Xiaomi will lock more boot loaders

With the launch of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 we started to see Xiaomi shipping phones with a locked boot loader, soon this will roll out to more devices with the Mi4C and Mi Note Pro already mentioned.

For the average user a locked boot loader isn’t an issue, the problems start though when you want to install custom ROMS or have more free access to your Android device.

In the past Xiaomi phones came with unlocked boot loaders which allowed for easy access to optional ROMs and allowed developers to get to grips with the system behind their phones, but Xiaomi are now slowly taking this easy access away.

Xiaomi say that they will be locking the boot loader of more devices from now on to protect customers and their data. The company says that one of the reasons behind the move is due to malware and poor ROMs installed by resellers (an issue that also effects LeTV and other phones). Locking the boot loader does make a phone more secure, and even the Nexus range of phones comes locked, however this is where the real issues comes in to play.

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Xiaomi will be offering an unlock tool and an unlock application form for users to use. Those of you wanting an unlocked boot loader on your new Xiaomi will have to go through a number of steps (on a PC and the phone), fill in an application and then wait up to 21 days to receive the unlock codes. m. Xiaomi’s development team will manually check each application so depending on the demand we could see faster turn around times.

Personally I can understand the reasoning, but we would prefer to see automatically generated codes so users only have to wait a few moments, not weeks to unlock.

What do you think of Xiaomi’s new policy?

Thanks to Simon for the tip.

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About the author
Robin Maxwell
Hi, Robin Maxwell here! Mobile technology is my passions, and while I've been known to dabble with iOS devices I'm a firm Android convert, currently waiting for the Oppo Find 5 to launch!!

dutchgio
January 17, 2016
Its utter bullshit. The locking is fine, but not how they have decided to make the unlock progress. Damm manual unlock, filling in a Chinese form, sms confirmation and an advanatage in order of applying for paid (?) forum members.
Once more, they need to change the way of unlocking. And fast, or it will cost them.
- Mr.Flying Zoom3rz
  January 18, 2016
  Agree, I hate these Chinese fill forms! It’s not a surprise that I can’t understand anything lol!!
MaxPower
January 17, 2016
I can’t blame them for locking,They just need to provide a better way to unlock.
The competition is tough, one thing like this can backfire them and damage their sales so they better sort that out.
- balcobomber25
  January 17, 2016
  This won’t affect the majority of their consumers. Most people that buy their phones buy it specifically for MIUI. The modding community, while larger, still only represents a very small minority of the overall phone buying population. The sales impact of this will be negligible.
  - Riccardo Benzoni
    January 17, 2016
    not having a xiaomi for a while, is it possible to flash the last multilanguage one with locked bootloader?
    - balcobomber25
      January 17, 2016
      Honestly I couldn;’t tell you my last Xiaomi was the Mi4 and that was back when it was still new.
    - Mr.Flying Zoom3rz
      January 18, 2016
      While there are guides for unlocking the bootloader the general stuff is that if the bootloader is locked you can’t install a custom rom, but most probably will be able a flash a custom recovery like twrp.
    - Xalis
      January 18, 2016
      Only on MediaTek phones, using SP Flash Tools, Snapdragon ones are fucked with a locked bootloader.
  - MaxPower
    January 17, 2016
    I agree with you in general, but like Riccardo pointed below, there are many users that rely on multilanguage MIUI.
    I also flashed the official developer ROM as soon as I got the phone because I didn’t want to deal with the crap provided by resellers.
    A locked bootloader won’t prevent me from buying a Xiaomi phone, but occasional buyers might think twice or go for another option
    - balcobomber25
      January 18, 2016
      Yea they will lose sales from those from our community, but overall it will a blip on the radar.
      - MaxPower
        January 18, 2016
        Let’s see what happens.
        Maybe this will prevent resellers from installing wrong ROMs so St least we have a usable English/Chinese ROM until you get the code to unlock the bootloader
        balcobomber25
        January 18, 2016
        That could be what this is all about, preventing resellers from ruining the MIUI experience by loading bloat and spyware on the stock ROM.

Karly Johnston
January 17, 2016
Bad move, it is easy to dump a reseller rom if they are worried about it. They need to release more global roms.
saor
January 17, 2016
Been a mi4c user and already flashed to cm. This will be a pain for users on miui who want to ditch it. A more simpler way to unlock your device would serve there community better rather than this. Top posters on their forum get first dibs with the unlock code the rest of them have to wait.

Chico Migraña
January 17, 2016
21 days so resellers can’t sell phones with crap it’s OK. I hope won’t take more than that and be easy to access to that form.
Xalis
January 17, 2016
Easy, I will not buy more Xiaomi phones.
Xalis
January 17, 2016
Asked for my unlock code 3 or more weeks ago, still nothing and I have no hopes in ever getting the unlock code.

Freeje
January 17, 2016
Same with Huawei but at least they have an English website. They have a two weeks waiting period but some have been waiting for more than that but still no luck.
Riccardo Benzoni
January 17, 2016
if they don’t make the unlock procedure easier, good luck waiting endlessly and being stuck with the (not) fancy miui!
- balcobomber25
  January 17, 2016
  - Shashank
    January 18, 2016
  - Mr.Flying Zoom3rz
    January 18, 2016
    But..but.. it’s a ram hog friend! it’s beautiful, but it’s really ram hungry os. On my K3 Note using the stock VibeUI rom I usually have around 1gb free ram, while on miui I can barely get <700mb
    - balcobomber25
      January 18, 2016
      It can be very heavy at times but it really depends on the individual users usage.
- Mr.Flying Zoom3rz
  January 18, 2016
  I keep an eye when a pure aosp roms will be out for redmi note 2/3 and still there aren’t any. :/ So anyway anyone who’s having the phone will have to stick with the official rom
  - dutchgio
    January 18, 2016
    - Mr.Flying Zoom3rz
      January 18, 2016
      - Limat
        January 18, 2016
      - dutchgio
        January 18, 2016
        There’s a first build for the 3, there are stable builds for the Note 2 wich seem to work fine.
        Its not official, but that doesn’t matter.
        I prefer CM and AOSP but after using MIUI for a day it is truly awsome and very good.
FaysalKayar
January 17, 2016
As meizu, i never buy a xiaomi device. That is it.

Sbz
January 18, 2016
Shouldn’t be an issue as long as they make the unlocking process easier and in a language most foreign buyers will understand. At the most it seems to me that the resellers are having the upper hand.
Venci
January 18, 2016
Well if they have the option to officially unlock, everything is fine by me.
- Xalis
  January 18, 2016
  Hahaha good joke, have fun waiting for your unlock code, just don’t hold your breath, and don’t forget to pray for your request not to be rejected.
  3 weeks and counting.
  - - Xalis
      January 18, 2016
      No, the OnePlus invite system at least you get to use your phone once you paid and get it shipped, with Xiaomi system, you paid for your phone get it shipped and then they force you to wait several weeks before you can use it, and if they feel like it they can reject you request to use it.
      Sure it’s not that bad if you don’t need root and/or a customized system, but a kick in the balls if you need them.
      A phone with no root is useless to me, I can live with the Chinese official ROM but not without root, and yep they removed root access from the developer build, and now only “Senior Members” of the MIUI forum get a special ROM with root access, the rest can fuck them selves with a rake for what Xiaomi cares.
      - tauerman
        January 19, 2016
        If I don’t want to customize my phone, than I can also go and buy a Huawei etc.
        This is not an option for me. (the Mate S is really nice, but I need custom roms and root).
        So if Xiaomi proceeds, I will have to save some more money and get a LG G3 or Moto X Play.
      - balcobomber25
        January 19, 2016
        Didn’t you say you sell phones for a living?
        
        Xalis
        January 20, 2016
        I do (but mostly as hobby, I import measuring tools from China for a living) the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 was a personal secondary phone(was, just sold it today), I only re-sell the Note 2 and Mi4 WCDMA.
        Unless they make it a fastboot unlock or other steps that take no more than a day, I’m personally done with Xiaomi as customer, and I will not sell a phone that if it goes into bootloop I will have to give away a free new phone while I wait weeks to being enable to fix it and sell it as used, when it shouldn’t took me more than 10min to re-flash it, or maybe just clear the cache.
        Also they did this in such stupid way, that there are people with their phones going into a bootloop after updating to 6.1.14, and now they have to deal with the endless wait to fix their phones bricked by an official update.
        balcobomber25
        January 20, 2016
        A friend of mine who is a dev for MIUI has said they aren’t approving unlock codes for anyone who sells phones at the moment. That is probably why your’s is taking so long. There was too much bloatware and spyware on models coming from resellers. Others I know have got there unlock codes in about 10-14 days.

Balaji Chandrasekaran
January 18, 2016
all companies have a an auto generate code to unlock bootloader based on IMEI no. why not implement it Xiaomi -_-
Mr.Flying Zoom3rz
January 18, 2016
That’s a nightmare for the custom rom lovers like me. Come on Xiaomi, you’re relying on the privacy argument? Nah, that’s not serious.
Nishikanta
January 18, 2016
Trying to be apple gradually

Allanitomwesh
January 18, 2016
Pretty bullshit. I was looking forward to getting the Redmi Note Pro. Now not so much

debianus
January 18, 2016
Mi has MIUI Global Fan Sites and sell devices in Europe and South America just because there are tons of devs and supporters making translations, giving support, and publishing custom roms. They are who really sell the Mi devices and those ROMS are used by European (and some Chinese) resellers.
Note Mi is signing files too: make custom roms become impossible and in Communities the angry is growing and growing. Just look the messages in Miui forums.
Miui says: we are fighting against fakes and offer security to users. First reason is a joke; second, Do you really think is the only way? And waiting three weeks for the unlock code? What if Mi rejects the request?
Going to lost those market and its reputation. Right: Mi officially do not sell devices in Europe and South America; but ask to resellers how many devices are sold and what countries.Look last Redmi Note (already locked): I can not recommend for to buy for not English speakers: it is a nightmare install a multilanguage ROM.
If Mi would like sells 100 millions of devices rejecting not English or Chinese customers, it is fine for me. Just looking other brands.
- RRRobert
  January 18, 2016
  I did. I was happy with Xiaomi for a long time, but their persistent neglect of international markets made me switch to OnePlus and Huawei.

WOOHer
January 18, 2016
- balcobomber25
  January 19, 2016
  Actually might be a better idea for foreign customers. Most foreign customers buy their Xiaomi phones on the reseller market. Many resellers add their own bloatware (and often times spyware) to the stock ROM of a phone. This should prevent that. As long as Xiaomi provides unlock codes it will be a great benefit to consumers.
  - WOOHer
    January 19, 2016
    It’s too long to wait for the code. Another problem is a bad localization of the stock ROM.

Ray Bel
January 19, 2016
I think this is a good approach as long as the unlock procedure will remain for the future is promised by Xiaomi.
If you see how much crapware/spyware resellers add to modified ROM’s this is a good choice.
Locked as standard, but if you want to tweak it you can apply and get an unlockcode without problems.
For the standard consumer a ‘Xiaomi safe phone’
And for the others wanting to change the ROM, register, unlock…and do what you like.
balcobomber25
January 19, 2016
I actually talked to a good friend of mine that is a dev for MIUI, he said they did this due to the vast amount of malware they were finding on phones sold by resellers. Especially on phones being shipped to the US and Europe, two markets Xiaomi will be aggressively expanding to in the next few years. Bad press is the last thing they need. Huawei knows first hand what spyware allegations can do to you in the West.
He told me right now the actual Dev’s have to approve every request for an unlock (Fyi: if you sell phones your request will most likely be denied). They are moving to allow the Mod’s and Senior Members of the MIUI forums to also approve unlock requests. He said once that is fully operational it will take under a week for most people to get their codes.
- debianus
  January 20, 2016
  Mi phones sold by Chinese resellers have bloatware and bad ROMS: right.
  Solution: locking the bootloader and a not automatic unlock procedure (three weeks just now)
  Achievement: rookie users that will buy his device to Chinese resellers do not shame about Mi; experimented users can unlock the bootloader. Everybody is happy.
  No, everybody is not happy.
  – Advances users will not buy Mi devices for this horrible and delayed unlock bootloader procedure. In the meanwhile they are waiting Mi respects the GPL license publishing the code sources for all devices.
  – Rookie users will not buy devices with official ROMS … only in English and Chinese!!!. In Europe (except U.K. and Ireland) and from Mexico to Argentina, Does really Mi wait to sell phones in English?
  - balcobomber25
    January 20, 2016
    Not sure what qualifies one as “advanced” and “rookie” users. Is there some sort of class one has to take, or is there a minimum number of years required to obtain such titles?

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