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One UI 8 preventing bootloader unlocking
Samsung reportedly stop unlocking your bootloader from Galaxy devices with its One UI 8 update. As per the report by SammyGuru in the US, bootloader unlock is no longer available. Specifically, the “OEM Unlocking” developer option has vanished.
This has been observed both in beta builds on Galaxy S25 Ultra, as well as on Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 7 and Fold 7 which ship with One UI 8 pre-installed. A code snippet from Samsung’s firmware shows this, as does further user findings.
There will still be a way to unlock the bootloader, though, it just won’t be user-accessible. Samsung will still have a way to do it when needed, but the user won’t, which is what’s changing here.
It’s still unclear if the One UI 8 update will make this change on devices that are already on the market, but it’s entirely possible. In recent years, it’s become more common for Android manufacturers to disable this ability.