the situation. Unlock tool is unavailable at this moment but we are allowing the possibility to unlock, please stay tuned.

**TL;DR

  • ASUS has apparently withdrawn the ability to unlock the bootloader on its phones.
  • As per the company’s technical support team, Zenfone 10 and Zenfone 9 users won’t be able to root their phones.
  • @redcalciumEnglish
    20•11 months ago

    The end of an era. Companies also locked the bootloader back then and you’ll need to find a vulnerability to exploit in order to unlock it. When custom roms starting to become popular, companies relaxed their stance and allowing their customers to unlock the bootloader using an official channel instead of utilizing a security exploits, perhaps as a competitive advantage so power users would recommend them to their friends and family.

    Now with declining popularity of rooting and custom roms, companies are starting to stop allowing their customers to unlock the bootloader again. From their perspective, allowing bootloader unlocking is nothing but trouble (support-wise) and might even cannibalize sales (why upgrade your phone every two years when you can install a custom ROM with the latest version of Android), so declining popularity of custom ROMs is a perfect excuse for them to stop allowing bootloader unlocking.

    • @Boinketh@lemm.eeEnglish
      38•11 months ago

      It should be illegal to restrict what people can do with their own goddamn motherfucking private property.

      • @TwilightVulpine@lemmy.worldEnglish
        11•11 months ago

        Once digital media got away with “actually we are just letting you borrow it and can take it away whenever we want”, hardware manufacturers have been drooling to do the same. Apple and game console manufacturers are most of the way there already.

        • @zaplachi@lemmy.caEnglish
          7•11 months ago

          Well it sure is a good thing they are making everything smart nowadays….

          But seriously I can’t believe how fast the car industry locked previously free features behind a subscription

          • @TwilightVulpine@lemmy.worldEnglish
            2•11 months ago

            I agree with the sentiment, but even the claim that they were free is part of their narrative. Their cost was included in the price of the car, everyone paid for it already. They are double-dipping.

        • @Boinketh@lemm.eeEnglish
          0•11 months ago

          Yeah, that’s the dystopia we’re headed towards already arriving at, except I’m not fucking happy.

      • @uriel238@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
        4•11 months ago

        I suspect we’ll eventually need to create a standard much like th PC Clone, in which hardware, OS and software are independently produced and support compatibility standards.

        Not in the current clime of unregulate capitalism, though.

        • @redcalciumEnglish
          6•11 months ago

          I’m afraid the PC ecosystem is one-of-a-kind, and perhaps once it’s gone, we’ll never have anything like it again. Companies are obsessed with vertical integration now, owning everything from software to peripherals and accessories. The closest thing we have to PC ecosystem where multiple independent companies works to support a single platform is perhaps the raspberry pi ecosystem, but even then it’s pale in comparison to the PC ecosystem in term of variety and number of manufacturers.