How to Unlock Your Flow Device

When the devices are programmed at the factory, the SIM Lock is activated by the manufacturer, upon the request of the carrier who sells the device. SIM locked devices are programmed to work only with specific providers and when other providers' SIM Cards are used, the device checks whether the SIM card belongs to that authorized provider. If an unauthorized carrier's SIM card is inserted, your device will not work with this provider, unless the device is SIM unlocked.

Carriers offer various promotions and discounts to make their services more attractive and to encourage mobile users to use their services. These may be the discounts they offer for phones, or they may be mobile plans or discounted mobile tariffs.
In order to guarantee that they can redeem these discounts, they want their devices to be used with their own services, so they aim to keep users on their own network by activating the SIM Lock for certain periods of time.

Another reason is that some malicious sellers working in stores may show the phones to be sold to fictitious people, and this may cause financial damage to the carriers. In such cases, they aim to make the phone unusable with other carriers by locking it to their own network.
The above reasons may be useful for carriers, and it is possible to qualify some of them, but this may put people who make their payments on time or who buy second-hand phones in a difficult situation.

Manufacturers do not unlock phones. They activate the SIM Lock at the request of the carriers and tell the end users to contact the company who sold the phone.
Carriers have different unlock policies. Some carriers can unlock phones under certain conditions and you must meet these conditions. Each company has different conditions for Unlock Eligibility and they will not unlock unless you meet these conditions. E.g.;
- If you bought your phone on a mobile contract plan, they won't unlock before the contract expires.
- If you have not completed the payment of your phone and plan, or if you have unpaid bills, they will not unlock without paying all your bills.
- They offer the condition of being a customer for a certain period of time in the plan you bought the phone (some companies requires being of an active customer at least 1 year), they do not unlock the phone before the period specified in the Contract expires.

-Carriers can request the information of the person who bought the phone or the account where the phone is registered. If you bought a used phone from Ebay, Amazon, Bestbuy or any other platform, you may not be able to know the original account holder's information, in which case Carriers will not unlock phone.

Some mobile devices can be unlocked by entering a network unlock code (SIM Network Unlock PIN). Hıwever, some of them can be used with an unlock code, other methods may be needed when it is not possible to unlock device with network unlock code (If device does not ask for a code). In this case, the remote unlock method (UICC unlock) or unlocking software can be used for unlocking.

Unlocking methods may differ depending on the device's manufacturer, model, and original network. This could be an unlock code, software, or a Remote Unlock App (UICC unlock).

To give brief information, we can define them under a few methods.

Network Unlock Code: Manufacturers program some models to be unlocked using an unlock code. When devices are programmed at the factory, the device manufacturer assigns a network unlock code and stores these codes in their mobile device databases. They share these unlock codes with providers, service centers, and authorized data providers when required. If the phone needs to be unlocked, the unlock process is completed by entering the SIM unlock code programmed by the manufacturer. If your phone is asking for a network unlock code (SIM Network Unlock PIN), it can be obtained from carrier or manufacturer device databases using your phone's unique IMEI (serial) number via a data provider. Once you have your code, you will only need to insert your new SIM and enter it to complete unlocking.

Unlocking Software: The Unlock software method can be used in cases where the Unlock code cannot be found in the manufacturer or carrier device databases, or when the device does not ask for a network unlock code. Your Device is connected to a PC via USB Cable and network lock is updated using software. The software method is often more economical and faster. It is recommended for phones that cannot be unlocked with a code or where a quicker unlocking process is desired (Software is delivered instantly and the process is completed in a few minutes).

Remote (UICC) Unlock: Some devices may not ask for an unlock code but they can be unlocked remotely. The universal integrated circuit card (UICC) stands for the smart card in mobile devices that store security data. UICC unlock is method of removing a carrier lock from a device remotely without needing an unlock code or using software.

When you use a SIM from a different provider, your device will connect to carrier/manufacturer device database servers and check for network unlock status. To unlock the device, simlock status is update to unlocked in these databases via a data provider.

Note: Usuly eligible devices (fully paid and actived) can be unlocked with UICC method. Devices with following status can not be unlocked with UICC method;

- Unpaid (Not fully paid),

- Non-completed installments,

- Devices with past due balances,

- Not activated devices, and

- Activated devices less than 60 days old.
USB unlock software is recommended for non-eligible devices.