This carrier now has a lock system that prevents you from using Developer Options

If you thought typical carrier unlock policies were annoying, Cricket’s new Device Unlock system takes things to a whole new level. Instead of just preventing you from unlocking your phone or using a rival SIM for a few months, the new app makes it impossible to use the phone at all without a Cricket SIM or eSIM. No Wi-Fi, no home page, no apps — nothing works unless Cricket is active.

This change rolled out quietly a few months ago and only targets  Motorola and Cricket-branded devices released in 2025 or later, though it’s certainly possible that other brands could eventually be impacted. The only official way around it is to stay active with Cricket for six months, after which the lock can be removed.

I honestly see why they’d want to introduce something like this. Cricket often offers its phones at an extreme discount, making them a tempting option for a parent who is looking for a cheap “mini-tablet” to gift their kids.

For those wondering, there doesn’t seem to be any easy workarounds that let you use the phone without an active SIM/eSIM. While you can remove the eSIM and reset the phone, it will automatically require you to redownload the device unlock app the second you connect to Wi-Fi. That’s because this isn’t just an app, but it seems that the ROM itself also has restrictions to prevent its removal without Cricket’s authorization.

Cricket is subsidizing the phones to deliver the lowest pricing possible, and so they have the right to introduce software locks like this. The bigger issue is that the app grays out Developer Options for those six months as well.

The likely reason for disabling Developer Options is that it would make it much easier to enable things like ADB access and other settings, which could potentially allow someone to bypass the lock app. Still, I feel like this is a bigger deal than Cricket realizes for many Android enthusiasts who aren’t necessarily looking to bypass anything but do want the ability to enable USB debugging for manual file transfers, force activities to be resizable for split mode, and other customizations.

If you are a Cricket customer or interested in being one, for now, I’d recommend avoiding Motorola or Cricket-branded devices if Developer Options matters to you (or if you are looking for a WiFi-only device, for that matter). The good news is that Samsung, Apple, and the rest of the brands don’t have this issue.