Back in the day, there were plenty of custom ROMs and mods you could install on your phone as long as you were ready to unlock its bootloader. As Android has matured, though, the custom ROM community is no longer as active. Plus, many manufacturers have stopped offering the ability to unlock their phone’s bootloader, citing safety and security concerns. Asus was an exception to this list, and despite some recent confusion, the company remains committed to its bootloader unlock tool.
An Android Authority report detailed that Asus had seemingly removed the ability to unlock the bootloader on its Zenfone devices. This was based on a company’s support staff replying to a customer query about unlocking the Zenfone 10‘s bootloader. The policy change also applied to last year’s Zenfone 9.
As it turns out, this is not the case. Asus plans to offer its bootloader unlock tool for the Zenfone 10, though it is currently unavailable. In a statement to Mishaal Rahman, the Taiwanese company clarified the situation, saying its support staff misunderstood the original question.
Asus had initially said it would be possible to unlock the Zenfone 10’s bootloader from Q3 this year. As for the Zenfone 9, its bootloader unlock tool and kernel source code was released soon after it launched in August last year. However, since the tool is unavailable due to maintenance, you cannot unlock its bootloader for now.
Interestingly, the Taiwanese corporation has yet to make the ROG Phone 7‘s bootloader unlock tool live (via ZenTalk forums) as well, months after the phone went on sale. The Asus bootloader unlock tool might just gain support for the ROG Phone 7 in Q3 alongside the Zenfone 10.
Unless you solely buy Asus phones for modding and custom ROM, the inability to unlock the Zenfone 9 or 10’s bootloader temporarily will not make much of a difference to you. Still, it is good to see Asus committed to the modding community and not pulling its bootloader unlock tool.
