3 ms·

Most likely related to strict FCC regulations regarding the mobile transceivers. And it's always been done this way, old "dumb phones" have always been closed

Most likely related to strict FCC regulations regarding the mobile transceivers. And it's always been done this way, old "dumb phones" have always been closed proprietary blobs.

askvictor 10y ago
That doesn't explain phones with easily and officially supported unlockable bootloaders (eg Nexus). The transceiver is, in any case, a seperate processor (the baseband) which is much more locked down. The real reason is that hardware manufacturers like control.
- Jonnax 10y ago
  Well there's also the part where root access fundamentally breaks the security model of the device. I'd say it's a better way of running a consumer device for the typical user. For example, any application you run on a Windows PC even without administrator access could access and upload your web browser profiles. The average user doesn't expect this. But a lot of manufactures do give you the choice to run your own firmwares which can have the root user access. It'll require a bootloader unlock which removes the signature checking. For example: HTC: http://www.htcdev.com/bootloader http://www.htcdev.com/bootloader Motorolla: https://motorola-global-portal.custhelp.com/app/standalone/bootloader/unlock-your-device-a https://motorola-global-portal.custhelp.com/app/standalone/b... Sony: http://developer.sonymobile.com/unlockbootloader/unlock-yourboot-loader/ http://developer.sonymobile.com/unlockbootloader/unlock-your... LG: https://developer.lge.com/resource/mobile/RetrieveBootloader.dev?categoryTypeCode=ANRS https://developer.lge.com/resource/mobile/RetrieveBootloader... Huawei: https://emui.huawei.com/en/plugin/unlock/index https://emui.huawei.com/en/plugin/unlock/index Couldn't find an official page for Samsung but it looks like it's a matter of running fastboot after enabling OEM unlock in developer settings. The other side of this is that there are quite a few devices that are carrier branded. And usually what happens is that carrier requests that the phone's bootloader is not unlockable. Sadly unlike how Apple can sell their phone without any carrier modifications, Android manufacturers have to accept these kinds of changes otherwise they won't be able to sell their phone.
  - swiley 10y ago
    A security model that locks the user out of their own device sounds fundamentally broken.
  - tdkl 10y ago
    > Well there's also the part where root access fundamentally breaks the security model of the device. Good thing we're still admin/root on our personal computers. Seeing what MS/Google are doing, perhaps not for too long.
    - firethief 10y ago
      Are we really? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Active_Management_Technology https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Active_Management_Tech...
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]

Most likely related to strict FCC regulations regarding the mobile transceivers. And it's always been done this way, old "dumb phones" have always been closed proprietary blobs.

askvictor 10y ago

That doesn't explain phones with easily and officially supported unlockable bootloaders (eg Nexus). The transceiver is, in any case, a seperate processor (the baseband) which is much more locked down. The real reason is that hardware manufacturers like control.

Jonnax 10y ago
Well there's also the part where root access fundamentally breaks the security model of the device. I'd say it's a better way of running a consumer device for the typical user. For example, any application you run on a Windows PC even without administrator access could access and upload your web browser profiles. The average user doesn't expect this. But a lot of manufactures do give you the choice to run your own firmwares which can have the root user access. It'll require a bootloader unlock which removes the signature checking. For example: HTC: http://www.htcdev.com/bootloader http://www.htcdev.com/bootloader Motorolla: https://motorola-global-portal.custhelp.com/app/standalone/bootloader/unlock-your-device-a https://motorola-global-portal.custhelp.com/app/standalone/b... Sony: http://developer.sonymobile.com/unlockbootloader/unlock-yourboot-loader/ http://developer.sonymobile.com/unlockbootloader/unlock-your... LG: https://developer.lge.com/resource/mobile/RetrieveBootloader.dev?categoryTypeCode=ANRS https://developer.lge.com/resource/mobile/RetrieveBootloader... Huawei: https://emui.huawei.com/en/plugin/unlock/index https://emui.huawei.com/en/plugin/unlock/index Couldn't find an official page for Samsung but it looks like it's a matter of running fastboot after enabling OEM unlock in developer settings. The other side of this is that there are quite a few devices that are carrier branded. And usually what happens is that carrier requests that the phone's bootloader is not unlockable. Sadly unlike how Apple can sell their phone without any carrier modifications, Android manufacturers have to accept these kinds of changes otherwise they won't be able to sell their phone.
- swiley 10y ago
  A security model that locks the user out of their own device sounds fundamentally broken.
- tdkl 10y ago
  > Well there's also the part where root access fundamentally breaks the security model of the device. Good thing we're still admin/root on our personal computers. Seeing what MS/Google are doing, perhaps not for too long.
  - firethief 10y ago
    Are we really? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Active_Management_Technology https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Active_Management_Tech...

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]