If a phone is locked to the provider, in this case a Google Pixel 4a 5G, locked to T-Mobile.
Will installing e by default unlock the phone to any provider?
It looks like there is not special requirements to unlock phone from menu…
Regain your privacy! Adopt /e/ the unGoogled mobile OS and online services
Hope this helps
Thanks for the info Dave1 but I think I read somewhere installing e unlocks the phone. Just want to see if anyone can confirm. I am not a T-Mobile customer (I’m in Canada) just looking at purchasing a T-Moblie phone online.
NO, you must reinstall stock ROM to be abble to unlock the carrier limitation, then install /e/ again
Phone must have 6 mounths or one year old to be carrier unlocked
OK thanks Piero, I have the option of buying the unlocked model, just a bit more money. So thanks for the info.
If you haven’t purchased the phone yet, then buy it from the phone manufacturer already unlocked. It’s much better flashing a custom rom of any kind to a neutral phone rather than a phone you’ve bought from a mobile carrier.
No. To install a custom ROM, the bootloader must first be unlocked, and you won’t be able to do that unless the carrier consents to remove the carrier-lock. (Or at least, I’m fairly sure of that.)
In the U.S., it’s common for a carrier to sell phones that are locked to their network, so as to prevent you from buying a subsidized device and then jumping ship to a different provider. The carrier will generally unlock the device for you after it’s fully paid for, or after you’ve been a customer for a while. And sometimes if you’re traveling overseas, they’ll unlock it so you can use a foreign SIM card, if you’ve been a customer for a while.
If you buy a second-hand carrier-locked phone, from Amazon, for example, I’m not sure what the outcome would be if you asked the original carrier for an unlock. Maybe they don’t mind doing it, as the phone has presumably already fulfilled the requirements of use on their network (by the previous owner). You could ask T-mobile USA support prior to purchase to find out what the policy is.
If you’re buying a brand new Tmobile-locked phone from a retailer like Amazon, Best Buy, etc., there is almost zero chance you can get it unlocked without using it on Tmobile’s network for the required duration.
It’s much easier to start with a phone that is not carrier-locked in the first place.
Here’s some discussion on that from XDA:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/can-i-unlock-a-carrier-locked-bootloader-t-mobile-by-using-the-pixel-factory-flash.4043477/
T-mobile unlock, with eligibility criteria:
https://www.t-mobile.com/support/devices/unlock-your-mobile-wireless-device
See also:
https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/44782/unlocked-device-vs-unlocked-bootloader
Yes so thanks for the advice. I have the option to buy the unlocked version of the phone and will do it that way, it’s only a cost difference of $23.
Well worth it, to avoid the hassle and potential complications.