Samsung reportedly disables unlocking bootloader in One UI 8, even outside the US

Samsung might be reportedly tightening control over its phones with the upcoming One UI 8 update.

A new report from XDA Developers contributor suggests that the company could be disabling bootloader unlocking on more devices (even international models that previously allowed it).

For context, the bootloader unlocking is typically done first when installing custom ROMs, rooting a phone, or making deeper system-level changes. However, Samsung devices in the U.S. have long blocked this feature, with no ‘OEM Unlocking’ toggle in the Developer Options menu.

What’s new is that this restriction may now be implemented outside the U.S, too.

In the latest One UI 8 firmware, Samsung has added a new bootloader flag: androidboot.other.locked=1. This setting prevents the OEM Unlock option from appearing in the phone’s settings, effectively killing any official method to unlock the bootloader.

Early tests show that the change affects non-U.S. units as well. For example, the OEM Unlock option is missing from a non-U.S. Galaxy Z Fold 7 running One UI 8. Users in the One UI 8 beta program are also reporting the same issue.

While some think this might be an oversight or temporary, there’s no official word from Samsung yet. For now, devices not updated to One UI 8 still appear to support bootloader unlocking.

Source (1) | Via (2)