HTC late Thursday announced that it would stop locking the bootloaders on its smartphones.
Anyone who wants to own a rooted HTC Android phone would find comfort in knowing that CEO Peter Chou confirmed via a post on HTC’s Facebook page that after receiving feedback from customers, the company would provide unlocked bootloaders on upcoming HTC devices.
The post reads, “There has been overwhelmingly customer feedback that people want access to open bootloaders on HTC phones. I want you to know that we’ve listened. Today, I’m confirming we will no longer be locking the bootloaders on our devices. Thanks for your passion, support and patience.”
A bootloader loads a phone’s operating system, and a locked bootloader does not allow the installation of custom operating systems other than the bundled one, which requires a signed certificate for unlocking, but this does not prevent owners from rooting their Android devices.
This move should boost ratings for HTC, especially when the Taiwan-based company listens to customer requests seriously.
Unfortunately, this announcement probably only applies to future HTC devices.











