Post #147148
2026-01-21 13:43 UTC
Replies (23)
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@NOT_RICK@lemmy.world 2026-01-21 14:04
Thanks republicans, very pro consumer, very cool.
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@MountingSuspicion@reddthat.com 2026-01-21 14:04
They should be banned from having any unlocking restrictions after they were found to have violated the initial FCC mandates placed on them. Absolutely disgraceful. No accountability.
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@whotookkarl@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2026-01-21 14:45
Imagine buying a PC and you can only use it with Comcast or att internet for the first year, manufactured trash
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@eli@lemmy.world 2026-01-21 18:47
Not sure why anyone is still using Verizon. US Mobile has access to their networks and it's cheaper. Same service. Been with USM for nearly 2 years now. My parents and siblings all switched over too. Moved our numbers over with zero issues. Verizon not in your area? Cool, USM also has access to T-Mobile and ATT. People need to learn to shop around, especially in the current economy we're in.
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@XLE@piefed.social 2026-01-21 14:15
This is a big deal because this will hit low end customers the hardest. People who shop at Dollar General for their phones. I remember when relatively speedy device unlocks were mandated. And before then, contracts would basically include the price of the phone in them. Now we have to pay extra for the phone, and it's still not ours. Very cool.
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@FauxLiving@lemmy.world 2026-01-22 00:04
There's a VERY important distinction here. The 'unlock' that they are talking about here is to unlock your phone's SIM to be able to be used with another carrier's service. **This does not mean that the bootloader is unlocked** and you will not be able to replace the OS. You will still be stuck with Verizon's spyware-laden release of Android even when you move to a new carrier. So, buy your devices directly from the manufacturer and make sure that the phone supports the ability to unlock (and re-lock!) the bootloader. If you need a recommendation, get a current generation Pixel and install GrapheneOS or if you won't give up Google Play and dependent apps, LineageOS.
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@dnub@piefed.social 2026-01-21 15:03
ThAnK gOd FoR cApItAlIsM /s
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@SuperSpruce@lemmy.zip 2026-01-22 00:07
The part that gets me is that the unlock is not automatic. I don't like the fact that it is now for a year but now also Verizon has the upper hand to just refuse the unlock to anyone they don't like.
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@anon_8675309@lemmy.world 2026-01-22 15:56
This is stupid. Part of the agreement to allow them to buy a certain spectrum was that they unlocked sims after 60 days. What’s the point of all this if rules don’t matter?
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@TORFdot0@lemmy.world 2026-01-21 20:01
I jumped in the hot tub with my phone in my pocket last summer and needed a phone and couldn’t really wait for one to ship from a random eBay or swappa seller so I had to go to Best Buy. They had nothing carrier unlocked that was newer than the 128GB iPhone 15 for $800, refurbished. All else they had was a couple old pixels and galaxies and they weren’t much cheaper. Policies like impact the poor folks who can’t afford the cash for phones that are unlocked and are stuck paying high monthly service rates.
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@cryptix@discuss.tchncs.de 2026-01-22 14:48
Not from us and cannot understand why smartphone needs to be bundled with network operators. Those are 2 separate entities and there is no need for one to be dependent on another. You buy a phone you buy a sim.
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@hateisreality@lemmy.world 2026-01-21 15:49
Use swappa.com or some other way to buy unlocked phones and never have to deal with Verizon's BS again. You can have the service with no phone issues.
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@Fredselfish@lemmy.world 2026-01-21 15:50
So if I bought one before that date I am not held to this?
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@frongt@lemmy.zip 2026-01-21 15:15
Assuming they let you BYOD. I know T-Mobile does because that's how I do it. I get used Pixels off eBay for like $200. Carrier unlocked ones like $50 more. But I think only Verizon is the problematic carrier for those.
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@partial_accumen@lemmy.world 2026-01-21 14:23
> Make sure it’s carrier unlocked, but yeah. I'm all for buying my own phones and not getting one bundled with service. However, many times getting a carrier unlocked phone carries a price premium. As long as you're fine sticking with your current carrier, they can even be carrier locked and work just fine. I agree though, ownership of your phone outside of your carrier's billing is the right way to go.
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@frozen@lemmy.frozeninferno.xyz 2026-01-21 19:40
Not with AT&T. Bought a Pixel 9 Pro Fold on a huge sale from Google themselves, but because AT&T doesn't sell it, they couldn't provision it correctly on their network. Went through all the troubleshooting, they sent me a new SIM even. Finally I did my own research online, found a reddit post where someone talked to an employee on some internal AT&T team that said they probably won't ever support it properly since they don't sell it. So that was frustrating.
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@hateisreality@lemmy.world 2026-01-21 15:51
I'm going to suggest swappa.com for buying unlocked phones a couple generations back at a cheap price. I've been using an s20 I think I picked up for like 150 bucks the last couple years without a problem.. And I just picked up a Pixel 7 to put graphene on so I can you know not have Google up my ass all the time. It's all significantly cheaper and all you have to do is put your SIM card in the new phone as long as it's unlocked you're good. I'm more than willing to try any alternatives to swapa it's just the only company that I've used thus far outside of an eBay situation.
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@Sir_Kevin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2026-01-21 16:08
Ebay is full of used flagships that cost very little. With enshitification, many of the older flagships are better than what you could get by buying new for the same price. Also, fuck contracts. I've been using prepaid plans for ages.
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@dogs0n@sh.itjust.works 2026-01-21 15:38
> If you can afford it It's cheaper, no? You just go on ebay or any other used marketplace. I know it's a slightly higher initial cost (depending on the phone), but phones last years, you'll be saving way more over those years.
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@JcbAzPx@lemmy.world 2026-01-21 16:48
Also, if you don't care about phone calls, you can skip the carrier altogether and just use wifi.
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@hateisreality@lemmy.world 2026-01-21 15:54
My S20 is doing fine...and I almost exclusively buy a phone a couple years old for 150/200 total. I haven't seen any changes in new phones that make upgrading worth it and it's much easier to replace an older phone you break than a brand new phone you break.
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@FauxLiving@lemmy.world 2026-01-22 00:10
Anything can be an issue if work hard enough. This is, conveniently, a decision that discourages their customers from buying hardware from anywhere but themselves an anti-competitive practice which carries little risk of lawsuit, or fine. It's certainly not a technical problem. We all, mostly, use the same cellular network and other carriers have no trouble supporting devices purchased directly from the vendor.
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@frozen@lemmy.frozeninferno.xyz 2026-01-22 15:36
Yeah, their BYOD plan works great if they sell the phone you're using. My Pixel 7 I got from the Google Store worked just fine with AT&T for two years before I upgraded. I just didn't even consider whether they sold the device or not to be important to the functionality of the phone.