a locked down device is more simple to support
Not really. Locked down hardware specs are simpler to support, because, well, it’s the same hardware everywhere. Hence why standardized computers and phones like Apple’s stuff are theoretically easier and simpler to support: there’s very little variation.
The main support problem tends to be drivers and that’s a vendor-OS problem (nvidia on linux being a classic example). The experience is also entirely reliant on how well the OS behaves once it’s fully up and running, the boot sequence being locked or not makes no difference for that experience.
Normal users rarely, if ever, boot into recovery mode. To think that having full access to a well hidden feature that only advanced users are likely to even bother with will affect their experience at all makes no sense.
brucethemoose@lemmy.world 4 days ago
And better security, theoretically.
TBH most Android users would absolutely install all sorts of malware if it wasn’t literally impossible with the OS’s architecture. Not that Google Play isn’t a scam-infested bog, but I do get the locked-down approach.