Samsung’s One UI 8 might shut down bootloader unlocking on Galaxy phones

The Galaxy Z Fold 7 ships with One UI 8.

Samsung’s One UI 8 update seems to forestall users from unlocking their device’s bootloader to load customized ROMs, arsenic spotted earlier by SammyGuru. Over the weekend, users connected the XDA Developers forum noticed that Samsung appears to person disabled the enactment connected devices successful regions extracurricular the US, wherever the enactment had already been locked for years.

By unlocking the bootloader, users tin instal customized bundle and marque different modifications to their phone. Users discovered the caller regularisation aft digging into the codification of the Settings app connected One UI 8, which ships with the newly released Galaxy Z Flip 7 and Z Fold 7.

As pointed retired by SammyGuru and Android Authority, the codification contains the enactment “androidboot.other.locked=1.” When this enactment is acceptable to “1,” it means the bootloader is locked, similar it is present successful the US. Before One UI 8, this enactment had antecedently been acceptable to “0” to alteration bootloader unlocking successful regions extracurricular the US. Users spotted the regularisation wrong One UI 8 beta builds for the Galaxy S25 arsenic well.

Samsung didn’t instantly respond to a petition for comment.