Database Users

Debating on Rooting the S4

Im a pure n00b. I'm About to buy my first droid phone. Im very knowledgeable about iphones and the jailbreak world but I'm not sure what would be the benefit of rooting a droid phone. I've heard the droid community is pretty wide open without rooting.
What would be some benefits of rooting a phone like the samsung galaxy s4? I did see that it will allow you to tweak bluetooth to connect a ps3 controller to it wirelessly for emulators but is it anything else that XDA could share to help push me in that direction? any cool features?
Thanks in advance.

I'd say the biggest benefit from rooting is getting rid of that crap that both Samsung and AT&T put on the S4

First thing, droid phones are from Motorola. Call all others android phones. It will save some unnecessary flaming.
Pretty much still running the stock rom on mine, but used root to flash a mod that allows free wifi tethering and hot spot, and an extended power menu.
Flashing roms is also a big reason most people root phones. You can pick and choose what you want(touchwiz roms or aosp) and find one you like.
I wouldnt want an android phone without rooting it.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda premium

I mainly rooted for faux's kernel which removed the launcher lag and the messaging lag that occurs sometimes. I also rooted to removed all the bloatware.

Biggest reasons to root, for me personally, are custom roms, custom kernels, debloating, backing up and restoring apps, theming, overclocking, and undervolting. These are just my reasons personally. There are literally hundreds of other things you can do as a root user that you couldnt do otherwise.
The worst case scenario of rooting being, if you really dont find the benefit for yourself personally, its pretty easy to revert back to stock unrooted. These samsung phones now are basically unbrickable and flashing is really easy, especially if youve went through jailbreaking an iphone... lol rooting a samsung device is way easier imo.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk 2

I root for the deep-level backup capabilities, custom kernels that improve speed and battery life, Pie Control (makes navigating & using a large phone much easier), custom ROMs, mods like Hot Spot and custom themes, and deeper level security apps (firewall, find your phone, etc).

Here are the main reasons while people usually root. In no particular order.
1. Ad blocking
2. Remove unwanted apps "bloatware"
3. Custom ROMs/ advanced custom theming
4. Custom kernels and features such as nandroid backups and under/over clocking etc.
5. Tethering/free hot spot
6. Aosp ROMs
Ultimately think of rooting as taking complete control of your device. You can do pretty much anything depending on your knowledge after you are rooted.
Sent from my SPH-L720

thanks
thanks everybody. starting to like the community already. alot of quick helping people here.
I'm grandfathered in with unlimited at ATT. so free hot spot and removing bloatware talked me into it. thanks.

wotandsdwys said:
First thing, droid phones are from Motorola. Call all others android phones. It will save some unnecessary flaming.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was thinking the same thing..lol

How much space are you guys saving when you root and get rid of all the bloatware? How much available space is on your phone before all of your additional aps?

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djv3n0m said:
thanks everybody. starting to like the community already. alot of quick helping people here.
I'm grandfathered in with unlimited at ATT. so free hot spot and removing bloatware talked me into it. thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is at least one downside to rooting. You can't take the updates w/o breaking root. I've not rooted my S4 yet, but am thinking about it. I always rooted my HTC phones and it would sometimes take several months for a developer to incorporate updates into a ROM. So that makes me a little gunshy with a new phone like this, as I assume there will be a few updates in the first few months. But it seems like the dev's are much more active and on top of it with the Samsung phones, so I'm tempted to go.
Main reasons I want to go are deep backup, ad blocking and being able to tweak my settings to make it so the home button does not wake up the phone. I know, the latter reason seems silly, but it's a big deal to me.
BTW, you do not need to root to be able to tether. Check out the PDANet+ app. That's what I'm using and it works great wired or via bluetooth.

jejb said:
There is at least one downside to rooting. You can't take the updates w/o breaking root. I've not rooted my S4 yet, but am thinking about it. I always rooted my HTC phones and it would sometimes take several months for a developer to incorporate updates into a ROM. So that makes me a little gunshy with a new phone like this, as I assume there will be a few updates in the first few months. But it seems like the dev's are much more active and on top of it with the Samsung phones, so I'm tempted to go.
Main reasons I want to go are deep backup, ad blocking and being able to tweak my settings to make it so the home button does not wake up the phone. I know, the latter reason seems silly, but it's a big deal to me.
BTW, you do not need to root to be able to tether. Check out the PDANet+ app. That's what I'm using and it works great wired or via bluetooth.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should be able to take otas if you have stock recovery and are just rooted, this is how it was on the S3 at least and I don't see why you can't. Also on the S3 we always got the leaks right before the otas came out so the ROMs would always have the newest builds out before the otas usually, depending on the developer, some didn't like using leaks. But Sextape would always have a leak right before the otas dropped and we had everything usually within a day or two up to a week. But the development there was amazing on the S3. :thumbup:
Sent from my SPH-L720

GiantJay said:
You should be able to take otas if you have stock recovery and are just rooted, this is how it was on the S3 at least and I don't see why you can't.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can take the OTA, it will just break root. There were several threads here stating that fact here when the MDL OTA came out for the S4.

GiantJay said:
You should be able to take otas if you have stock recovery and are just rooted, this is how it was on the S3 at least and I don't see why you can't. Also on the S3 we always got the leaks right before the otas came out so the ROMs would always have the newest builds out before the otas usually, depending on the developer, some didn't like using leaks. But Sextape would always have a leak right before the otas dropped and we had everything usually within a day or two up to a week. But the development there was amazing on the S3. :thumbup:
Sent from my SPH-L720
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly what I was going to say! Sextape always came thru on the e4gt as well. The next update would always be out before the official release. So glad to see him have stuff for the s4 as well.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda premium

jejb said:
You can take the OTA, it will just break root. There were several threads here stating that fact here when the MDL OTA came out for the S4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is generally the case with OTA's, but every year it seems like rooting becomes more straight forwsrd, especially for Samsung. As for MDL it was a specific attribute added by Samsung to tighten up control on deeper root access that broke root, but it was hardly a locked bootloader or anything that severe. Re-rooting was as simple as loading a kernel and then Odining. At this point, most manufacturers are beginning to understand the benefits of the development community. Now if we can just get the carriers to "get it."
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda premium

To put it very simple I root my phone to be free and to have my phone the way I wanted it not the way a company wants me to have it
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk 2

Once you root your phone and learn all the possibilities that come along with it, you won't go back haha It's a lot of fun after knowing your stuff. reading in this forum is probably one of, if not, the best thing/s you can do

[Q] I hate 4.3 update

So after yelling at my phone threatening to smash it for a while now and cursing out the 4.3 up date. Is there any way to down grade if I root it? Or am I SOL?

You're SOL. Once you upgrade, there is no way to go back, not at the time of this writing anyway.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

Jesse_01 said:
So after yelling at my phone threatening to smash it for a while now and cursing out the 4.3 up date. Is there any way to down grade if I root it? Or am I SOL?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What do you hate about 4.3 ???

Relayers said:
What do you hate about 4.3 ???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hate that almost every app seems to want to crash. Google chrome always flickers and goes black when trying to switch pages.
All the extra software crap they added that I have no use for.
I thought about rooting and doing a custom rom. But I don't want to lose all my text messages. A lot of work and important messages that come in handy.
My battery life has got worse. Phone just seems slower.
I have never subscribed to this though, but it makes me wonder some times. Manufacturers do software updates when new phones are about to came out, so your old one starts to suck lol. 4.3 update for no major reason on the s4. You suffer for 3 months or so, than the s5 comes out to fix your problems.
I know Apple just did it to the iPhone 4 recently. We have 5 of them at work and they have crapped the bed performance wise after the update.

You can restore text messages with Titanium Backup, you could also try doing the mk2 unbrick method to reflash mk2 and see if that makes things better.

Jesse_01 said:
I hate that almost every app seems to want to crash. Google chrome always flickers and goes black when trying to switch pages.
All the extra software crap they added that I have no use for.
I thought about rooting and doing a custom rom. But I don't want to lose all my text messages. A lot of work and important messages that come in handy.
My battery life has got worse. Phone just seems slower.
I have never subscribed to this though, but it makes me wonder some times. Manufacturers do software updates when new phones are about to came out, so your old one starts to suck lol. 4.3 update for no major reason on the s4. You suffer for 3 months or so, than the s5 comes out to fix your problems.
I know Apple just did it to the iPhone 4 recently. We have 5 of them at work and they have crapped the bed performance wise after the update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can't custom rom your phone. Only mdl can use Loki and only mf3/mk2 can use safestrap which means no custom kernel.
Sent from my SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

Jesse_01 said:
So after yelling at my phone threatening to smash it for a while now and cursing out the 4.3 up date. Is there any way to down grade if I root it? Or am I SOL?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Trade your phone for a moto x or sell it and get a nexus. Moto x will still have a locked boot loader but you'll get close to stock android not to mention quick updates like a nexus
AT&T Galaxy S4 SGH-I337 RUNNING HYPERDRIVE 12

[Q] Should I root my note 4?

I know it's probably been asked a thousand times, and it's probably a matter of opinion, but I want some input before rooting my note 4. I have rooted every android device I have ever owned, in most cases before they even got warm, but for some reason I'm hesitant With this one, I love it as it is, and I mostly like touchwiz but I put up with its limitations because I like the few perks that the stock launcher provides over an alternative launcher, I really only want to root just for Xposed mods and various root applications, I can't see myself flashing a custom rom anytime soon, unless someone works out how to implement all of the Samsung hardware features. My main concern at the moment I suppose is warranty and OTA update to Lollipop (if that ever happens), I know you can just get the stock rom/image when it's available but I would prefer OTA, at least for the first upgrade to lollipop. can you root but still keep the stock recovery? Can you root without tripping knox? Is there some sort of fuse like there was in the S4 (and I presume the S5,never had one), is it hard to un root?, any other downsides to rooting the note 4?

If you root you WILL trip Knox. I read a discussion about whether Knox is a physical or coded fuse and i think the general thought is that it is physical so once its tripped it xan only be reset by having the mainboard changed.
However lollipop should just be around the corner so you could just wait a few more weeks (purely a guess at release date) and get ota and then root.
There is a stock ROM available which just has root access and no other changes if you want to stay close to stock but want xposed but it depends what model you have.
I believe there is also an xposed module that hides your root that makes ota think that you haven't rooted so you can still get them. I rooted my Note straight away and tried several ROMs and at the moment I'm on CM12 and its fantastic.
Sent from my SM-N910F using XDA Free mobile app

Eddster3000 said:
If you root you WILL trip Knox. I read a discussion about whether Knox is a physical or coded fuse and i think the general thought is that it is physical so once its tripped it xan only be reset by having the mainboard changed.
However lollipop should just be around the corner so you could just wait a few more weeks (purely a guess at release date) and get ota and then root.
There is a stock ROM available which just has root access and no other changes if you want to stay close to stock but want xposed but it depends what model you have.
I believe there is also an xposed module that hides your root that makes ota think that you haven't rooted so you can still get them. I rooted my Note straight away and tried several ROMs and at the moment I'm on CM12 and its fantastic.
Sent from my SM-N910F using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Eddster3000, yeah I remember looking into it a fair bit with my S4 and I think it was generally accepted that knox was a hardware fuse, I ended up rooting and updating the bootloader anyway. I was running CM12 on my S4 and loving it, I have always been a fan of Samsung hardware functionality but I stuck with CM12 anyway because it was so good, in this case though I think I'll miss the S pen features and a couple of other things, so I'll probably hold off for a little while I think, if someone came up with dual boot like the patcher for S4 that would probably tip me towards rooting. I have the telstra model, SM-N910G, I don't know how much telstra will interfere with the update process, only time will tell I suppose.

Absolutely. You won't regret it.
Sent from the first Samsung Galaxy ever

I can't give up on my S-PEN

rooting impairs a huge amount of functionality.
you lose warranty permanently.
you lose knox permanently.
your dual personality phone is now single personality.
you lose knox apps like knox email which are better than regular samsung email.
you lose policy enforcement.
you lose hidden Gallery and hidden SNote.
you lose knox tracking and knox remote wipe.

zurkx said:
rooting impairs a huge amount of functionality.
you lose warranty permanently.
you lose knox permanently.
your dual personality phone is now single personality.
you lose knox apps like knox email which are better than regular samsung email.
you lose policy enforcement.
you lose hidden Gallery and hidden SNote.
you lose knox tracking and knox remote wipe.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And rooting provides 100 times more functionality then you lose. Really, what percentage of people actually can't live without Knox?
Sent from my SM-N910P using XDA Free mobile app

Eddster3000 said:
If you root you WILL trip Knox. I read a discussion about whether Knox is a physical or coded fuse and i think the general thought is that it is physical so once its tripped it xan only be reset by having the mainboard changed.
However lollipop should just be around the corner so you could just wait a few more weeks (purely a guess at release date) and get ota and then root.
There is a stock ROM available which just has root access and no other changes if you want to stay close to stock but want xposed but it depends what model you have.
I believe there is also an xposed module that hides your root that makes ota think that you haven't rooted so you can still get them. I rooted my Note straight away and tried several ROMs and at the moment I'm on CM12 and its fantastic.
Sent from my SM-N910F using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really like CM roms, allways used them on my other devices.
but dont you miss the s-pen ??
and how is the camera quality on CM12 ?
I know on my S3 it was horrible on cyanogenmod roms becouse they did not have acces to all the samsung drivers

Brava27 said:
Absolutely. You won't regret it.
Sent from the first Samsung Galaxy ever
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, never have before, this is the first time I have ever had a second thought.
filthydani112 said:
I can't give up on my S-PEN
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's my main issue, I use it so often, and the air command alone is so darn useful, but I probably won't use a custom rom, just want to customize the stock rom and keep all the cool samsungness.
zurkx said:
rooting impairs a huge amount of functionality.
you lose warranty permanently.
you lose knox permanently.
your dual personality phone is now single personality.
you lose knox apps like knox email which are better than regular samsung email.
you lose policy enforcement.
you lose hidden Gallery and hidden SNote.
you lose knox tracking and knox remote wipe.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All good points to consider, I'm not so concerned with all of these points right now though, I just want access, not so much a custom rom, but what do you mean by dual/single personality?

Eddster3000 said:
If you root you WILL trip Knox. I read a discussion about whether Knox is a physical or coded fuse and i think the general thought is that it is physical so once its tripped it xan only be reset by having the mainboard changed.
However lollipop should just be around the corner so you could just wait a few more weeks (purely a guess at release date) and get ota and then root.
There is a stock ROM available which just has root access and no other changes if you want to stay close to stock but want xposed but it depends what model you have.
I believe there is also an xposed module that hides your root that makes ota think that you haven't rooted so you can still get them. I rooted my Note straight away and tried several ROMs and at the moment I'm on CM12 and its fantastic.
Sent from my SM-N910F using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
dicko101 said:
Yeah, never have before, this is the first time I have ever had a second thought.
That's my main issue, I use it so often, and the air command alone is so darn useful, but I probably won't use a custom rom, just want to customize the stock rom and keep all the cool samsungness.
All good points to consider, I'm not so concerned with all of these points right now though, I just want access, not so much a custom rom, but what do you mean by dual/single personality?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
same here man, i really dont know if i should root it or not.. been using the phone 2 months now. and its good.. but you just know it could be better if you root it

Can somebody please tell me what happens to the Picture I have saved in private mode once I root my phone.. Also will I be able to activate private mode again once I unroot?

dicko101 said:
All good points to consider, I'm not so concerned with all of these points right now though, I just want access, not so much a custom rom, but what do you mean by dual/single personality?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
dual personality is when you use your phone for business/private banking/buying stuff. knox keeps certain applications hidden from the main system so that even if someone manages to get a virus on your phone your banking information and business emails are safe. they run in a dual personality or second phone behind the first one. for example i have a bunch of email accounts i use for normal personal stuff - which i use the front note 4 personality for and a business email account i use for business stuff in the second personality. its like two phones in one with different apps/accounts/everything.

sastheayubian said:
Can somebody please tell me what happens to the Picture I have saved in private mode once I root my phone.. Also will I be able to activate private mode again once I unroot?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It will be lost. Once KONX is tripped, your KNOX container will be automatically erased.

So u mean I permanently lose private mode once I tipped Knox?

dicko101 said:
..... I really only want to root just for Xposed mods....
.... OTA update to Lollipop (if that ever happens)...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Today Xposed only work with dalvik and when lollipop will come it will work with art
Inviato dal mio GT-N8010 utilizzando Tapatalk

zurkx said:
rooting impairs a huge amount of functionality.
you lose warranty permanently.
you lose knox permanently.
your dual personality phone is now single personality.
you lose knox apps like knox email which are better than regular samsung email.
you lose policy enforcement.
you lose hidden Gallery and hidden SNote.
you lose knox tracking and knox remote wipe.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha knox is completely useless to everyone.
Sent from the first Samsung Galaxy ever

Brava27 said:
Haha knox is completely useless to everyone.
Sent from the first Samsung Galaxy ever
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
completely useless to you because you have never used it. i spend around 70% of my phone time in knox so its not useless to me.
why even buy a $900 note 4 if youre going to permanently remove half its functionality ? you can get a fake note 4 for $160 and root it instead.

zurkx said:
completely useless to you because you have never used it. i spend around 70% of my phone time in knox so its not useless to me.
why even buy a $900 note 4 if youre going to permanently remove half its functionality ? you can get a fake note 4 for $160 and root it instead.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Knox is for paranoid users. What does Knox do again? "protect you"? Please
Sent from the first Samsung Galaxy ever

Brava27 said:
Knox is for paranoid users. What does Knox do again? "protect you"? Please
Sent from the first Samsung Galaxy ever
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it keeps my private stuff private. yes it does protect me against unauthorized use. you may not value privacy but some of us use our phones for work and not as toys.

zurkx said:
it keeps my private stuff private. yes it does protect me against unauthorized use. you may not value privacy but some of us use our phones for work and not as toys.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then why are you on xda if you cannot develop anything on your non rooted phone?
Sent from the first Samsung Galaxy ever

Warning about root

if you root this phone and trip knox fuse counter. you will NEVER EVER be able to use the great feature of MST through samsung pay.
My thoughts . since we have a non root hotspot and all bloatware (which isnt that much) can be disabled
the phone has so much customization incl uded i am not rooting the phone. the battery lasts 2 days easy with medium
use. no bugs at all i can find. what more can you ask for.
Remember Root no MST (mst is the ability to use the old card swipers at any location with the phone. it sends card you addeds magnetic strip info to the swiper )
UNLESS you can root without tripping the know counter. its unreversalble
carry on

First phone I've owned that I dont see myself rooting. I really like the Samsung Pay.

Yea I'm coming from the S6 and couldn't use it but enjoying Samsung Pay now

You don't have to worry about that. All US versions are locked down. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3327399

After 8 generations of HTC phones, I decided to try Samsung this year as M10 rumors were they were ditching Boomsound my favorite feature of the M phones. I felt edge was far superior this year at least based on the rumors which getting this close to launch are usually spot on. I was well aware that I was going to have to decide to trip knox or not if I wanted root. While there is more customization and control with Android 6 it still doesn't compare to having everything wide open, especially if you are use to S-OFF.
Is the trade off worth it? Well I think so at least right now, this device is superior to pretty much anything out at the moment. I'm already missing Xposed, Titanium Backup & AdAway. The lock down on these devices is just getting so bad, while I understand they shouldn't come rooted out of the box but give us a choice. We may not even have the option of tripping Knox at this point. Part of the reason I stayed with Sprint for so long is they were more friendly with unlocking phones then big red but everything seems to be going the wrong direction.
Even if root is granted, it will just be patched and it's only going to get more secure and difficult each generation. I guess we just might have to start accepting that this is just how it is. Kinda sad, I'm just so use to having it even back in the Windows Mobile days I was running custom roms.

v8dreaming said:
You don't have to worry about that. All US versions are locked down. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3327399
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No they are already rooted with custom kernels and roms deodexed and odexed

These boys dont.play

Yess of course

I'm fine removing Samsung Pay if I get the benefits of rooting.

Robalboa said:
Works on our phones http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3335727
ROM stock firmware Samsung Galaxy S7 EDGE SM-G935P ROOT TWRP Drivers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought the bootloader was locked on all the carriers this year?

Someone give it a shot and let us know ?

Sim-X said:
I thought the bootloader was locked on all the carriers this year?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It still has the unlock bootloader button in developer options just like the S6 had

Soooperstar said:
It still has the unlock bootloader button in developer options just like the S6 had
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting, I'm not gonna go first I still haven't decided if I wanna trip knox or not if the bootloader is in fact able to be unlocked.

Robalboa said:
Works on our phones http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3335727
ROM stock firmware Samsung Galaxy S7 EDGE SM-G935P ROOT TWRP Drivers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This link only shows 935F -- not 935P. Am I missing something?

nastypup said:
This link only shows 935F -- not 935P. Am I missing something?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
as stated above there a option to
unlock the bootloader in Dev options. im not sure all the details because i see no benefit to root right now but
they do have the phone rooted and they are modding kernels and system as wee speak. also custom recovery.
TWRP will inject root upon install and start up to reboot.
This is just a warning about root to anyone so they know the Deal with Samsung pay and MST
I do see it says 900f but theres numerous reports of it working on the 900P
you know these guys are flashaholics lol

Robalboa said:
as stated above there a option to
unlock the bootloader in Dev options. im not sure all the details because i see no benefit to root right now but
they do have the phone rooted and they are modding kernels and system as wee speak. also custom recovery.
TWRP will inject root upon install and start up to reboot.
This is just a warning about root to anyone so they know the Deal with Samsung pay and MST
I do see it says 900f but theres numerous reports of it working on the 900P
you know these guys are flashaholics lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the tip! I'm a huge fan of custom roms and the prospect of xposed so I'm very much looking forward to rooting. I'll wait a little though for a more concrete path and at least a rom to flash.

Robalboa said:
as stated above there a option to
unlock the bootloader in Dev options. im not sure all the details because i see no benefit to root right now but
they do have the phone rooted and they are modding kernels and system as wee speak. also custom recovery.
TWRP will inject root upon install and start up to reboot.
This is just a warning about root to anyone so they know the Deal with Samsung pay and MST
I do see it says 900f but theres numerous reports of it working on the 900P
you know these guys are flashaholics lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've never used Samsung Pay but I need a rooted phone to restore a ton of data. Stock ROM is adequate for me. I played with custom ROMs years ago and they were just a time suck. I was flashing them almost daily. The stock ROM is good as long as its rooted.

nastypup said:
I've never used Samsung Pay but I need a rooted phone to restore a ton of data. Stock ROM is adequate for me. I played with custom ROMs years ago and they were just a time suck. I was flashing them almost daily. The stock ROM is good as long as its rooted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Samsung pay is the only way to use MST or use ur phone for old card swipers. But thats your call

Samsung pay is useless to me. And as far as I can tell that's the only benefit to not rooting. I've read there are other benefits but that's the only one I've seen posted, Other than warranty.
To me; rooting is more beneficial. Removing advertising is the biggest. Then a basic debloated rom is second. Adding apps that are not usable on non-rooted phone would be my third reason.

nickmus said:
Samsung pay is useless to me. And as far as I can tell that's the only benefit to not rooting. I've read there are other benefits but that's the only one I've seen posted, Other than warranty.
To me; rooting is more beneficial. Removing advertising is the biggest. Then a basic debloated rom is second. Adding apps that are not usable on non-rooted phone would be my third reason.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm kinda feeling the same way. Can't use Samsung Pay as a total replacement anyway and I just looked they don't even support Capital One cards at least yet anyway. That was one thing google did right back in the day with wallet, you could link any card. Still looks cool but ad block is one of the main reasons I root as well. I'm giving AdGaurd a shot (I use that on my desktop) and you can side load it to Android it creates a local VPN connection to the app to filter all traffic. Kinda annoying you always have a notification saying it's running also doesn't block youtube ads which Xposed worked awesome for that. I miss TI as well. Warranty void I feel so so about. S-OFF you could at least remove a tampered flag on an HTC although HTC would still have record of you doing a dev unlock token even if reset everything.

New Software Update

Just got a software update. I wonder what has changed or improved.
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Not sure. But bootloader is still locked with this, and experts are recommending to hold off on install if you plan on trying to root the device (in case a root exploit is found for the original software version). Remember, once you flash a new software, you cannot go back.

Seems to fix static over bluetooth, at least for me. Persisting with cabled headphones, though.

I noticed that it re-enables the things you have disabled with Package Disabler Pro.
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge

How do you disable automatic updates ?
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I just did the update, TOOK FOREVER IT SEEMED....but I am very impatient. Afterwards, it seems that things are smoother and faster, but it could just be the placebo effect. I will be watching battery life today and see if it improves.

Dr. Fed said:
Not sure. But bootloader is still locked with this, and experts are recommending to hold off on install if you plan on trying to root the device (in case a root exploit is found for the original software version). Remember, once you flash a new software, you cannot go back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lucky for my, I don't root or anything like that. I'm kind of ocd I like things to be the way they are supposed to be. I tried it once and hated it.
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Dr. Fed said:
Not sure. But bootloader is still locked with this, and experts are recommending to hold off on install if you plan on trying to root the device (in case a root exploit is found for the original software version). Remember, once you flash a new software, you cannot go back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Although I do believe that Samsung should unlock the bootloader and let people make their own choice about their phone. They just need to make it very clear that if you modify your phone your warranty is voided and your on your own. Sad part is some people will go out there and start playing with stuff and not know what they are doing and then want to blame Samsung when the phone gets messed up.
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My next phone im not rooting
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Cyberguycpt said:
Although I do believe that Samsung should unlock the bootloader and let people make their own choice about their phone. They just need to make it very clear that if you modify your phone your warranty is voided and your on your own. Sad part is some people will go out there and start playing with stuff and not know what they are doing and then want to blame Samsung when the phone gets messed up.
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think they've made it abundantly clear that flashing unsigned firmware voids the warranty. And Samsung can then refurb the phone and resell it. The Knox flag effectively protects Samsung from any liability regarding this sort of thing. Making it impossible to "downgrade" to previous software versions, a practice Samsung started a few years ago, was a bad omen. The dawn of the Knox flag added to this downward spiral. Locking the bootloader is a level of control unprecedented for carriers like T Mobile and Sprint, and continues the evolution of Samsung's security deathgrip.

Popped up when I unlocked my phone this morning. It's installing now will play around with it .

nano303 said:
My next phone im not rooting
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
then you have nothing to worry about, it is a great phone.
---------- Post added at 09:41 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:38 AM ----------
I "chatted" with T Mobile support around 8:30 am today, they had no idea this update was live. Apparently their databases have not updated.

Probably a good idea to hold off on this for now. What if they find an exploit that lets us root but only for the previous version? This is becoming a lot like iPhone jailbreaking... that's why I switched to this S7 Edge lol. I should have read more about it first.

slayerh4x said:
Probably a good idea to hold off on this for now. What if they find an exploit that lets us root but only for the previous version? This is becoming a lot like iPhone jailbreaking... that's why I switched to this S7 Edge lol. I should have read more about it first.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Samsung devices on T Mobile have always had unlocked bootloaders (as long as I can remember anyhow), this was a huge surprise for everybody.

It's also not the March security update as its still flagged as Feb 1
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Just rebooted after installing the update. Got a pop-up saying:
"The operating system on your device has been modified in an unauthorized way. Try downloading software updates using Smart Switch on your computer or visit a customer service center"
I haven't modified anything. I haven't even disabled packages. There is obviously no root so I haven't done that either. Weird. Will try a factory restore.
Edit: This was happening after I attempted to check for updates after this mornings update installed. Checked for update again after a 2nd restart and message no longer comes up.

Dr. Fed said:
Samsung devices on T Mobile have always had unlocked bootloaders (as long as I can remember anyhow), this was a huge surprise for everybody.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah it does seem that way. It really sucks, rooting the phone was one of the big reasons I wanted to switch over. I hope someone is able to find an exploit that allows root. I had android a long time ago and ran Cyanogen mod, that thing was cool. It took the super slow stock LG G1 or whatever it was and made it really fast. I would pay for that on this phone, it has so much potential.

Dr. Fed said:
I think they've made it abundantly clear that flashing unsigned firmware voids the warranty. And Samsung can then refurb the phone and resell it. The Knox flag effectively protects Samsung from any liability regarding this sort of thing. Making it impossible to "downgrade" to previous software versions, a practice Samsung started a few years ago, was a bad omen. The dawn of the Knox flag added to this downward spiral. Locking the bootloader is a level of control unprecedented for carriers like T Mobile and Sprint, and continues the evolution of Samsung's security deathgrip.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only issue I have with modding phones is that sometimes when buying used phones the seller doesn't tend to inform the buyer if something is wrong. I bought a phone a few years ago on At&t and realized later that it had Internet but could not make calls out. Apparently the last owner flashed something and messed it up. I ended up selling it for cheap, luckily it worked out for the buyer because the phone would not make calls on At&t but would on T-Mobile and he had T-Mobile.
There should be a bootloader unlocking tool that will let you forfeit all your claiming rights but also put you on a list by you imei number that can tell potential buyer your phone has been modified. While you may wont to modify it I wouldn't wont any of your problems. Worst of all is when you hear there is an update for your phone but you cant get it because your phone was modded with out your knowledge when purchasing.
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idtheftvictim said:
I just did the update, TOOK FOREVER IT SEEMED....but I am very impatient. Afterwards, it seems that things are smoother and faster, but it could just be the placebo effect. I will be watching battery life today and see if it improves.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually don't think its a placebo effect. Could be wrong. On restart, it was much quicker to get to a usable state. The micro stutters I was having seem to be gone. Things are opening quicker as well.

A welcomed update, I have installed on my phone and will see if it improves my battery life which has not been too good.