ASUS is apparently killing the ability to root present and future Zenfone, Updated

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.

Well there goes any compelling reason to buy their phones lol

Considering their crappy major release and security update support, rooting and flashing custom images is basically a requirement.

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

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...

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

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

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.

Very easy way to remove an almost perfect phone from my list of upgrade considerations.

Do consumer friendly phones exist at this point?

... 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.

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.

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

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 install 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.

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

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

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

I dropped OnePlus for this reason last year, after having 5 models starting the OnePlus 1, and ending with the 8T. Apart from OxygenOS being a buggy mess, I should be able to do what I want with my phone's software

In a while ASUS won't be able to sell its phones in the EU. I guarantee it.

Which means, legally, you can no longer own even the hardware of a Zenfone you bought, you now only license it. Since their OEM software is proprietary and in nearly every software's TOS they can revoke your license to it at any time for any reason, which would effectively brick the phone if bootloader unlocking is not possible.

My biggest problem with unlocking the bootloader is that many apps look for an unlocked bootloader as "Its rooted" according to that app but unlocking the bootloader and being rooted is 2 different things. I only want to run a custom rom I dont want to root. But you end up having to do the whole thing and running Magisk to hide the root and unlocked bootloader.

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.

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 and a lot of that had to do with access to the hardware (overclockeability of things like motherboards and graphics boards, much more configurable and better hardware for routers and media players and so on).

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?!

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.

So they will just be bricks in a few years

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.

Buy motorola edge 30

Put lineage on it

???

Profit

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

OK. Pixels forever it is.

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

What phone should I buy that is not complete trash and I can do what I want with? My Samsung phone is almost dying and I really don't want another Samsung, or Asus.

I have been thinking about getting the ZenFone 10 as well. I have seen a lot of similar posts here and on various google searches. In the XDA forum for the phone there also a topic about not being able to unlock the bootloader/root, but there is a bit more info on the reasoning.

"A moderator in the Asus ZenTalk forum posted that they are working on a new release of the unlock tool and that it should be available in Q3 2023."

https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/unlocking-the-bootloader.4607595/

I feel eventually every company would the same.

One less potential customer here then

I used to own a ZenFone, and Asus's technical support was awful. I guess I'm glad I don't use one now

welp, no chance I'm ever considering their phones in future

This is sad to see. Replying from Lineage OS on Asus.

Are they going to increase their abysmal security update support time?

If I ever come across anyone in the wild who actually has one I'll be sure to warn them not to root their phone.

What the lame, user already buy they product but user can't modify it like apple did....

Asus gave an update saying the server is currently down but will be back up. But their response was not exactly the most reassuring that bootloader unlock will continue to be available.

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.

In search of incredible no more.