T-Mobile to launch Samsung Galaxy Avant on July 30th with remote unlocking capabilities

While the Senate recently passed a bill that could make it easier for Android smartphone users to switch carriers after their contract is through, unlocking a smartphone remains a tedious and often costly process in the United States and elsewhere. T-Mobile, continuing its efforts to eliminate the so-called “pain points” associated with carriers, is aiming to solve that problem. 

According to TmoNews, which has a reliable track record at breaking T-Mobile’s upcoming plans, the magenta-flavored carrier is set to launch the Samsung Galaxy Avant on July 30th. The report claims that T-Mobile will be releasing the mid-tier smartphone with remote unlocking capabilities, based on a built-in app that connects with T-Mobile’s servers.

Galaxy Avant users will be able to select whether they want a temporary or permanent unlock, directly from the app, and then must restart the smartphone to apply the changes. If the user opts for a temporary unlock, he or she will receive an expiration message on screen. The app is likely to come preloaded from T-Mobile, rather than being publicly available through the Google Play Store.

T-Mobile is still testing the app, so there is a possibility that its plans change between now and the release of the Galaxy Avant. The carrier appears like it will be testing remote unlocking capabilities on the Galaxy Alpha because it is a mid-tier device, and it will monitor how the feature is used before potentially rolling it out to other devices — excluding the iPhone, in all likelihood.