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I've had my 8 for several months but now it's starting to slow down. I have done everything except a factory reset (because thats just a pain in the ass) but it is still slow. Short of the reset does anyone have any ideas? Thanks!
rogerperk said:
I've had my 8 for several months but now it's starting to slow down. I have done everything except a factory reset (because thats just a pain in the ass) but it is still slow. Short of the reset does anyone have any ideas? Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I assume your battery drain is normal, or has not changed since the slowness has happened.
You have not stated if you rooted or custom ROM has been installed.
I found a few apps will do this time to time... depending on when they update. I always monitor my apps so troubling apps are always reverted back to their previous version.
You can use security 360 to monitor your tablet... It is a very good antivirus with some nice built in features. One is memory speed up and usage.
Basically it lets you know what apps are running in background, and releases them to speed up the tablet. I like it because it is like having 3 or 4 apps all into one and does not hog memory.
You can search the Q&A for battery drain if you have issues with battery as well ... there are many threads, so at least one will help. The lengthy threads have some good info near the end... as I try to help using simple methods that work with stock ROMs.
rogerperk said:
I've had my 8 for several months but now it's starting to slow down. I have done everything except a factory reset (because thats just a pain in the ass) but it is still slow. Short of the reset does anyone have any ideas? Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If not rooted, do so and you can eliminate apps that you don't use and that suck up RAM. You can as well move programs to an SD Card to increase the memory available.
Additionally, rooted or not you can go in and clean out the cache of all your apps. They build up over time.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using XDA Free mobile app
Went to Best Buy and talked to the Samsung rep and he had the answer! First, get rid of SPB launcher then use Clean Sweep (in the store) to get rid of bloatware. Fast as Hell now! App only works on non-rooted I think. But it DOES work! Thanks for the help!
rogerperk said:
Went to Best Buy and talked to the Samsung rep and he had the answer! First, get rid of SPB launcher then use Clean Sweep (in the store) to get rid of bloatware. Fast as Hell now! App only works on non-rooted I think. But it DOES work! Thanks for the help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SPB launcher??? It must have been rooted. I have a mostly stock ROM... never had speed issues, but it is all in the choice of apps I install.
Given that many apps are developer driven, and from my experience with developers here on the forum, makes me cautious about installing apps. I install only what I need and does the job cleanly. Sometimes the best apps are buggy when being updated to run 4.4.x, as I seen that a lot since Xmas. Though May has been a good start for the year... many apps have been sorted out, but still iffy as there are thousands of apps to choose from.
I places a thread, and an answer to battery, and apps disabling in a simple and minimalistic method. If anyone is interested, they can search for posts by me... they are within this year.
Unneeded
rogerperk said:
Went to Best Buy and talked to the Samsung rep and he had the answer! First, get rid of SPB launcher then use Clean Sweep (in the store) to get rid of bloatware. Fast as Hell now! App only works on non-rooted I think. But it DOES work! Thanks for the help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
gooberdude said:
SPB launcher??? It must have been rooted. I have a mostly stock ROM... never had speed issues, but it is all in the choice of apps I install.
Given that many apps are developer driven, and from my experience with developers here on the forum, makes me cautious about installing apps. I install only what I need and does the job cleanly. Sometimes the best apps are buggy when being updated to run 4.4.x, as I seen that a lot since Xmas. Though May has been a good start for the year... many apps have been sorted out, but still iffy as there are thousands of apps to choose from.
I places a thread, and an answer to battery, and apps disabling in a simple and minimalistic method. If anyone is interested, they can search for posts by me... they are within this year.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should not have needed to uninstall SPB unless you already had a whole bunch of apps. I have 200+ Apps with no issues.
Also Clean Sweep is a nice app, but you can do this already without the added app. Open you Google search, look at the bottom left hand tab, open it and you can do the same thing.
gooberdude said:
SPB launcher??? It must have been rooted. I have a mostly stock ROM... never had speed issues, but it is all in the choice of apps I install.
Given that many apps are developer driven, and from my experience with developers here on the forum, makes me cautious about installing apps. I install only what I need and does the job cleanly. Sometimes the best apps are buggy when being updated to run 4.4.x, as I seen that a lot since Xmas. Though May has been a good start for the year... many apps have been sorted out, but still iffy as there are thousands of apps to choose from.
I places a thread, and an answer to battery, and apps disabling in a simple and minimalistic method. If anyone is interested, they can search for posts by me... they are within this year.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope. Not rooted and the launcher worked fine but apparently it slowed the system down. Now it's smokin'.
Lets just say we get root before L is released for the AT&T Note 4. What would you do? Hold off and hope for a bootstrap so you can put a custom variation of L or any other rom, or just bite the bullet and take the update knowing you may never have root again? I think this is a dilemma that a lot of us will be facing soon.
CAN A MODERATOR MOVE THIS TO GENERAL SECTION?
Root is more important. I'd rather have adblock and tibu than lollipop.
papashex said:
Root is more important. Id rather have adblock and tibu than lollipop.
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Click to collapse
I absolutely agree! Xposed, tibu, and Adaway!
With some user experience with a locked phone.
If you ever want to root never update officially as any chances of safely rooting becomes exponentially harder than before the update.
Stay away from those tempting lolipops when they arrive...
papashex said:
Root is more important. I'd rather have adblock and tibu than lollipop.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what I thought until I actually searched.
Adblock plus is a non-root version that works just as well (you just have to set your wifi and APN to proxy localhost port 2020) and there are about a billion backup alternatives...
Honestly stock rom is so smooth I might just upgrade and forget about it, custom roms always need tweaking and have some little thing I can't get perfect that bugs me.
v3ngence said:
That's what I thought until I actually searched.
Adblock plus is a non-root version that works just as well (you just have to set your wifi and APN to localhost proxy port 2020) and there are about a billion backup alternatives...
Honestly stock rom is so smooth I might just upgrade and forget about it, custom roms always need tweaking and have some little thing I can't get perfect that bugs me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I completely agree with you. Without an unlocked bootloader, we would just get stock Touchwiz roms anyways.
I've had many rooted Samsung phones over the past few years so I know the song and dance. The only difference between stock and a custom rom is the custom rom will be debloated, possibly have baked in extra features (which are usually alternatively achieved with xposed modules) and possibly a theme.
Take those things away, and it performs no different than stock Touchwiz. Believe me, any perceived performance difference is pure placebo. I've done many of my own tests to confirm this.
But to sum up my rant, I'm completely happy with this phone without root. It's overrated to be honest.
What version of adblock doesn't require root? Can you put up a link?
Just want to get rid of the bloat they stuff down our throats. I hate it and that really irritating ATT logo. I doubt I'll miss Lollipop, just as I never missed any of the updates that came after I rooted my Note 2 on day one.
WizeGuyDezignz said:
I completely agree with you. Without an unlocked bootloader, we would just get stock Touchwiz roms anyways.
I've had many rooted Samsung phones over the past few years so I know the song and dance. The only difference between stock and a custom rom is the custom rom will be debloated, possibly have baked in extra features (which are usually alternatively achieved with xposed modules) and possibly a theme.
Take those things away, and it performs no different than stock Touchwiz. Believe me, any perceived performance difference is pure placebo. I've done many of my own tests to confirm this.
But to sum up my rant, I'm completely happy with this phone without root. It's overrated to be honest.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree that a custom rom seems less and less needed. I've been OK with the stock rom so far but do wish we had a root for xposed and be able to write to microsd
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk
The only big drawback for me and not having root is the SD card lockdown. I mean really, it is external storage and any app I chose should be allowed to wright to it when I request it.
adblock plus website...
adblock works without root by routing apps through it this does not require root.
If you have root it automatically changes the settings etc but if you don't it tells you what settings you have to manually input to get it to work just the same no root required but root preferred.
I'm in the middle... I've always rooted my phones... Just like the different customizations, but with this phone, I'm completely happy with it as is.. I just put different themes on it to spice up whatever I feel I want... But I'd at least like the option to root, if I wanted, but to answer the question, of L comes out before root is acquired, I'm definitely upgrading
Really rather have root but if it doesn't then I wouldn't mind. So far I'm really enjoying the note 4. I'm not even seeing TouchWiz stutters everything is smooth and even the stock keyboard which I usually change anyway I'm liking more and more.
But I do have to agree don't get me wrong the devs I respect for all their time and work, but I'm not into stock custom rom. It also feels nice to just use the phone for what it is. With me I was always tweaking and doing so much I never really fully enjoyed the phone.
I'd rather have root. I was wondering if I'm going to keep the note or use my rooted and safestrapped s5. But something about the note makes it hard to put down.
AndroiderM said:
What version of adblock doesn't require root? Can you put up a link?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like this one:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.stulchik.adblock.reklama&hl=en
JudgeDredd67 said:
The only big drawback for me and not having root is the SD card lockdown. I mean really, it is external storage and any app I chose should be allowed to wright to it when I request it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It was a minor annoyance for me, the camera app defaulted to sd storage and I can save pics but not edit or delete, so I just changed default storage to phone.
Also it's nice to have a really clean, organized sd card IMO I didn't like all the app data folders...
v3ngence said:
I like this one:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.stulchik.adblock.reklama&hl=en...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately I get this when I click on it:
"This item isn't available in your country" (usa)
You wouldn't by chance have a link to an apk I could side load?
Sent from my SM-N910T using XDA Free mobile app
Dumbo53 said:
Unfortunately I get this when I click on it:
"This item isn't available in your country" (usa)
You wouldn't by chance have a link to an apk I could side load?
Sent from my SM-N910T using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually found out it was causing network lag, so I switched to the real ABP: https://adblockplus.org/en/android-install
But it works the same way, the app tells you how to set up your wifi proxy, but you can just add proxy "localhost" port 2020 to your apn and its works on 4g too!
ViperAudio would be nice
Never had a non-rooted Android until now (Note 2, 3, 4) and the lag is insane for me. I use Greenify and have it killing nearly everything that is non-essential. I only have GPS, WiFi, basic SPan, and Sync enabled, none of the other stuff. I'll reboot every day or two. I close out apps when I'm done using them, etc. There isn't anything super obvious I'm doing to increase lag. But it's there. Even Contacts force closes every few days. Hangouts does not play nice with Swype. Just to pull up the phone log takes a long time. Any advice or should I just reflash stock to see if that helps?
Thanks, and if you haven't pledged to the root bounty, please do! Let's get this thing solved!
Oh my god!
that's why I hate Touchwiz UI! :thumbdown:
SuperMan(Alex) said:
Oh my god!
that's why I hate Touchwiz UI! :thumbdown:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use Nova Prime for the launcher which hopefully doesn't add to the problem.
tfpHumorBlog said:
I use Nova Prime for the launcher which hopefully doesn't add to the problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use Nova as well and my Note is fairly snappy. I have found that every so often an app will either kill battery or slow the UI down.
There are lots of things that can be causing it so I'm on sure if there's a quick fix without really k owing more of your setup. (what's installed, art/davlik, developer settings, etc.)
I personally don't use greenify on a no rooted device cause I couldn't get it to automatically work. What I did do, and it seems to have helped greatly is to block/disable a bunch of bloat with the program at the following link:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2998294
Works great and leaves everything in place so OTA updates still work.
Has anyone tried to see what works with some bloatware disabled & what doesn't work? Personally I would like the iris scanner and samsung pay to be enabled and everything else disabled.
Yeah, it's working for me quite well
XavierAD said:
Yeah, it's working for me quite well
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad to hear it,arguably the best feature available for any Samsung device,short of root/ROMs.
Hopefully it'll still work once Android 7.0 rolls out.
KOLIOSIS said:
Glad to hear it,arguably the best feature available for any Samsung device,short of root/ROMs.
Hopefully it'll still work once Android 7.0 rolls out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It will. They use Knox which is a product of Samsung.
Sent from my XT1528 using XDA Labs
I'm rather confused by this thread. Is the poster asking what will 'break' if you disabled all the bloatware? Or asking something else entirely? Cause you can disable everything that comes on any phone and it'll always work just fine.
And I have no idea what Android 7.0 would have to do with bloatware, or what KNOX would have to do with bloatware...
HikariNoKitsune said:
I'm rather confused by this thread. Is the poster asking what will 'break' if you disabled all the bloatware? Or asking something else entirely? Cause you can disable everything that comes on any phone and it'll always work just fine.
And I have no idea what Android 7.0 would have to do with bloatware, or what KNOX would have to do with bloatware...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't speak for the O.P.,but,my guess is, as with me, just making sure that it works before purchasing the Note 7,especially for those of us with the Snapdragon powered versions that may have no other way to disable bloat.
JMHO, but, the Q&A regarding functionality of PDP, whatever they may be, are of merit & might as well have a thread addressing the subject.
Most realize you can disable the bloat, but,not everyone, including yours truly, understand exactly how it works & why only on Samsung devices.
The Knox tie-in makes sense to me, even without a full understanding of how it works.
KOLIOSIS said:
I can't speak for the O.P.,but,my guess is, as with me, just making sure that it works before purchasing the Note 7,especially for those of us with the Snapdragon powered versions that may have no other way to disable bloat.
JMHO, but, the Q&A regarding functionality of PDP, whatever they may be, are of merit & might as well have a thread addressing the subject.
Most realize you can disable the bloat, but,not everyone, including yours truly, understand exactly how it works & why only on Samsung devices.
The Knox tie-in makes sense to me, even without a full understanding of how it works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
KNOX doesn't make much sense to me, because that's just a security platform. It just makes sure you protected from being 'hacked' per say. As in like, it adds an extra layer of security over your phone so someone can't just pick it up and plug it into a computer to gain access to all of your stuff. Though thats only the very loosest of analogies.
But I have to ask what you exactly mean by the "not everyone understands exactly how it works and why only on Samsung devices". Do you mean as in why disabling works? or something else. Because you can disable the bloatware on any android phone so long as the carrier and manufacturer didn't lock the option out. Which most devices will let you do it now because of the whole 'you'll get sued for forcing users to use a specific thing without giving them a way out' (an example would be microsoft getting sued over the bundling of Internet Explorer and Microsoft Office with the earlier Windows OS's).
What I'm wondering is, based on the title of the thread after thinking about it some, does the OP mean an app that disables/uninstalls bloat? Because I'm sure there are plenty of apps out there that do it. But most I think require Root in order to do it properly and reliably. I use Sprint for my service, and its Sprint ID and such are a pain in the ass, and they can't just be 'disabled' easily even though there is the option to (every time you disable it, Sprint just re-installs it the next time you reboot the phone because it thinks it got uninstalled somehow). But to get it to disable properly on my Note 5, I had to install some random app that I think was called App Quarantine. It looked like a bio-hazard symbol for the icon. I haven't re-installed it since this last wipe I was forced to do, so I can't remember exactly lol. But it was the only one that would let me actually disable the Sprint ID stuff and not have it re-install all the time.
HikariNoKitsune said:
What I'm wondering is, based on the title of the thread after thinking about it some, does the OP mean an app that disables/uninstalls bloat? Because I'm sure there are plenty of apps out there that do it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it's an app in the Google Play Store that has the ability to disable literally anything on Samsung devices,WITHOUT ROOT, so, care must be taken to not get carried away & I recommend only disabling, not deleting, in the event of not being able to take an update otherwise.
Not everything can be disabled natively, so, that explains the appeal of the app.
If you used it, you'd see the tie-in with Knox........
KOLIOSIS said:
Yes it's an app in the Google Play Store that has the ability to disable literally anything on Samsung devices,WITHOUT ROOT, so, care must be taken to not get carried away & I recommend only disabling, not deleting, in the event of not being able to take an update otherwise.
Not everything can be disabled natively, so, that explains the appeal of the app.
If you used it, you'd see the tie-in with Knox........
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then that makes alot more sense. I originally just thought they were basically asking if there was an app to disable everything instead of having to do it manually. I've always just manually disabled everything cause its not that hard to do. Just find the troublesome things and hit that disable button lol. But if this can do it all in one quick swoop, then I'm all in =O I'll definitely be looking into it later today when my phone finally arrives...
Sprint screwed up my pre-order, and is sending me the wrong device, so I have to take it into a store to get it exchanged because they refused to cancel my pre-order or change the order at all even though I legitimately ordered the dang thing 2 minutes past midnight on the 3rd. So ontop of that, they also didn't ship the phone when they said they would, AND the put restrictions on my package. I normally have to physically go to a UPS location to pick up my packages cause the dumb driver will never deliver to my house... always states that they can't find my house even though its the ONLY house down the ONLY long driveway... heck you can SEE my house above the trees! But nope, the guy wont deliver. But because of the restrictions, UPS wont let me flag the package as 'hold for pickup' like usual, so I gotta stand at the end of my drive way for hours upon hours just to catch the UPS driver. Then I gotta drive all the way into town to HOPEFULLY exchange the phone for the Black Onyx variant that I was supposed to get...
Anyway, sorry for the ramble o-o; didn't realize it was that long XD
HikariNoKitsune said:
Then that makes alot more sense. I originally just thought they were basically asking if there was an app to disable everything instead of having to do it manually. I've always just manually disabled everything cause its not that hard to do. Just find the troublesome things and hit that disable button lol. But if this can do it all in one quick swoop, then I'm all in =O I'll definitely be looking into it later today when my phone finally arrives...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a nice tool to have, a powerful one.
Just a friendly piece of advice :
Read up on it before using, check the FAQs on the developers site if need be & go conservative at 1st if you're not familiar with what is safe to disable.
The app gives color-coded guidelines per each app on what is known to be safe to disable. You can go above and beyond that, but, mainly, just disable, do not delete anything & leave the stock keyboard alone.
You might be able to disable the stock launcher, provided you have another one installed, but, I'd leave it alone until you're certain one way or the other........
KOLIOSIS said:
It's a nice tool to have, a powerful one.
Just a friendly piece of advice :
Read up on it before using, check the FAQs on the developers site if need be & go conservative at 1st if you're not familiar with what is safe to disable.
The app gives color-coded guidelines per each app on what is known to be safe to disable. You can go above and beyond that, but, mainly, just disable, do not delete anything & leave the stock keyboard alone.
You might be able to disable the stock launcher, provided you have another one installed, but, I'd leave it alone until you're certain one way or the other........
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol I'd only disable the things I already know I need to disable. Like all the Sprint stuff. I leave the Samsung stuff alone cause I actually use alot of Samsung's things. But as for Sprint's stuff? All of that goes bye bye lol. Now that is assuming it doesn't somehow show things that you normally can't see from the applications manager. In which case then I wouldn't bother, cause I don't see much of a point lol.
there are a few package disabler for Samsung out there, which one the best?
amenlo9 said:
there are a few package disabler for Samsung out there, which one the best?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go with either one,the Pro+ has a hardware lockdown feature,otherwise,there two are identical:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ospolice.packagedisablerpremium&hl=en
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ospolice.packagedisablerpro&hl=en
I'm guessing Samsung still has a partnership w/Cheetah Mobile,which is one of the main reasons I like having this app,Package Disabler Pro,on-board to ward off the data mining/crapware/etc...
However,I'm not seeing anything in the apps,system or otherwise,that's jumping out & identifying itself as CheetahMobile/CleanMaster/etc.......
I'm guessing it's some/all of the apps identified w/the "Smart" moniker,but,I'm not 100% certain on that.
Anyone have an idea on which,if any,of the apps are actual CheetahMobile bloatware?
Thanks In Advance!
Using EZ Disabler here. Works well, but you gotta be careful using "disable bloat" part as it will turn off many useful things. I just went through and picked what i wanted. Very Easy to use though
Thanks for recommending Package Disabler Pro. I was worried Since not rooted. In past had always used TB . This worked Great!!
Sent from my SM-N930P using Tapatalk
Why would you guys use an app for disabling stuff.
Since we're on xda, enable USB debugging and use pm (package manager) cmd from adb shell.
For instance: adb shell pm hide 'package'
There are other interesting options: list, install, uninstall.
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk
millicent said:
Why would you guys use an app for disabling stuff.
Since we're on xda, enable USB debugging and use pm (package manager) cmd from adb shell.
For instance: adb shell pm hide 'package'
There are other interesting options: list, install, uninstall.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see your point, but i would also say there is a ease to the app though. Whatever works best for people. Im just glad there are options.
I have been finding myself only using Magisk for EmojiOne, but noticing I don't use Emoji like I used to anymore and am thinking since I only use Substratum with a Center Clock mod and have stopped using it for Dark theming, maybe going back to a stock based setup would be fine. I can use the Andromeda thing with Substratum which is an extra step but can do my center clock and possibly emoji one via substratum... not sure what else I would want root for... Updating is a touch of a pain for me. What do yo guys think, and have any of you gone back to stock?
I went back to stock just because I didn't want to have the uncertainty of being rooted.
Nothing wrong with rooting but I love this phone the way it is.
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
For myself Rooting was a necessity. The devices sold in the past had so much Crapware.
It was nice to get the latest and greatest ROM and tweak the device to run faster because at that time they were just plain old slow.
Today, depending on where you bought a device devices are very fast. It seems to me that every ROM has an issue that influences the character of the device.
If your device comes from a carrier such as Verizon you should Root it to get rid of their crapware.
It seems their attitude is you only have the right to buy their device not the ability to control, I mean really you think you own it or something? ( yes I'm a VZW hater)
What was the question?
kdkinc said:
For myself Rooting was a necessity. The devices sold in the past had so much Crapware.
It was nice to get the latest and greatest ROM and tweak the device to run faster because at that time they were just plain old slow.
Today, depending on where you bought a device devices are very fast. It seems to me that every ROM has an issue that influences the character of the device.
If your device comes from a carrier such as Verizon you should Root it to get rid of their crapware.
It seems their attitude is you only have the right to buy their device not the ability to control, I mean really you think you own it or something? ( yes I'm a VZW hater)
What was the question?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol, I agree 100%. I can simply disable gMail and Calculator, the only 2 APPs pre-installed on my Pixel 2 XL that I don't need. I use Inbox by Google for eMails and a Calculator Widget for that. Aside from the EmojiOne and CenterClock, I don't even dark-theme anymore, especially not on this device with the "black crush" all the OLEDs have an issue with. I was rooted fro KCal, but am finding the Boosted setting works just fine and oddly my Blue Tint has weakened since my first few days where it was really bad. Almost like the display is wearing in and getting better? It's still there, but just not as much as that first fresh opening, so warming up the display isn't needed much for me now either.
I like to see where people's heads are at with each device, and this is one the extra input is nice to read.
I'm actually on the fence about rooting. Just received my phone this weekend and I can't decide. Going to unlock bootloader before fully setting up, but I have been playing with it a little. I've always rooted and ran custom ROMs as well as adaway. With PureNexus on my N6 I stopped flashing for over a year except the occasional ROM update. I simply like Android in it's simplest form.
I will always root, no matter what. The only downside is like you said, having to mess with getting OTAs in an unnatural way. However, seeing as how I flash all factory images, I get them sooner than those waiting on an OTA to hit their phone. Plus once you have all the tools ready to go, it literally only takes a few minutes to flash an update.
I always root because I usually run stock. And while stock on a Pixel 2 XL is damn near close to perfection, it will never be what "I" consider perfect. Which means I have to mess with the /system files to get things "perfect." I've modded the stock launcher, which I couldn't do if I was rooted. I've switched out fonts. I've changed the navbar, status bar, and quick settings. And of course, there's always AdAway which requires root. Granted some of those things can be achieved with third party apps, but I'd rather get it done "internally" whenever possible.
I used to have it for years, then more and more companies (Google and banks) made their apps check for root, and I tired of the cat and mouse game with SuperSU and Magisk. So I unrooted over a year ago. Didn't miss it at all until yesterday, when I wanted to do something with Tasker that requires root. But what I wanted to do falls into the category of "it would be nice" as opposed to "I have/need to do this", so I remain unrooted. I haven't really missed it much.
I am stuck without root since I have the Verizon model which was given to me free from work so I cannot complain too much. I have always rooted and messed with ROMs. The only thing I would need root for with the 2 XL is ad blocking with Chrome. I am trying the Samsung browser and ABP which work pretty well together.
If I didn't have the noise cancellation mic issue on my 6P I think I would have given up root a long time ago...
I rotate between stock and rooted daily lol
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
I am sort of glad I found this thread. I'm not a XDA regular but I've been following root guides from here since my Razr Mazz HD. I chose the Pixel in part for the ease of getting root and for Project Fi. Now that I have the phone, I'm not sure I want to root. I've never had a phone with quick updates before. I LOVE AdAway, but is it really worth the tradeoff? AdGuard is just as good if you don't use your VPN slot but if you DO use a VPN and need it.... not rooting forces me to choose between PIA and AdGuard. But do I even need a VPN anymore with Project Fi? Probably... Firefox with uBlock works pretty well too but doesn't work on apps. Oh the decisions.
Ruraltech said:
I am sort of glad I found this thread. I'm not a XDA regular but I've been following root guides from here since my Razr Mazz HD. I chose the Pixel in part for the ease of getting root and for Project Fi. Now that I have the phone, I'm not sure I want to root. I've never had a phone with quick updates before. I LOVE AdAway, but is it really worth the tradeoff? AdGuard is just as good if you don't use your VPN slot but if you DO use a VPN and need it.... not rooting forces me to choose between PIA and AdGuard. But do I even need a VPN anymore with Project Fi? Probably... Firefox with uBlock works pretty well too but doesn't work on apps. Oh the decisions.
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If you like it the way it is, then I'd just leave it. It's a great device on stock. However, having root, AdAway, TiBu, kernels, and mods, is a lot of fun as well. As long as you know adb and fastboot fairly well, rooting and flashing monthly updates is pretty easy :good:
I was rooted from the get go!!
I'm going to try to live without root for a bit but already hating not having AdAway. I just know I won't keep up with updates if I have to do them. I sure wish AdAway didn't need root
Ruraltech said:
I am sort of glad I found this thread. I'm not a XDA regular but I've been following root guides from here since my Razr Mazz HD. I chose the Pixel in part for the ease of getting root and for Project Fi. Now that I have the phone, I'm not sure I want to root. I've never had a phone with quick updates before. I LOVE AdAway, but is it really worth the tradeoff? AdGuard is just as good if you don't use your VPN slot but if you DO use a VPN and need it.... not rooting forces me to choose between PIA and AdGuard. But do I even need a VPN anymore with Project Fi? Probably... Firefox with uBlock works pretty well too but doesn't work on apps. Oh the decisions.
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Click to collapse
I'm not regretting going back to stock from rooted as the only things I no longer have is center clock and emojione, which I 'could' get using Andromeda / Substratum but heard you have to reconnect to the computer anytime you reboot the phone and decided that's just not worth it for me. I am interested in ad blocking if possible without Root for Chrome. Only Ads that get in my way are via "News" and articles I touch from the Google Feed. Sadly many lately are blatant click-bait, page-hopping crap and slideshows that I refuse to go past the first page on.
Edit: Well, just ran across something known as DNS66 and have that up and running without Root and sure enough, it's blocking Ads on everything, even in Chrome without issue.
sharkie405 said:
I will always root, no matter what. The only downside is like you said, having to mess with getting OTAs in an unnatural way. However, seeing as how I flash all factory images, I get them sooner than those waiting on an OTA to hit their phone. Plus once you have all the tools ready to go, it literally only takes a few minutes to flash an update.
I always root because I usually run stock. And while stock on a Pixel 2 XL is damn near close to perfection, it will never be what "I" consider perfect. Which means I have to mess with the /system files to get things "perfect." I've modded the stock launcher, which I couldn't do if I was rooted. I've switched out fonts. I've changed the navbar, status bar, and quick settings. And of course, there's always AdAway which requires root. Granted some of those things can be achieved with third party apps, but I'd rather get it done "internally" whenever possible.
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Whats your few minute process? Do you only have a few apps to restore with data?
plisskenn said:
Whats your few minute process? Do you only have a few apps to restore with data?
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Flash without wiping data.
plisskenn said:
Whats your few minute process? Do you only have a few apps to restore with data?
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See below. ?
jrbxx7 said:
Flash without wiping data.
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Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using XDA Labs
First thing I did with my unlocked XL 2 was to unlock the bootloader. I then rooted once Magisk was available. I root so I can do pain-free full TiBu of my apps and for AdAway. Even though I have corporate email on my phone, the Magisk Hide bypasses their restrictions in the email app.
I'm actually kind of shocked we don't have more ROMs for this phone, though I'm not a Dev and don't know how complex it may be. If more Devs release custom ROMs, I'll be trying some out for sure.
I never buy android phone unless it's bootloader-unlockable and root-able
Too many handicap applied without root.
I hate dns/vpn based adblock, it cluttering my status bar and notification. So, yes, i need root for adaway,
Google limit Tethering frequency option for my country (No 5Ghz) so, yes, i need root to enable it,
I like the ability to background play youtube, and see youtube without ads, so yes, i root my phone for that. Sure, no root option is available, but lot of problem with google account cant sign in, and this and that.
I like the ability to use Brevent, Edge Sense Plus, Greenify etc without the need of plugging my phone to PC and do adb command. So, yes, i rooted my phone for that.
The phone will never be 100% yours, unless you have total control over anything inside it
So,
There's no way am back to stock. Especially with xposed working so well right now.
otonieru said:
I like the ability to background play youtube, and see youtube without ads, so yes, i root my phone for that. Sure, no root option is available, but lot of problem with google account cant sign in, and this and that.
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Assuming you are using Magisk, how did you get YouTube Red without subscribing? (You can PM me if you don't want to hijack this thread...)