Confirmed: Pixels bought from Google are rootable, come with unlockable bootloaders
Some of the purported disadvantages inherent when ordering a Google Pixel or Pixel XL from Verizon have been debunked already – the phones will ship with three bloatware apps, all of them uninstallable; software updates will be issued at the same time as for units bought elsewhere. One thing that’s clear, however, is that Verizon’s Pixels will not have unlockable bootloaders.
That’s not surprising given the carrier’s general policy towards such things. But what about units purchased from Google? Sure, Nexus devices all had unlockable bootloaders, but the Pixels might be different in that regard, given the new branding and all.
Thankfully, that’s now been confirmed not to be the case. A Google spokesperson issued the following statement:
Yes, Pixel owners who purchased the device from the Google store will be able to root their devices. Pixel phones purchased from the Google store will ship with an unlockable bootloader.
That should make tinkerers everywhere happy. There is however one caveat, and it has to do with rooting and receiving over-the-air updates after that – or rather, not receiving them.
Rooting involves modifying partitions on the phone. If the partitions are modified the OTA will fail to apply.
So there you go. Some good news and some bad news. Anyway, all of this is bound to be relevant for just a small number of Pixel buyers, those interested in such things. The average Joe isn’t likely to care either way.
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