Those of you who are familiar with Windows Mobile phones may be aware of the Windows Phone Internals application. It allowed for the Android equivalent of unlocking the bootloader and rooting a Windows Mobile device as it allows for the ability to install a custom software on Windows Mobile phones. 2 years after the last update, a new update for the tool has been announced. Windows Phone Internals 2.2 is the latest version and can unlock the bootloader of all Windows 8 or Windows 10 Lumia smartphones.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kw046_ITuV8

Bypassing SecureBoot, the application allows users to upgrade their devices to an unofficial version of Windows 10 (as not many devices even received an official upgrade) and make many modifications and hacks to the operating system on the device. It may be possible for some devices to gain access to the Project Astoria system which allows for some Android apps to be run on Windows Mobile, or even for devices to flash ported versions of Android. This is all provided developers pick up support for any devices which become unlocked as a result of this, however. We'll see the update to Windows Phone Internals released in a few days time.

This comes at a time where Microsoft has announced that Windows 10 is now being placed into maintenance mode on Windows Mobile devices, meaning no more new features will be developed, due to the somewhat dying nature of the platform. Only security fixes and stability fixes will be made. Relatively few users used the platform as a daily driver, and even fewer developed applications for the platform, which is why it had such little public attraction.

It's possible to see a revival of the platform in a few years time, but for now, it's officially dead and likely won't be coming back. That doesn't mean a group of dedicated and passionate developers can't keep existing Windows Mobile devices usable for as long as possible, though. If you're interested in unlocking the bootloader of your Windows 8 or Windows 10 Lumia device, check out the link to the announcement on our forums down below.


Visit the Windows Phone Internals 2.2 Announcement Thread

Thanks to XDA Member r3pwn for the tip!