- cross-posted to:
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- cross-posted to:
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
This is a list of phone manufacturers that lock their bootloaders to prevent people from installing custom operating systems (LineageOS etc) to remove bloatware and spyware/tracking.


Yeah, I dunno how accurate, let alone comprehensive, this repo of shame is.
From: https://github.com/zenfyrdev/bootloader-unlock-wall-of-shame/blob/main/brands/cat/README.md
They didn’t bother to list what model they tested before deeming the entire brand “Terrible”. I have two CAT S22 Flips (still daily driving one of them), and both of them unlocked immediately with the fastboot command and without requiring an unlock key.
Mostly moot, though. You can still get CAT phones on the secondhand market but Bullit Group (the manufacturer of their branded phones) went out of business in April 2024.
Because their phones are rugged AF and nearly indestructible.
Every single person i have met with a CAT phone says they are fucking indestructible. I used to do IT for manufacturing, agriculture, and construction companies. So that is quite a few people.
How indestructuble do they compare to a classic Nokia, or a GameBoy?
I don’t say this lightly, but completely on par with a classic Nokia with the exception of the touch screen. Not that I’ve damaged it, but touch screens are the weak point in all modern phones.
Damn, so we got even more homework to fork