Unlocked phone question

[mathguy]

I purchased an unlocked Samsung 10e. The seller said it was unlocked, but in fact it was locked to AT&T. After getting the code to unlock it (it did), I was able to enroll it on Consumer Cellular with their sim. However, when I start the phone, the AT&T song plays along with their logo, then it completes startup OK. Question: is there a way to locate that "startup" app, so it just starts without it? I can kill the melody by turning off system sounds, but I'd like to remove that AT&T "app" totally

 

[Hadron]

SIM unlocking (to distinguish from bootloader unlocking) does not change the system software, it just removes the bar on using SIMs from another provider. That's why the startup animation hasn't changed.

You would have to root the phone, i.e. modify the firmware to allow you to give administrator access to apps. After that you could locate the startup animation, which will be somewhere in the /system partition, and remove it (a few years back I could have told you where exactly to look). Without root you won't be able to remove this.

US Samsungs are typically quite hard to root, sometimes impossible. I don't know the state of the s10e. Perhaps look in the XDA Developers forum for the device. Do be aware that the North American models (using Qualcomm Snapdragon chips) are different from the most-of-the-world models (using Samsung's Exynos chips), and procedures designed for the Exynos models will not work for your phone.

Also be aware that rooting is likely to break things like banking and payment apps ,and some media apps and games. So even if you can root it, do your research first and weight up the annoyance of one animation which you only see when starting up against the other possible consequences and make an informed decision on whether it's worth it to you. In the case of Samsung's there's also the Knox "e-fuse": rooting will almost certainly trip that, so any app that checks that to determine whether the phone has been tampered with will not work (the reason for all of this is that rooting gives the user - or a thief, or some types of malware - access to information that would normally be protected. Hence apps storing particularly sensitive data such as banking and payment systems, or apps whose developers are sensitive about copyright of material, may refuse to run on modified devices).

 

[mathguy]

Thank you for your thorough discussion. I agree, leave it be.

 

[iBowToAndroid]

I purchased an unlocked Samsung 10e. The seller said it was unlocked, but in fact it was locked to AT&T. After getting the code to unlock it (it did), I was able to enroll it on Consumer Cellular with their sim. However, when I start the phone, the AT&T song plays along with their logo, then it completes startup OK. Question: is there a way to locate that "startup" app, so it just starts without it? I can kill the melody by turning off system sounds, but I'd like to remove that AT&T "app" totally

You can remove all carrier bloatware by flashing the firmware of the G970U1, which is the exact same model but sold directly by Samsung, network unlocked and bloatware free. That'll not only remove the startup splash screen but all of AT&T's preloaded apps

 

[Hadron]

Do Samsung allow that with a locked bootloader? I've had experience of manufactures who do not.

 

[iBowToAndroid]

Do Samsung allow that with a locked bootloader? I've had experience of manufactures who do not.

U, U1, and W are all cross-flashable, dating back to the Galaxy S8