Samsung has been coming under a lot of flak recently over its decision to region lock its newest flagship smartphone, and to also expand this to other models with future updates, but the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 RegionLock Away app cuts this restriction.
Shortly after the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 was released to the public it soon became apparent that there would be restrictions on the handsets movements across the world and the ability to use a local SIM when travelling overseas.
This restriction is set to come to older Samsung Galaxy hardware as well once the handsets receive the Android 4.4 KitKat update, but there does seem a solution to this at least for owners of rooted devices.
A new application from Chainfire called RegionLock Away is promised to remove the lock from the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 by emptying the blacklist of carriers that the handset can’t be used with. So far the application has only been used with the international version of the Note 3, but it does require a rooted device.
It has to be remembered this isn’t the same as getting a SIM unlock for the handset, and it is believed that buying a SIM unlock code will also unlock the region lock. The app is available via Google Play for £1.99/$2.99 or there is a free version available from XDA-Developers thread here.
Are you disappointed by the way Samsung is region locking its smartphones?