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ASUS is apparently killing the ability to root present and future Zenfones
(www.androidauthority.com)
this post was submitted on 07 Aug 2023
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Are they going to increase their abysmal security update support time?
Which means, legally, you can no longer own even the hardware of a Zenfone you bought, you now only license it. Since their OEM software is proprietary and in nearly every software's TOS they can revoke your license to it at any time for any reason, which would effectively brick the phone if bootloader unlocking is not possible.
Very easy way to remove an almost perfect phone from my list of upgrade considerations.
Edit:
Saw the tweet from Asus saying an unlock tool will be available soon.
So they will just be bricks in a few years
OK. Pixels forever it is.
I have been thinking about getting the ZenFone 10 as well. I have seen a lot of similar posts here and on various google searches. In the XDA forum for the phone there also a topic about not being able to unlock the bootloader/root, but there is a bit more info on the reasoning.
"A moderator in the Asus ZenTalk forum posted that they are working on a new release of the unlock tool and that it should be available in Q3 2023."
https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/unlocking-the-bootloader.4607595/
Tbh, it has been years since I last rooted a phone. There is hardly any reason left to do it tbh.
Plenty of reasons.
- System wide adblock
- Advanced permission management
- Backups and exports of system apps
- Full uninstall of bloatware (instead of mere hiding them with adb)
- Enabling screenshots system-wide
And a bunch of other stuff I need in order to have a fully functioning device.
Can't you remove bloatware with adb nowadays?
See https://www.makeuseof.com/uninstall-android-app-adb-system-apps-bloatware/
It doesn't remove them, it uninstalls the app from the current user profile, but they persist on system level. That's what I meant with the comment in brackets.
It's the best you can do if rooting is not an option, but I prefer a full removal.
Ah, I see. Would the app still run and consume resources? Or is it just sitting in whatever is a phone's equivalent of a hard disc?
It would just sit there and be dormant.
The problem with companies trying to stop this is the fact that there will be at least one person/team who will find a way to bypass this.
No amount of corporate software devs/engineers can stop the might of a determined team on the internet from achieving their goals when it comes to this kinda stuff.
Edit:
Don't know whether the bootloader locking is actually coming or not because I saw a different post saying it was a misunderstanding.
The updated response 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.
So the server is down and will be back up. But that is not exactly the most reassuring response. It kind of seems like they are planning on removing it later or majorly altering it.