ASUS is apparently killing the ability to root present and future Zenfones

Comments

• Xperr7@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  Oh, fuck off. I'm not one to root my phone, but you own the damn thing. Once it's in your hands, the maker should have no right to tell you what to do with it.

  source

  • Jake_Farm@sopuli.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Consumers seem to be too dumb for their own good.

    source
• stefenauris@pawb.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  Well there goes any compelling reason to buy their phones lol

  source

  • ayaya@lemdro.id ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    I was genuinely thinking about going with an ASUS phone next because of the unlockable bootloader, this really sucks to see.

    source

    • deweydecibel@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      There are plenty of makers doing unlockable bootloaders. Honestly, just avoid Samsung.

      source

      • -> View More Comments
  • synceDD@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Yeah no reasons besides only tiny stuff like being only flagship under 6", better speakers than samsung, better cooling and less throttling than samsung, headphone jack, near stock android. More like there are no compelling reasons to root anymore, enjoy your 1k samsung throttling tho

    source

    • z2k_@lemmy.nz ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      2 years of updates means you’ll quickly end up with a phone that’s waiting to be hacked

      source

      • -> View More Comments
  • tonytins@pawb.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    I remember owning their Transformer tablet back when Honeycomb first launched.

    source
• herrwoland@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  And there I was seriously considering getting one. Greed is ruining good things again.

  source

  • lolcatnip@reddthat.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    I don’t understand how this move is even supposed to make them more money.

    source

    • herrwoland@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      My guess is they’re going to slow down the device on new android and block rooting so you can’t install your own OS, also, probably doing a lot of spying on the users.

      source
  • MyUnclesSecret@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Again? I didn’t realize the ride had stopped for a bit. .

    source
• cafeina@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  Locked bootloader and only 2 years of upgrades? Is not like Zenfones are cheap either. Hard pass!

  source
• BlackEco@lemmy.blackeco.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  This is such an anti-consumer move, by refusing to unlock the bootloader Asus hinders the ability of users to extend their devices’ life beyond Asus’s original support window by flashing alternative ROMs…

  source

  • OldFartPhil@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    I’d like to see right to repair laws expanded to right to unlock. I think you could make a reasonable argument that a working device that’s not receiving security updates is just as broken as a device that’s experienced a hardware failure.

    source

    • ToniCipriani@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      As much as I agree, I don’t think our legislators are knowledgable enough to be able to handle the issue, and majority of the users don’t care enough to push for something like this. This isn’t like USB-C vs Lightning where users are sick of buying cables and chargers, so the issue is much more visible.

      source
• Yoz@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  Simple fix: stop buying Asus phones. Once their profit drops they will let you unlock bootloader

  source
• mojo@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  Why do so many phone manufacturers hate letting you unlock their bootloaders? Every Google phone lets you do this, and they probably have the most secure Androids of them all.

  source

  • Zuberi@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Google shouldn’t be our shining light on phone rules lol

    source

    • mojo@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      pixels are by far the best to degoogled your phone and to have privacy/security/freedom actually

      they go above and beyond letting you unlock your bootloader

      source

      • -> View More Comments
    • DavyJones@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      See why GrapheneOS only supports pixels

      source
  • miserablegit@lemmynsfw.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Probably because they know their OS is a duct-taped piece of garbage which could fall to pieces if you look at it wrong while unlocked.

    source
• Im28xwa@lemdro.id ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  A typical example of planned obsolescence what an effective way of killing my plans to get an Asus phone as my next daily driver assuming this is true

  Some important context from the article:

  A Reddit user claims that the company’s developer liaison on its Telegram channel has no knowledge of any such development. “According to them, the unlock tool server is in maintenance and will resume in Q3,” the person writes; We’ve written to ASUS to clarify the situation and will update this article when and if we hear more.

  But here is the thing why do I need to use a tool to connect to a server just to be allowed to unlock the bootloader? I don’t and didn’t need such a thing to unlock the bootloader of my Samsung Galaxy phone

  source

  • boonhet@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    But here is the thing why do I need to use a tool to connect to a server just to be allowed to unlock the bootloader

    It’s been this way since I first flashed a custom ROM on my 2011 Xperia and I’ve never gotten it. It seems so useless. Either Huawei or Xiaomi wanted me to provide a REASON for unlocking.

    I think Nexus phones were unlockable without making a request to a server. I might be wrong though. But I do miss the Nexus line.

    source

    • Zak@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Pixel devices don’t require permission via a server. Unlocking is enables via developer settings on the device.

      Doing it any other way is user-hostile.

      source

      • -> View More Comments
  • miserablegit@lemmynsfw.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    I suspect it’s to keep a record which can be used to defend themselves from lawsuits. “You caught that virus after you removed our protections, so it’s your own fault. Here’s the receipt.”

    source
  • Smirk@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Am on a galaxy 21 U5g and was looking at my next phone being a zenfone.

    Not a chance now.

    source
• JigglySackles@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  Boo you whore. Asus really is just kicking itself in the dick the last 5 years or so.

  source

  • Psythik@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    No kidding, especially with their recent motherboards-catching-on-fire fiasco.

    They used to be such a good company; what happened?

    source
  • onparole@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Yeah, don’t have one of these, but I was looking at one before settling on a Pixel 7 Pro instead. Have had some sketchy interactions with Asus regarding support and warranty in the past. Might be looking elsewhere in the future where ever Asus is an option. I really don’t like they changing promises retroactively.

    source
• kamen@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  … aaaand another brand I’ll be avoiding when looking for a new phone. In my eyes a phone that can’t be rooted is kind of like a computer without access to an administrator account - you can do stuff with it, but at one point your hands are tied.

  source
• redcalcium@lemmy.institute ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  The end of an era. Companies also locked the bootloader back then and you’ll need to find a vulnerability to exploit in order to unlock it. When custom roms starting to become popular, companies relaxed their stance and allowing their customers to unlock the bootloader using an official channel instead of utilizing a security exploits, perhaps as a competitive advantage so power users would recommend them to their friends and family. Now with declining popularity of rooting and custom roms, companies are starting to stop allowing their customers to unlock the bootloader again. From their perspective, allowing bootloader unlocking is nothing but trouble (support-wise) and might even cannibalize sales (why upgrade your phone every two years when you can a custom ROM with the latest version of Android), so declining popularity of custom ROMs is a perfect excuse for them to stop allowing bootloader unlocking.

  source

  • Boinketh@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    It should be illegal to restrict what people can do with their own goddamn motherfucking private property.

    source

    • 1984@lemmy.today ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      You will own nothing and be happy.

      source

      • -> View More Comments
    • TwilightVulpine@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Once digital media got away with “actually we are just letting you borrow it and can take it away whenever we want”, hardware manufacturers have been drooling to do the same. Apple and game console manufacturers are most of the way there already.

      source

      • -> View More Comments
    • uriel238@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      I suspect we’ll eventually need to create a standard much like th PC Clone, in which hardware, OS and software are independently produced and support compatibility standards.

      Not in the current clime of unregulate capitalism, though.

      source

      • -> View More Comments
• holycrap@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  Do consumer friendly phones exist at this point?

  source

  • chemicalwonka@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Pixel phones are the few ones that you can unlock the bootloader and lock again.

    source
  • joel_feila@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    fairphone is fully repairable and rootable

    source
  • ahornsirup@artemis.camp ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Sony allows unlocking the bootloader on a lot of their devices. Except two new US-specific models, according to their site.

    source
• Chickerino@feddit.nl ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  asus has killed the possibility of me being a potential customer then lol

  source

  • foggy@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    I still don’t buy Sony over the rootkit escapade and that was nearly 30 years ago.

    source
  • diemechanist@programming.dev ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    I bought their Zenfone 5 in 15 and I always chose ASUS MoBos whenever I need to upgrade. Not anymore.

    source
• anhydrous@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  Looks like my current Zenfone running LineageOS is my last Zenfone.

  source
• hiire@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  Oh come on. I wanted a zenfone, I wanted the compact phone with a headphone jack and actual components. But if they’re being cocky about it, there’s no point. I guess I’ll have to find another brand

  source

  • Bondrewd@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Tbh the headphone jack is kind of mid on the zf8 anyway. Every IEM and headphone I had had a treble spike and lower bass on it for some reason.

    source

    • bitwolf@lemmy.one ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Agreed. I use a USBC dongle DAC now because the headphone jacks are usually underpowered.

      source
    • Pao@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Still better than being stuck on bluetooth crap.

      source
  • royal_starfish@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    At least there is still kind of some alternatives, like the Xperia 5IV (and the upcoming Xperia 5V) and galaxy s23 though they have problems of their own.

    Namely poor cooling on the xperias and the tens of versions of Galaxy phones making finding a compatible custom rom and kernel pretty much impossible if you live in the wrong parts of the world

    source
• dinckelman@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  It’s my device. I will do with it whatever fuck I desire

  source
• pallettownbry@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  This is exactly why I sent my Zenphone 9 back. Shame because it was such a good little phone and one of the few flagships with a headphone jack.

  source

  • transistor@lemdro.id ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Zenfone 9 can’t be bootloader unlocked?

    source

    • pallettownbry@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Nope. At least not when I bought mine only a couple of months ago, I guess right when they blocked the unlocking tool from being used. Super annoying.

      source
• scarrtt@lemmy.zip ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  I dropped OnePlus for this reason last year, after having 5 models from the 1, with the 8T being the last

  source

  • RivenRise@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Got any recommendations? I’ve been with them for 3 phones starting on 2 and I’m thinking on replacing my 6. I was already looking at other companies but not sure who would be good.

    source
• Okalaydokalay@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  That’s sad to hear. I’m an iPhone guy but I bought a Zenfone a few years ago when I wanted a cheap VR headset. It scratched the itch at the time and it was the best bang for my buck with the best features and yet still being unlocked from a carrier.

  But with all that is going on at ASUS, I’m surprised they would make an unpopular move like this. Their motherboards are frying CPUs and their supposed Steam Deck killer didn’t do much of anything to kill competition. Wtf is going on at ASUS HQ?!

  source

  • deweydecibel@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    I’m surprised they would make an unpopular move like this.

    Because it’s only unpopular to a niche audience. Granted, those buying a Zenfone are niche, but still. They stand to make more by locking the phones down for Samsung-level bullshit than they do from the customers they’ll lose here.

    source
  • synceDD@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Lol still the motherboard circlejerk when they fixed it in a week, if you like walled gardens just say so, u dont know any person irl rooting their phone

    source
• AceFuzzLord@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  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.

  source

  • SeaJ@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    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.

    source
• 1984@lemmy.today ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  Asus is really going down the drain…

  source
• hyorvenn@jlai.lu ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  So they will just be bricks in a few years

  source
• dsmk@lemmy.zip ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  Some here are mixing bootloader unlocking with rooting. They’re not the same thing.

  Asus broke bootloader unlocking, so you can only use the original ROM in the original state. You can’t install a custom ROM or flash something like Magisk to root your device.

  You can unlock without rooting or without installing a custom ROM. You can install a custom ROM without rooting. You can use stock and root. And you can use a custom ROM and root. But all this is only possible if you can unlock the device’s bootloader.

  source
• Aceticon@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  It’s funny that looking around almost every single piece of ASUS hardward I bought over the years, I chose them because I could do more with their kit than I could do with the cheaper stuff.

  So I’m wandering what exactly is their unique value proposition on smartphones versus brands which are much more well known and well established in the regular consumer segment if they’re ditching being the superior choice for the more technical users: what exactly is the point of “same shit as everybody else” hardware for premium prices?!

  source

  • Sethayy@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Didn’t even know they were great for it, but my motherboard has been a sexy beast for for iommu grouping

    source
• Whiskeyomega@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  My biggest problem with unlocking the bootloader is that many apps look for an unlocked bootloader as "Its rooted" like my bank

  source

  • lemmyvore@feddit.nl ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    You usually need to go one step further and install Magisk so you can control what apps “see” about the phone.

    source
  • mzesumzira@leminal.space ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    I always root my phones and I found that installing those app on a cloning environment, like island, usually has them working fine

    source
• StayFrosty@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  I feel eventually every company would the same.

  source

  • deweydecibel@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    I think it more likely we’ll get to the point where getting a key to unlock the bootloader requires some kind of bullshit businesses license. Kind of like how Windows is increasingly walling options off from everyone except Enterprise users.

    Or the end result of this eSIM shit comes to pass: unlocking the bootloader breaks the SIM and/or carrier refuse to let it on the network.

    source

    • lemmyvore@feddit.nl ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      But do carriers really have a horse in this race? SIMs are separately secured so all they care about is having as many in use as possible. Whatever game of cat and mouse manufacturers choose to play with the users is their business.

      source
• GrodanBoll@feddit.nu ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  Don’t these phones only have 2 years of security updates? I believe samsung S23 is a better choice as a small phone as it has 5 years of security updates.

  source
• TheFrirish@jlai.lu ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  I can’t believe this shit… I was planning on getting the Zenfone 10. with it’s headphone jack, small size, and Android feel.

  source
• ComputerSagtNein@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  Tbh, it has been years since I last rooted a phone. There is hardly any reason left to do it tbh.

  source
• ryannathans@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  Buy motorola edge 30 Put lineage on it ??? Profit

  source