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Regarding XDA's stance on Huawei's decision to stop bootloader unlocking
Huawei and Honor recently decided to stop giving out bootloader unlock codes. Here's XDA-Developer's stance on that and what it means for the Portal.
Back in April, Huawei's form to request a bootloader unlock code mysteriously disappeared. Late May, the form returned but with a warning that the service would no longer work after 60 days. As promised, Huawei's form is no longer available, meaning it's no longer possible to unlock the bootloader of Huawei or Honor devices. This has obviously been disappointing to many users on our forums, but it's been especially disappointing for us, the XDA Portal team. Some have wondered when we would be addressing the elephant in the room - that is, Honor's sponsorship agreements with XDA - in light of this recent news. Here's where we stand.
Today is the last day to request a bootloader unlock code for Huawei/Honor devices
Unfortunately, Huawei and Honor will no longer provide bootloader unlock codes after today. If you want to flash mods/ROMs/kernels, today's the last day.
Chinese technology giant Huawei and its sub-brand Honor have been slowly garnering more respect among the Android enthusiast community in the past year. With timely software updates, commitments to supporting custom development, and widespread Project Treble adoption for all devices they have updated to Android Oreo, it's not hard to see why Huawei and Honor smartphones were starting to become more popular on our forums. Unfortunately, the company had a sudden change of heart. Two months ago, the company announced that they will stop providing bootloader unlock codes. If you want to unlock the bootloader of your Huawei or Honor device, today is the last day to request a code.
SunShine bootloader unlock (S-Off) tool now supports the HTC U12+
SunShine is a tool which allows you to S-OFF your HTC smartphone. The HTC U12+ is now supported, check out what that means for you here.
SunShine is a popular tool used primarily on HTC devices for enabling S-OFF. The tool was updated to support the HTC U11 earlier this year, and now it supports the HTC U12+. Without being able to S-OFF, modding HTC devices becomes a great difficulty. This release should open the door to the true modding capability of the device.
Some Amazon Prime Exclusive Moto G5 Plus owners are getting bootloader unlock codes
For the most part, Amazon Prime devices had locked down bootloaders, but we're now seeing reports from multiple Moto G5 Plus owners who are able to get an official unlock code directly from Motorola's website.
Amazon Prime subscribers get a number of benefits that are simply off-limits to those who choose to not subscribe to the service. This includes access to services like Amazon Music, free 2-day shipping on select items, and more. One such benefit is the ability to get a discount on Amazon Prime Exclusive smartphones. The program offers an assortment of devices from a number of OEMs, including Motorola, LG, Nokia, and others. For the most part, these devices have had locked down bootloaders, but we're now seeing reports from multiple Motorola Moto G5 Plus owners who are able to get an official unlock code directly from Motorola's website.
Galaxy S7 Bootloader Lock Explained: You Might Not Get AOSP After All
The Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge rekindled hopes of AOSP with their Snapdragon 820 variants. But Samsung had something else in mind. Read on to know more!
The Samsung Galaxy S7 and the S7 Edge are some of the most powerful devices you could buy right now. But our regular readers and forum dwellers would know that Samsung devices aren't the supreme best when it comes to development.