Database Users

Root Now or Later?

Hey all,
I'm going to ordering a Nexus One is the next few days and was wondering whether I should root the device now or wait.
What I'm really wanting is to update the phone once a European flavour of the ROM is available to get multi touch support in Google Maps and the browser, as a UK version of Google Navigation (if it becomes available).
I'm a real newbie, so I may be missing something, e.g. Google Navigation for the UK could be an app on the Android Market if it becomes available.
What I really don't want to do is loose text messages, etc. By rooting the device later on. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks in advance.

There's no real instant-gratification reason to root now, IMO.
The problem with not rooting now, knowing you will root later, is that you'll wipe your phone (reinstall apps, readjust settings, lose messages, lose call logs). You're going to have to start fresh after you root.
IMO, if you know you're going to root at some point down the road, do it earlier rather than later.
I rooted my G1, but only to get A2SD. There's enough space in this phone that I don't foresee it being an issue in the near future. Plus, after a few months, my SD card kept wiping itself; I assume that's due to too much use of it. I don't expect to root my N1, but who knows, Cyanogen could come out with a superfast ROM, but the phone is so fast as it is that it seems unnecessary.
If you're a true nerd (which I am ironically ashamed to admit that I must not be) you want to root your phone ASAP, otherwise I think you can wait.
There's probably an app out there somewhere that lets you backup your texts. I know there's a Backup program for Rooted phones (Backup for root users) that is a lifesaver, but only if you have a rooted phone.
As of now, I don't think there are enough pro's to warrant rooting, but that's based on my usage -- others really want/need tethering, but that's about all you can get from rooting as of now.

SMS Backup on the Marketplace.
Done.

Just get it over with! However, if you're worried about hardware infant mortality, then, maybe wait 30-60 days. But, remember, when you flash the image to root, you'll have to wipe everything.

Thanks for the advice on the backup software.
Does anyone know if there's any chance that Google Navigation for the UK will be an app or will it be a ROM update for that as well?

The only way I think I will root my phone is if they figure out how to relock it. Im not gonna risk rooting it and then something happening and having a $560 paper weight. I paid wayyy to much for this phone to risk breaking it. If I could "un-root" the phone like you could on the G1/MT, then I would have rooted it right away.

Hold off the on rooting IMO. There aren't any real big reasons why you should want to root quite yet. No super-awesome ROMs or programs out for the N1 ATM. Give it a month and then it'll prolly be a lot more desirable.

I was an avid flasher on the g1! I paid full price on this puppy so I'm holding off. Mainly because I don't want to lose functionality.because we all know with flashing something gets broken! I don't want to lose camera or proximity sensor for a couple of seconds of speed. No offense out there to any of the great devs! I loved all the new roms but I'm gonna play safe for a while!

Nothing worth it right now.
Going to be awhile before it gets to the same point of G1 where so many good roms are out and pluses are clear.

I rooted mine as soon as I got home. Mainly because I wanted to have a poke about and have a look around.
SC

The only way I think I will root my phone is if they figure out how to relock it. Im not gonna risk rooting it and then something happening and having a $560 paper weight. I paid wayyy to much for this phone to risk breaking it. If I could "un-root" the phone like you could on the G1/MT, then I would have rooted it right away.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Was gonna make a new post, but this seems more appropriate since it's on the same subject.
Is anyone working on the process of relocking / unrooting it? I know from the "How to Root Nexus One" sticky at the beginning of this area they started talking about it like they were in process, but I didn't see much else come of it before the thread got locked.
I'm very likely buying the Nexus when it hits Verizon, unless this whole Bravo / Incredible mystery unfolds and a better or more appealing option exists at or around the same time. I didn't know anything about the whole rooting business until I started looking into the Nexus and Android, so I did enough research just to sort of understand the benefits of it and kind of get what it is.
I also agree that right now it probably isn't of much use, other than obviously not wanting to have to wipe out all your stuff later on. However, I do see the benefit later on once some really good ROMs are out that cover all bases to keep original functionality and add full multi-touch, more precision to the bottom buttons sensors, maybe even more speed, etc.... I'm with who I quoted though on the fact that I'd like it to be possible to definitely put it back to original factory settings (un-rooted), incase you need warranty work done. That would be the main thing stopping me.

I hate the way stock android looks. I rooted mine so I could theme it to how I want it to look. Mine was rooted about an hour after getting it. 30 minutes longer then I was going to wait because I had a phone call.

WaveSecure is my fav app at the moment- let's you back up messages and call logs - and best of all - let's you remote wipe or kill your phone if it's stolen
Mybackup is a good one for everything including sms and bookmarks.
Astro File Manager let's you back up apps but you have to pay for the full version
I guess the biggest thing is - whether they are trusted or just pirates stealing your info ... like the Banking app scam a few weeks ago ...
I just don't know anymore...

Why Root?

Hi, all.
I am completely new here, and have heard many users talking about how **update** only works on rooted devices. I would like to know what the advantages and disadvantages of rooting my phone would be, considering I have a phone with warranty and insurance from the supplier.
Thanks in advance to all users who can help.
Andy

Tethering, Custom ROMs with optimised performance, Take Screenshots of your phone... are the usual reponses you will get.
Personally, none of these are really important to me. The main reason I rooted is the fact that one day HTC will stop producing official updates for your phone (it seems 2.1 is the last for Hero users). But with root, you can soon flash on Android 2.2 (CyanogenMod 6).
If you dont want to void your warranty just yet... wait til you are desparate for 2.2

Thanks for the reply, but seen as it seems the only disadvantage is voiding the warranty, surely it is a good idea to root as I have insurance, which should cover all things covered in the warranty?
EDIT: Does rooting keep the sense UI?

Hey Andyt95.
As mobydeek has pointed out, there is definately a reason to root your Hero and rooting will only enhance your device. I'm not sure about this (somebody else will have to clarify for me)..But even if you was to root your device, you could, in essence, revalidate your warranty by flashing back to an older ROM (RUU) which in essence resets your entire phone back to how it was.
Anyway, before I confuse you - Rooting more or less means gaining full access to your phone..that's it pretty much, meaning that nothing else changes apart from the fact you can do more with it if you so desire.
Once your phone is 'rooted', you'll be able to 'flash' custom ROM's which will get the most out of your phone..including overclocking! (if you wish to, not compulsary).
Alot of the people from around these parts root their devices the same day they buy them. It's definately a plus thing and something that I definately recommend doing if you wish to see the better side to your Hero.
If at all you do wish to progress, there are plenty of people that will be more than happy to guide you along the way - including myself. Take a look around, see what you think and go from there.

To root or not to root?

I know most people are gonna tell me I should root my phone, but just hear me out really quickly...
I just got my Samsung Vibrant and I truly love the phone. It's a huge upgrade from my G1 in pretty much every way I can think of. I had my G1 rooted since like the second week I had it. I started off with JesusFreke's ROMs and then made my way to Cyanogen's ROMs with a few others that I tried here and there. I tried a bunch of different themes and I used quite a few root apps. I know my way around the rooted Android scene (or at least the rooted G1 scene) pretty well, but I'm not entirely sure if I want to root my Vibrant and here's why:
I'm afraid of voiding my warranty.
There's not really anything that I want to do with the phone that it can't already do (for example, it has plenty of space for apps without the need for A2SD).
I don't want to risk losing things like my text messages over and over again from switching to different ROMs (this happened to me quite a bit with my G1).
My G1's battery and overall performance were much much worse than my friends' G1s which were not rooted. I don't want this happening with my Vibrant.
Some people will think that these reasons are either unimportant or nonexistent, but I disagree. Again, before people start saying "these are the risks of rooting, deal with it or leave," I want to stress that I'm not a newbie at this.
Anyway, the main reason that I DO want to root the phone, regardless of the fact that I told myself I wouldn't, is because of all this junkware that T-Mobile preinstalled the phone. I didn't know the phone came with this crap (like GoGo, TeleNav GPS, Slacker, etc.). We all know that you can't remove this stuff without rooting...I've counted 11 apps that I want to remove from the phone because they're effectively advertisements and I don't want them. So before I make a decision, I'd like to ask some questions...
Would you root the phone if you were ME?
Is it possible to root the Vibrant, remove the apps, and then unroot it, thus leaving the apps gone?
If not ^^, then is it possible to root the Vibrant and keep the stock ROM? I really don't want any custom ROMs...I just want to remove the junkware.
I'm sorry if similar questions have been asked before, but I feel like my specific needs and concerns probably aren't shared by most of the XDA community so I created my own post...
Thanks,
Gerard

actually I think what most are going to say is search the forum... There are several threads on the topic.
You don't have to add any roms if you're rooted. Yes you can remove the bloatware with root. Yes its easy to take your phone out of root, but with the bloatware missing its not hard to see that you have had root at one point.

I actually did root my phone just to remove the junkware....and then used titanium backup to remove what I didn't want....it took me 3 mins to root compared to the 15 mins it took for my nexus....i say its worth it....you can't even tell its rooted so I'm pretty sure the warehouse will never catch it if a exchange is ever needed.....you ll personally make up ur mind as soon as u see the cyanogen 2.2 rom come out hopefully that will be soon....I SAY GO FOR IT
Sent from my Samsung™ Vibrant using XDA App

I'm not bothering to root while I can still return the phone (1st 30 days) and not all the HW issues are know. Once a decent custom ROM is available I'll start looking into rooting, customer recovery, etc. The only thing I'm missing a bit from not being rooted is my Wifi tethering...

Thanks for the replies, guys (and/or girl(s) it looks like lol). I'm glad I wasn't destroyed by people telling me to search the forums...
I'll probably end up doing root sooner or later with very few modifications (if any). I'll wait it out a bit, though. My questions have been answered.
Thanks again!
Gerard

Is losing the warranty worth rooting? Is it ever not a good choice?

I have been rooting my phone ever since my first Android years ago (HTC Incredible). I'm not too wild with the customizations, basically root it to make minor GUI changes, overclock at times just out of mere curiosity and boredom for when I want to have fun, and to remove the bloatware. So basically, I never really have used a custom ROM. Whether it was the Note 4 with the one click root app, or using a program on my PC with the original rom for the LG G2.
My question though... Is there much to worry about when I trigger Knox in my S7 edge and lose warranty? I pay for Asurion insurance* (yes, it's overpriced but it's a luxury I like to retain) but would there be a scenario where having a valid warranty would be beneficial? I remember back years ago there were times when my phone broke and I got a brand new phone through warranty* (avoiding insurance - which means not having to pay a deductible).
Is what I use root for worth the loss of warranty?
Thank you for your time guys!

One aspect to keep in mind is Samsung pay. From what I understand, Samsung Pay will not work once Knox is tripped. This mat not matter to you if you dont care to use Pay, but it may affect resale of the phone if someone interested did want Pay. Thats a negative I can think of. Just my 2 cents.
Sent from my SM-G935W8 using XDA-Developers mobile app

kabreu said:
I have been rooting my phone ever since my first Android years ago (HTC Incredible). I'm not too wild with the customizations, basically root it to make minor GUI changes, overclock at times just out of mere curiosity and boredom for when I want to have fun, and to remove the bloatware. So basically, I never really have used a custom ROM. Whether it was the Note 4 with the one click root app, or using a program on my PC with the original rom for the LG G2.
My question though... Is there much to worry about when I trigger Knox in my S7 edge and lose warranty? I pay for Asurion insurance* (yes, it's overpriced but it's a luxury I like to retain) but would there be a scenario where having a valid warranty would be beneficial? I remember back years ago there were times when my phone broke and I got a brand new phone through warranty* (avoiding insurance - which means not having to pay a deductible).
Is what I use root for worth the loss of warranty?
Thank you for your time guys!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We can't tell. That's your own decision. We don't know your financial situation, we don't know how you would benefit from a rooted device. So; If you can afford to repair the device with your own money + if you'd benefit a lot from rooting it, go ahead. If both scenarios are not applicable to you, the don't.

I've always rooted my phones except this last one because there was no root. But after using it as is for 1/2 year I'm actually ok with it. Samsung pay and a couple of other things that never worked on rooted devices work ok. I already used the warranty once so that's good. And my main reason for rooting it was adaway and titanium backup. But now there are a few apps that block ads in the browser and don't require root. And they work ok for the most part. Lack of backup is not great but I learned to work around this using samsung and google. And only needed to use it once when changed the phone. Otherwise I am enjoying it. It updates itself while not loosing any data, everything works, warranty is there and I don't get too many ads. I hardly have 1-2 apps that give me ads and that I use maybe once a month so that doesn't bother me anymore.

Its a personal choice... I dont use custom roms mainly because they dont work, the only one I used was a a stock rom for the note 4 that was deodexed, the rest of the roms alwas have some sort of problem, cam doesnt work, led doesnt work, battery drain, crashes, etc, etc, etc, just read every rom thread, no one is fully working.
I rooted the phone to make the battery last longer. Some days ago I unrooted the phone to play pokemon go with my kid and android poped up an alert notifying that my device was slow... and ofcourse iit was slow because of the stupid apps that im not using that are running in background alone.

Going back to the early years of Android, there were many compelling reasons to root your device.
As time has passed, the "stock" experience has got better and better, and the number of reasons to root has definitely got smaller.
Personally, I've not rooted any of my devices since the Note 3, and I've had many since then.
I know some people like to root as soon as a device leaves the box, but my advice these days is to use a device stock for a period before making any decisions on rooting.
Regards,
Dave
Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

LS997 LG V20 Root/Unroot Questions (Sprint)

So i would really like to root my LS997 (Sprint) LG V20, my only concern is there is no way back once rooted so if something happens to my phone and need to take it in the the store im pretty much screwed... so is it really worth rooting at this time without a way to go back to? Also would be the best way to root if i did decide to root this device (Link) would be greatly appreciated.. Thanks everyone!!

This is my 2 cents. I have previously rooted phones before as well as this phone, but I can't honestly say that I would recommend it. Don't get me wrong, the unlocking/rooting method (Dirty Santa) is straight forward and the support you get here on XDA is second to none, but if you're catious about not being able to go back to stock you may want to hesitate. You need to consider the pro's and con's and figure out for yourself what you want. I wanted to be able to reboot my phone without a static boot screen. I wanted to be able to update OTA the day the updates were available and to not rely on someone getting a clean update image, etc. I didn't see the benefit of the mods that are currently available, and the promise of getting all the stock LG apps to work on a Sprint phone is not 100% true. You can get some to work without root. There were several that still did not work (if that matters to you). Thankfully my phone glitched out and wouldn't boot, so Sprint offered me an exchange which I happily accepted. Let's just say that rooting on the Sprint variant is not for the faint of heart and you better not expect to need to send your phone in for any repairs as well. Bottom line, if it's your DD and you can't do without, I can't recommend rooting at this time. Just my 2 cents...
EDIT: For me to root again, I would need to have a bona fide working KDZ to return to stock and LineageOS to release an official ROM for LS997 that utilizes the second screen (I like it, so piss off, lol).

Ok so in a nut shell .. I should really just wait for a way to go back if needed ?

Spanky' said:
Ok so in a nut shell .. I should really just wait for a way to go back if needed ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
NO,
You need to accept two things.
1.) Currently if you root, you will not have a way to go back to FULLY stock and locked, but thats no fun anyways lol,
The real issue with this isn't going back to "stock" but having a "kdz" avalible for the recovery of a hard bricked device, or a soft brick that you cant understand how to fix. This is a restore img that you use a pc to push to phone to update, downgrade, or restore a lg phone, and sadly Sprint wont be releasing a kdz publicly, and its not coming so dont ask for a eta .
2.) The dreaded static on the bootup screen. We lack the developers on the Sprint/LG side of things that work on boot.img's,
This puts a ton of V20 users sprint and others in a bad spot. Where once ur rooted, you have static, and thats gonna ALWAYS be the case, unless you flash a AOSP rom like lineage. For this one, its just a nucence issue on reboots, its not really a issue for use, but man i can say I do miss having a custom boot animation on a reboot ( The static covers up the boot logo etc until you lock your screen)
The rest is regular root stuff. Some bugs etc. As far as getting LG apps back, and 2nd screen support..
The stock lg apps are back, and working as far as im aware. At-least on my rom ive brought back 99% of lgs apps that were gone, but some i didn't care to bring back. Like LG calculator and LG calendar. The Google replacement is better and more synchronization. But things like LG gallery and lg stock messages were things that should have never been pulled, and LG did in fact put them back on their G6. Smart move lg. There isn't any stock apps im aware of that wont come back at this stage.
2nd screen is proprietary, so unless devs build their own app using the 2nd screen code on lineage is stealing and xda wont accept that. So if ur leaving lgs softwear to flash a aosp rom you knew going into this that 2nd screen isnt a option, and if untimately your looking for pure android you should get the pixel xl or equivalent pure device.
There are some things with Encryption that could cause issues, mostly for those using some sort of high end email that checks your device security may not work, but thats going to be any rooted/unlocked device id say.
The statement : its not for the faint of heart: is kinda true. Rooting isn't for some, and you better be able to read/follow instrucions that are provided, and make sure you have a grasp before starting.
There is a ton of info on the site for users to read and digest as well as the V20 section has stayed pretty active with users and devs alike, myself being the latter. There's hope on the horizon for the above mentioned. Both KDZ and Static are works in progress, and unless a dev who is knowledgeable on these things comes over to the device its the same og team working towards perfection.
As far as OTA updates go, there are 0 devices on the market that get software updates from the manufacture after you have modified your system etc. This isnt just manufacture hating on the root, but also avoiding bricking ur custom device with a block update that is targeting files that are gone/moved/changed. So dont worry about ota updates as they are gonna break everywhere on anything that's rooted. The ota updates get pulled by devs, tested and implimented as fast as we can, but if you want the updates as the launch then dont root and accept the device as is. 99% of the time the bennifits of fixing / changing all the other things on the device to be delayed on a ota is worth it. Sprint is the 1st V20 to get onto the Feb Sec. Patch, all other carriers are still on Dec or older. But the update came for the sprint V20, and within 30days of it being live, weve managed to get the ota pushed to our rooted users and its working GREAT!
I can say 1 thing for sure, if you update your V20 to zv6 without being rooted 1st this debate is over anyways as it wont/cant be rooted anymore and the decision is gone to do so. But otherwise, theres a reason youve landed on xda, wondering about what the hype is about rooting etc, ill just leave a screenshot of my device here for looks. Im very proud of the work myself and the rest of the community has done. The device runs 10x faster and longer then the OEM;s software the released, and so many little bugs etc have been fixed also on our end to enhance it further. With the countless options to theme, customize and change ur device, the learning and experience itself is $$.
Ultimately, i vote to root the $H!T out of your phone, and worst case, get it replaced and do it again if you F it up!

Team DevDigitel said:
NO,
You need to accept two things.
1.) Currently if you root, you will not have a way to go back to FULLY stock and locked, but thats no fun anyways lol,
The real issue with this isn't going back to "stock" but having a "kdz" avalible for the recovery of a hard bricked device, or a soft brick that you cant understand how to fix. This is a restore img that you use a pc to push to phone to update, downgrade, or restore a lg phone, and sadly Sprint wont be releasing a kdz publicly, and its not coming so dont ask for a eta .
2.) The dreaded static on the bootup screen. We lack the developers on the Sprint/LG side of things that work on boot.img's,
This puts a ton of V20 users sprint and others in a bad spot. Where once ur rooted, you have static, and thats gonna ALWAYS be the case, unless you flash a AOSP rom like lineage. For this one, its just a nucence issue on reboots, its not really a issue for use, but man i can say I do miss having a custom boot animation on a reboot ( The static covers up the boot logo etc until you lock your screen)
The rest is regular root stuff. Some bugs etc. As far as getting LG apps back, and 2nd screen support..
The stock lg apps are back, and working as far as im aware. At-least on my rom ive brought back 99% of lgs apps that were gone, but some i didn't care to bring back. Like LG calculator and LG calendar. The Google replacement is better and more synchronization. But things like LG gallery and lg stock messages were things that should have never been pulled, and LG did in fact put them back on their G6. Smart move lg. There isn't any stock apps im aware of that wont come back at this stage.
2nd screen is proprietary, so unless devs build their own app using the 2nd screen code on lineage is stealing and xda wont accept that. So if ur leaving lgs softwear to flash a aosp rom you knew going into this that 2nd screen isnt a option, and if untimately your looking for pure android you should get the pixel xl or equivalent pure device.
There are some things with Encryption that could cause issues, mostly for those using some sort of high end email that checks your device security may not work, but thats going to be any rooted/unlocked device id say.
The statement : its not for the faint of heart: is kinda true. Rooting isn't for some, and you better be able to read/follow instrucions that are provided, and make sure you have a grasp before starting.
There is a ton of info on the site for users to read and digest as well as the V20 section has stayed pretty active with users and devs alike, myself being the latter. There's hope on the horizon for the above mentioned. Both KDZ and Static are works in progress, and unless a dev who is knowledgeable on these things comes over to the device its the same og team working towards perfection.
As far as OTA updates go, there are 0 devices on the market that get software updates from the manufacture after you have modified your system etc. This isnt just manufacture hating on the root, but also avoiding bricking ur custom device with a block update that is targeting files that are gone/moved/changed. So dont worry about ota updates as they are gonna break everywhere on anything that's rooted. The ota updates get pulled by devs, tested and implimented as fast as we can, but if you want the updates as the launch then dont root and accept the device as is. 99% of the time the bennifits of fixing / changing all the other things on the device to be delayed on a ota is worth it. Sprint is the 1st V20 to get onto the Feb Sec. Patch, all other carriers are still on Dec or older. But the update came for the sprint V20, and within 30days of it being live, weve managed to get the ota pushed to our rooted users and its working GREAT!
I can say 1 thing for sure, if you update your V20 to zv6 without being rooted 1st this debate is over anyways as it wont/cant be rooted anymore and the decision is gone to do so. But otherwise, theres a reason youve landed on xda, wondering about what the hype is about rooting etc, ill just leave a screenshot of my device here for looks. Im very proud of the work myself and the rest of the community has done. The device runs 10x faster and longer then the OEM;s software the released, and so many little bugs etc have been fixed also on our end to enhance it further. With the countless options to theme, customize and change ur device, the learning and experience itself is $$.
Ultimately, i vote to root the $H!T out of your phone, and worst case, get it replaced and do it again if you F it up!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your detailed and informative reply... Im no newb to flashinging.. And understand the risks involved in rooting this perticular decive... As ive rooted many before.. Im on zv6 so it looks as though i cant root anywaus... Maybe some day we will get some kind of root and unroot... Hopefull thinking hahah ... But ya... Defiantly thinking about going back to samsung next upgrade...

My V20 was an absolute DOG before I rooted.
It was SLOOOOOOOOOW. The only thing that was fast was the battery draining.
Since rooting it is like night and day. Fast and battery last great.

midmadn said:
My V20 was an absolute DOG before I rooted.
It was SLOOOOOOOOOW. The only thing that was fast was the battery draining.
Since rooting it is like night and day. Fast and battery last great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To bad im on zv6 i cant root this

I rooted with Dirty Santa. While it was easy to do, I misread or missed a step, no problems though.
I like being able to get rid of all the LG and Sprint apps, drives me crazy that they sit there even though I have 96GB space on my phone.
The static on boot up isn't too bad, just don't ever let your phone die completely and don't reboot and it's not a bother. A few times I have let my phone go totally dead. Most of the time booting up is not an issue. Once or twice I couldn't get in. I had to remove my case, pull pull out the battery, and boot again.
I do miss getting OTA updates.. not only for security, but because when Android O comes out and I'm not able to update I'm going to feel I am missing something even if there's nothing much different.

yuppicide said:
I rooted with Dirty Santa. While it was easy to do, I misread or missed a step, no problems though.
I like being able to get rid of all the LG and Sprint apps, drives me crazy that they sit there even though I have 96GB space on my phone.
The static on boot up isn't too bad, just don't ever let your phone die completely and don't reboot and it's not a bother. A few times I have let my phone go totally dead. Most of the time booting up is not an issue. Once or twice I couldn't get in. I had to remove my case, pull pull out the battery, and boot again.
I do miss getting OTA updates.. not only for security, but because when Android O comes out and I'm not able to update I'm going to feel I am missing something even if there's nothing much different.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im going to guess there will be a custom rom for android O availible before official comes out lol