At Unplugged, our mission has always been clear: to deliver privacy-first technology without compromising user control or transparency. Over time, we've had meaningful conversations with our community, developers, and privacy advocates, and it became clear—we need to evolve.
Moving Towards Open Source
Initially, we maintained a locked bootloader approach to prioritize security and reduce potential risks. However, we’ve realized that many of our users value not just privacy but also freedom—the freedom to control their devices fully.
After engaging with our passionate community, we've decided to enable bootloader unlocking on UP Phone in Q1/2025.
This change isn't just about unlocking a feature—it’s about unlocking potential.
The Value of Bootloader Unlocking
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Empowering User Freedom: Advanced users and developers will have full control over their UP Phone, allowing them to install custom operating systems or fine-tune the existing OS to suit their needs.
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Transparency and Trust: By allowing bootloader unlocking, we align with open-source values, fostering deeper trust in our platform and enabling third-party audits.
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Enhanced Security Research: Security experts and researchers can inspect, test, and improve UP Phone software, helping us uncover vulnerabilities and improve our system.
These benefits represent not just opportunities for individual users but also for the UP Phone ecosystem as a whole.
Engaging with the Community
This decision is not the end—it’s the beginning of a collaboration. We’re excited to see what our community can achieve with an unlocked bootloader:
- What custom operating systems will emerge?
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What innovative features might be developed?
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What lessons can we learn and potentially integrate back into the core UP Phone experience?
We encourage developers, security enthusiasts, and power users to share their experiences, projects and ideas with us.
Warranty and Responsibility
We want to clarify one critical point: unlocking the bootloader will not void your hardware warranty. Hardware issues will still be covered under our warranty policy, even if the bootloader is unlocked.
However, we do encourage users to proceed with care, as software modifications could potentially impact device security or functionality.
Looking Ahead
This isn’t just a technical update—it’s a commitment to openness, collaboration, and shared innovation. By unlocking the bootloader, we’re unlocking creativity, security advancements, and the potential to redefine privacy-focused mobile technology.
This is the first in a series of announcements to provide maximum visibility of our software and firmware through upcoming open source publications. We’re excited about this next chapter, and we can’t wait to see what the community builds.
Stay tuned for more details as we prepare for the official release in the coming weeks.
— Eran Karpen, CTO, Unplugged
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