Credit: Sashkin/Shutterstock • • • After you’ve finished up with a two-year smartphone contract, one of the easiest ways to save money is to keep your old device and bring it to a compatible carrier with a lower monthly cost. But if your device is carrier locked — and if you bought it on contract from one of the big four carriers, it probably is — you’ll need to unlock it first. Congress passed a bill that requires carriers to unlock eligible devices, although the carriers were already in some situations. How To Unlock Ios 8 Iphone Forgot Your Passcode. How To Unlock Iphone 4s Using Itunes For Free. On Friday, August 1, Barack Obama. So now that’s it’s officially legal, how do you go about unlocking your smartphone? Read next: In February 2015, additional rules went into effect that protect consumers looking to unlock their phones.. First things first Unlocking a phone from a wireless carrier isn’t an instantaneous process.