First and foremost, I don't really need my Hero to do anything it doesn't already do. It's just, I'm very picky about aesthetics and I'm not a fan of the way the icons look on the stock ROM.
By the way I'm in the US with Sprint.
1. Do I have to root my Hero to change the theme/icons?
2. If I root my Hero can my phone become vulnerable to hackers? (Read this somewhere ... Had to do with SSH or something)
3. Will I be able to get rid of all the bundled apps like Nascar and NFL without rooting my Hero?
Thanks in advance.
Before you get all excited about rooting your phone, keep in mind, HTC should be releasing the Android 2.x early next year (as per online rumors ). If you really must have root access, tethering, or the removal of stock apps, then rooting is the way to go. The first and most important thing you must do is to install a recovery image (like RA-heroc-v1.5.2) and back up your current ROM via Nand.
1. there are some apps (at home) in the marketplace that'll allow you to change the theme and icons without rooting your phone.
2. Unless your phone is constantly connected to something like telnet (highly unlikely), you shouldn't get hacked. If you're worried, just turn off your 3G and leave your phone offline when not in use.
3. To get rid of Sprint apps, your phone will have to be rooted.
Btw, I have a GSM Hero, so there are numerous differences on what you'll get/not get on your CDMA Hero.
Go to the CDMA section and read, read, read. Don't take shortcuts, you need to be 100% sure of what you're about to do. Remember, there is a possibility that you can brick your expensive phone.
Also, read the What Can I Do With Root - INFO.
Didn't really get the telnet reference. I just want to know ... Does rooting the Hero make it easier for people to maliciously obtain personal info from the device?
If so ... Is there a step in the rooting process that prevents this? If i recall correctly, jailbroken iPhones became vulnerable to said exploits. Why would it be any different with the Hero?
i dont think so.. if you dont pay attention to the apps you download then you might get fooled.. you know.. you download a game and it asks to be allowed to view your contacts..
akin_t said:
If so ... Is there a step in the rooting process that prevents this? If i recall correctly, jailbroken iPhones became vulnerable to said exploits. Why would it be any different with the Hero?
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why would it be different? these security mechanisms were not implemented just for fun...
nevertheless you can also execute malicious apps without root. in fact i'd think that there are more approaches out there that don't need root, as they have the broader "audience".
but honestly: if you don't know what you are doing don't do it. it seems to me that you don't have a clue what rooting means, so IMHO you should read up on that topic a little more. this is not meant to sound condescending or anything, this is just a warning that you most likely will crash a few times if you dive into it head first.
Very, very true.
Don't risk making that phone of yours an expensive piece of paper-weight.
There's already loads of threads that explain the rooting process and benefits throughout this forum.
kendong2 said:
why would it be different? these security mechanisms were not implemented just for fun...
nevertheless you can also execute malicious apps without root. in fact i'd think that there are more approaches out there that don't need root, as they have the broader "audience".
but honestly: if you don't know what you are doing don't do it. it seems to me that you don't have a clue what rooting means, so IMHO you should read up on that topic a little more. this is not meant to sound condescending or anything, this is just a warning that you most likely will crash a few times if you dive into it head first.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh I know what it means now, matter of fact I rooted it the other night. Read up on it and still don't understand why HTC/Sprint would deny users access to the root folder but yeah, not a problem for me anymore.
I'm due for an upgrade here real soon. Like tomorrow.
I currently own an Eris, and of course have it rooted, custom recovery, blah blah... Anyway, I can certainly survive with only root, as the only reason I used custom ROMs was to improve the garbage stock performance on the thing. So, after doing a few searches of the DX forum, I've found only a couple mentions of Metamorph, which I use extensively in theming my phone, mostly framework-res.apk.
So my question then, is what is the issue with modifying the framework on the Moto? I've seen that most people are just pushing modified .apks through ADB or flashing .zip. Is there a real danger in modifying the .png files and pushing them with Metamorph, or is this just general paranoia about the security of the phone in general? Obviously it's not a signature issue, or you wouldn't be able to boot after pushing the modified .apk
As far as I'm concerned, this is the only thing that has me leaning towards the Incredible right now, despite it's inferior hardware.
Any thoughts/suggestions/explanations would be greatly appreciated.
I wouldn't consider the Inc to have inferior hardware. I can say in my personal usage, it may have even had BETTER preformance... it's OS feels much more prefected. 2.2 may fix that though.
Either way, I've never heard of this fear you speak of. This may have been present before the custom recovery though? Back when you had to sbf if you messed up?
I don't know if the DX or D2 has root or not, but I'm aware of the bootloader problem. Will the locked bootloader block the attempts for a permanent root?
Also, if we do manage to get rooted on this device, will this allow us to remove bloatware, and the sideloading of apps? I'm aware I can use an app on the PC to do it, but for the sake of convenience I would like to sideload apps from the SD card.
I'm not worried about custom roms or anything like that, I'm fine with MotoBlur. But will I be able to install ADW Launcher or Launcher Pro or anything like that?
Either way, this phone is a monster, and I will definitely not go back to the boring old iPhone once this baby is in my hands.
Everything will get rooted, eventually, regardless of the state of bootloader. If you are REALLY curious about what a community can do with a locked bootloader, check out the xperia x10 forum here on xda. Sony stopped development for this phone shortly after they released 2.1, yet there are several extremely stable 2.2 Roms floating around, and a few 2.3.2 in development, thanks to the devs and a supportive community. A locked bootloader really doesn't concern me much, that's why we have xda, as long as the community is behind the devs, pretty much anything is possible.
Sent from my X10i using XDA App
PixoNova said:
I don't know if the DX or D2 has root or not, but I'm aware of the bootloader problem. Will the locked bootloader block the attempts for a permanent root?
Also, if we do manage to get rooted on this device, will this allow us to remove bloatware, and the sideloading of apps? I'm aware I can use an app on the PC to do it, but for the sake of convenience I would like to sideload apps from the SD card.
I'm not worried about custom roms or anything like that, I'm fine with MotoBlur. But will I be able to install ADW Launcher or Launcher Pro or anything like that?
Either way, this phone is a monster, and I will definitely not go back to the boring old iPhone once this baby is in my hands.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Rooting shouldn't be that big of a deal. From the review on gdgt, all of the bloatware can be removed without root, anyway. The reviewer also installed ADW with no problem.
Custom ROMs will most likely come eventually. Give it a couple of months. With how awesome this phone is, there will probably be quite a bit of hacking going on.
As my question implies, can anyone break it down for me as to why it is a good move to root my phone? I'm on AT&T right now, with ADW EX home launcher. I'm happy with the overall speed. Can you list out some advantages of rooting? I'm not looking for the general reasons to root, I want reasons SPECIFIC to the Atrix on AT&T. Sideloading and Amazon app store are the only two reasons I have so far. What is the advantage in terms of battery life, speed, stability, overheating etc? What about compatibility with future motorola updates? Thanks!
sideloading and amazon app pretty much sums it up for now, and the ability to install psuedo roms like gingerblur and Gladiatrix
Oh. that brings me to the second point, rooting lets you remove bloat apps and install apps that need root, like this new app I'm trying called LBE Security Service.
Later on, when custom roms and kernels are made, you'll have to have Superuser access (root) before you can access those parts of the data.
Advantages in terms of battery life, speed, stability etc? It depends on the rom you load. Some roms may boast extended battery life/speed and if you install those, you would have those extra features. For now, since we have nothing of that sort, you will remain stock with root, but you'll be ready if/when something comes out.
Last word, I say root it. It lets you customize your android experience. You can install new fonts, remove that ATT bloatware, and you can sideload (try out betas, etc)
(Oops, real last word)
Compatibility with future updates? You'll probably have to flash with SBF to update from now on instead of OTA, but thats a preference anyway. In the end, you will be able to update fine, so don't worry about it. Though if you are lazy to do research and actually invest time into your phone, I say don't root it because theres no point. If you want to experience android in its fullest and customize as much as you can, ROOT is the only way.
Hope I hoped.
Rooting Advantages:
-Sideloading
-P-ROMS (basically an enhanced theme)
-Custom Themes
-Custom Apps such as Applanet(best app you'll ever come across)
-Battery life is extended a bit, nothing drastic though
-Speed seems be a bit better, nothing greatly drastic
-The heat production is pretty much the same
-Memory does free up a bit more (mostly in the P-ROMS)
-Bloatware removed (lots of useless ****)
Disadvantage
-issues with P-ROMS, sometimes when installing they work properly and sometimes they don't.
-Root access sometimes lost if unused for a long period of time.
I'd say wait until the bootloader either gets hacked or bypassed because you'll save yourself tons of heartache.
Mafisometal said:
-Root access sometimes lost if unused for a long period of time.
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Click to collapse
I never heard that!
Well About root, you can make your phone really yours adding new features or customizing everything you want: You can add support for Cisco VPNs, enable hotspot and sideloading, change the clock speed of your phone processor, and so on!
chaitu45 said:
As my question implies, can anyone break it down for me as to why it is a good move to root my phone? I'm on AT&T right now, with ADW EX home launcher. I'm happy with the overall speed. Can you list out some advantages of rooting? I'm not looking for the general reasons to root, I want reasons SPECIFIC to the Atrix on AT&T. Sideloading and Amazon app store are the only two reasons I have so far. What is the advantage in terms of battery life, speed, stability, overheating etc? What about compatibility with future motorola updates? Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dont. No reason for you to root.
If you haft to ask a question like this than dont
Mafisometal said:
Rooting Advantages:
-P-ROMS (basically an enhanced theme)
-Custom Apps such as Applanet(best app you'll ever come across)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
*P-roms are not just enhanced themes. They include tweaks and mods in them.
*Applanet promotes piracy and hurts the developers communities. Promoting it in XDA is prohibited by the way.
Mafisometal said:
Rooting Advantages:
-Sideloading
-P-ROMS (basically an enhanced theme)
-Custom Themes
-Custom Apps such as Applanet(best app you'll ever come across)
-Battery life is extended a bit, nothing drastic though
-Speed seems be a bit better, nothing greatly drastic
-The heat production is pretty much the same
-Memory does free up a bit more (mostly in the P-ROMS)
-Bloatware removed (lots of useless ****)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Reported for promoting theft (Applanet)
Sent from WinBorg 4G via XDA premium app
CaelanT said:
Reported for promoting theft (Applanet)
Sent from WinBorg 4G via XDA premium app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Childish.
While I don't agree with people using App Planet and ripping of developers, he never said "download app planet and get all those awesome apps for free" or "you can steal em!"
He answered the guys question based on his beliefs and not ours. You can not fault him for telling the truth as he sees it.
DarrellRaines said:
Childish.
While I don't agree with people using App Planet and ripping of developers, he never said "download app planet and get all those awesome apps for free" or "you can steal em!"
He answered the guys question based on his beliefs and not ours. You can not fault him for telling the truth as he sees it.
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Click to collapse
"(best app you'll ever come across)" is more than just a recommendation.
Why you think he told the OP applanet is the best he will ever come across? What is it applanet has to be that? think about it and be logical.
CyberPunk7t9 said:
"(best app you'll ever come across)" is more than just a recommendation.
Why you think he told the OP applanet is the best he will ever come across? What is it applanet has to be that? think about it and be logical.
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Click to collapse
I have thought about it. The OP asked a question and to the person who answered, he answered honestly and told him what he thought.
Remember, our right is sometimes someone elses wrong, and vice versa. It all depends on perspective.
He may have said applanet, but he never said download it. All I am saying is it was childish for him to be reported for mentioning the app and that he uses it. It would be much the same as someone admitting the downloaded mp3s from a torrent site. Just because someone mentions one, it does not mean he is telling people to go to that site and download music he has not paid for and has no legal right to do it.
Besides are we not on a website that has software dedicated to screwing over our carriers and voiding our agreements with the carriers? You can not call foul on one person and not the others.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
DarrellRaines said:
I have thought about it. The OP asked a question and to the person who answered, he answered honestly and told him what he thought.
Remember, our right is sometimes someone elses wrong, and vice versa. It all depends on perspective.
He may have said applanet, but he never said download it. All I am saying is it was childish for him to be reported for mentioning the app and that he uses it. It would be much the same as someone admitting the downloaded mp3s from a torrent site. Just because someone mentions one, it does not mean he is telling people to go to that site and download music he has not paid for and has no legal right to do it.
Besides are we not on a website that has software dedicated to screwing over our carriers and voiding our agreements with the carriers? You can not call foul on one person and not the others.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with what you're saying on the general level and not just specifically our topic here.
All what we're saying plain and simple.. XDA does not allow warez/applanet topics.
You can find many closed topics like this one:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1022363
This could have been avoided. OP's questions were about rooting. Applanet does not even require it.
CyberPunk7t9 said:
I agree with what you're saying on the general level and not just specifically our topic here.
All what we're saying plain and simple.. XDA does not allow warez/applanet topics.
You can find many closed topics like this one:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1022363
This could have been avoided. OP's questions were about rooting. Applanet does not even require it.
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Click to collapse
Oh I know it's against the rules and I have a huge problem with people not paying for their apps.
I am just not a big fan of the pot calling the kettle black. Technically using pdanet or any of the free tethers to bypass our carriers system is the same as screwing a good developer out of money.
The fact that we will report someone for mentioning applanet while many still do other methods to screw someone over, well it seems childish. Maybe I should just shut up and move on, but then I would feel wrong for not saying something.
However on topic, if you don't know why you should root, then you shouldn't consider it. Rooting will not make your experience with your phone any better or worse. It just allows you to install a few apps such as the amazon store and those found here on XDA on your phone. Technically you can do more with it, but the pros do not often out weigh the cons. Unless you have a need, don't bother with rooting.
xredjokerx said:
sideloading and amazon app pretty much sums it up for now, and the ability to install psuedo roms like gingerblur and Gladiatrix
Oh. that brings me to the second point, rooting lets you remove bloat apps and install apps that need root, like this new app I'm trying called LBE Security Service.
Later on, when custom roms and kernels are made, you'll have to have Superuser access (root) before you can access those parts of the data.
Advantages in terms of battery life, speed, stability etc? It depends on the rom you load. Some roms may boast extended battery life/speed and if you install those, you would have those extra features. For now, since we have nothing of that sort, you will remain stock with root, but you'll be ready if/when something comes out.
Last word, I say root it. It lets you customize your android experience. You can install new fonts, remove that ATT bloatware, and you can sideload (try out betas, etc)
(Oops, real last word)
Compatibility with future updates? You'll probably have to flash with SBF to update from now on instead of OTA, but thats a preference anyway. In the end, you will be able to update fine, so don't worry about it. Though if you are lazy to do research and actually invest time into your phone, I say don't root it because theres no point. If you want to experience android in its fullest and customize as much as you can, ROOT is the only way.
Hope I hoped.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for the informative and thorough response. I'm an avid Android user since 1.5 and have rooted older Android phones many times. My intention with asking this question was to understand if the Atrix truly benefits from rooting or are users rooting it for bragging rights. The troubles I've faced with custom ROMs for previous android devices were many, ranging from innumerable patches and add-ons to multiple FCs regularly. Since the Atrix is my primary phone I would prefer stability in a custom ROM as opposed to features which I won't end up using often like HDMI mirroring (this is a personal opinion, i'm sure other users have other requirements).
chaitu45 said:
Thank you for the informative and thorough response. I'm an avid Android user since 1.5 and have rooted older Android phones many times. My intention with asking this question was to understand if the Atrix truly benefits from rooting or are users rooting it for bragging rights. The troubles I've faced with custom ROMs for previous android devices were many, ranging from innumerable patches and add-ons to multiple FCs regularly. Since the Atrix is my primary phone I would prefer stability in a custom ROM as opposed to features which I won't end up using often like HDMI mirroring (this is a personal opinion, i'm sure other users have other requirements).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IMO a custom ROM is not necessary. Stock Atrix + root + one of the launchers is more than enough. My phone is rooted so that I can enable sideloading/Amazon app store and also for Titanium backup to backup everything. The other 'fun' stuff like hdmi mirroring, hulu, etc are ok but not must haves.
edit: root also so I can put my ringtones in /system/media/audio/ringtones and not lose ringtone assignments every time the phone sdcard and sdcard-ext unmounts/mounts.
You do not need to have root permissions to remove ATT bloatware. With latest OTA, they removed root requirement to uninstall their software, but they haven't done anything to allow us side-loading. I hope that this will be addressed in the next OTA.
I am a new android user (Atrix first Android phone) and I have enjoyed the rooting experience. Root explorer is worth the price of admission imho and the other day I had a problem that I couldn't fix without a rooted phone. (now using autostarts to prevent music on my device playing automatically when the phone connects to my truck via bt). And I like the control I have over my phone since it is rooted (freezing apps, etc).
In regards to updates how hard it is depends on how you mod your phone. If you do the webtop hack you will have to put the oem files back prior to updating. If you have apps frozen I believe you need to thaw them. Other than that it is just a matter of preserving root (which means about 5 minutes using adb to hide root and then after you update restoring it; no big deal)
chaitu45 said:
As my question implies, can anyone break it down for me as to why it is a good move to root my phone? I'm on AT&T right now, with ADW EX home launcher. I'm happy with the overall speed. Can you list out some advantages of rooting? I'm not looking for the general reasons to root, I want reasons SPECIFIC to the Atrix on AT&T. Sideloading and Amazon app store are the only two reasons I have so far. What is the advantage in terms of battery life, speed, stability, overheating etc? What about compatibility with future motorola updates? Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Control. You do not have it ATM. Rooting is exactly that, the most possible control you can gain over the phone, software wise.
#1 reason I rooted my atrix is simply to add a custom rom onto it. I don't like the look of the stock motoblur so I got rid of it asap.
i'm sure there are tons of reasons to root the phone but if you're afraid to do it because you might brick your phone or something there's a lot of tutorials that will guide you step-by-step on how to do it. I actually made a tutorial myself.
that's for the actual rooting process and if you need to downgrade your phone here's the other part of it. doing a fresh SBF Flash.
ok i'm not sure why my youtube links came out like that and i'm not sure how to fix it either any help from anybody?
Samsung is a new device. Running 4.4.2 KikKat and having the best mobile processor in the market meaning that most (if not all) of you will exploit this bad boy in many different ways. The most popular way is obviously gonna be rooting.
Now, im fairly new to rooting. (Having only rooted my v2.1 Galaxy S Vibrant) Meaning I have no idea (or experience for that matter) in rooting new phones.
Most of you know that Sammy implanted new Knox security, and rooting an S5 early on will void it's warranty.
My question is: Is it recommended to root an S5? Aside from the cancelation of the warranty will the phone suffer any other consequences? And lastly, are there any actual mods that will make rooting an S5 beneficial? Or are all the mods just aesthetical?
Difficult question to answer imho. I'm no leet phone user or maybe not the best person to ask, but I rooted because of droidwall, xposed network and xprivacy (basically because I want a access to iptables and decide which items can use which data, etc. I also like to customise and freeze unwanted stuff in titanium backup. But if the positive side supersedes the negative side I don't know. Must be up to you to decide. If you are into to protect your own privacy policy root is must. Cheers
Sent from my SM-G900F using xda app-developers app
Im also not leet phone user or anything but to answer your question about if there is any useful mods...
well firstly if you're rooted you can remove all of the bloatware... this will typically extends your phone battery by 15 - 40% depending on how you use it... but for sure its 15% better (samsung is known for putting a lot of bloatware and some of them runs in the background and you cant turn them off -> the only way is to freeze or delete them)... secondly is that if you have some specific things you want on your phone, rooting and flashing mods/roms will help you achieve them, for example: I like to have my "sound+vibration/vibration" options on the notification but stockrom has "sound/vibration/mute", and so far that I've noticed the "sound" option doesn't force vibration so if you just restarted the phone and put on the "sound" option it won't vibrate until you go to settings and set it to do so... so without rooting I won't ever be able to mod the notification toggles to do what I want.... there will also be mods that makes your phone more responsive (faster)... the lists of things you can do with root is just too much to be listed lol...
now to answer your main question "Is rooting the S5 recommended this early on?", now this is all my opinion so take it with a bit of salt... I would say no...
there isn't much of roms around (not much of choices atm, you can check like s2/s3/s4 to get an idea of how much of choices you can expect once the device has been out for 6 months+), so if you root right now, you pretty much have to do all of the modding by yourself and etc... so why root and lose warranty? just play it cool and wait for a better time XD the decision that you wait 1 - 6 months before root might saves your phone ass, if something happens... and I seriously doubt you gona gain that much if you root now... unless you're uber modder/rom cooker
Don't get me wrong though, I personally recommend every android user to root lol... Android without root is like iPhone... what is the point of the ability to pretty much modify everything but you dont use it? (dont get mad now iphone fans... Im on android just coz of the customization, not of brand or specs)