Keeping track of companies that "care about your data 🥺"

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Over the past few years, a suspicious number of companies have started to "take care of your data", aka block/strictly limit your ability to unlock the bootloader on your own devices.

While this may not affect you directly, it sets a bad precedent. You never know what will get the axe next: Shizuku? ADB?

They've already gone after sideloading.

I thought it might be a good idea to keep track of bad companies and workarounds.

If you know of specific details/unlocking methods, please PR them or drop them in the discussions.

The following manufacturers have made it completely impossible to unlock their devices without a workaround.

Carrier-locked devices are the ones you get after making a commitment with a carrier of your choice. This is quite common in North America and (supposedly) allows you to save some money on your device.

As a rule, almost all carrier-locked devices do not allow the bootloader to be unlocked. This usually makes sense, as it would allow you to completely bypass the contract. The problem is that many devices still do not allow you to unlock the bootloader even after the carrier lock has been lifted. For more details, see the carriers page.

The following manufacturers allow unlocking under certain conditions, such as region, model, SOC, etc., or require a sacrifice to unlock.

The following manufacturers require an internet connection and/or a waiting period before unlocking.

Custom Android Verified Boot keys are a feature that allows you to run a custom OS with a locked bootloader.

It's rare to see a device that supports custom AVB keys, but some devices can be found here.

Kirin 620, 650, 655, 658, 659, 925, 935, 950, 960:
It's possible to unlock using test points and PotatoNV (Read the README)

If you own a MediaTek device exploitable by mtkclient (fork old version) or Penumbra, you can unlock the bootloader using it.
If it also happens to be an OPPO/Realme device and you need to access fastboot: lkpatcher (web version)

If bootloader unlocking doesn't work on an Oppo Mediatek device using the SECCFG mod (unlocking via mtkclient), you can try unlocking fastboot by writing a modified boot1 (preloader). Writing a preloader also uses mtkclient: oppo-mtk-fastboot-unlock.

Patched in February/March 2026

On Snapdragon 8E5/8E, Qualcomm introduced a vulnerability (CN) (POC) where the boot process would not perform signature verification for the Generic Bootloader, so with write access to the efisp partition it was possible to run arbitrary code.

While the vulnerability itself is universal for the platform, it requires device/OEM-specific tricks to get root and write the GBL. Some exist for Xiaomi devices.

The general exploit:
alephsecurity.com the bootloader unlock section.

If you own a phone with the Unisoc UMS9620 or older, you can use this (UMS9621 needs this as exec address) to achieve temporary secure boot bypass and persistently unlock the bootloader. This is valid for all devices except some devices with modified uboot which need this or this or this. Note that the method used in all three links is the same, but implemented by different people with possible differences. Also, using this, aside from unlocking the bootloader, it is possible to completely disable dm-verity by patching the trustos partition, which allows booting of unsigned partitions.

If you own a phone with the Unisoc UMS312, UMS512, or UD710, you can use this exploit to achieve persistent secure boot bypass, which means all firmware, including splloader and uboot, can be modified and re-signed.

Otherwise, you can also look into this: Spectrum_UnlockBL_Tool
This: xdaforums.com
Or this: subut