Develop Bugs

Chainfire comments on root and future Android

Chainfire posted a long writeup of what the future holds for root on Android phones including Lollipop. It's an interesting read.
"As stated above, it seems for now that modifications to the kernel package are required to have root, we cannot attain it with only modifications to the system partition.
Combine that with a locked bootloader (and optionally dm-verity) and a device becomes nigh unrootable - exactly as intended by the security guys.
Exploit-based roots are already harder to do thanks to SELinux, and now because of the kernel requirements for persistent root, these exploits will need to be run at every boot. Exploits that make the system unstable (as many do) are thus out as well.
It is now thus more important than ever to buy unlocked devices if you want root."
Edit: Tikerz beat me to it. His post is here. Mods delete if you want.

No real surprise to me. It was only a matter of time before it got locked down to the point of no easy exploit. I'm surprised it took this long, actually.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using XDA Free mobile app

man locking bootloaders is one thing.. but root??!?
its not even a poormans route anymore to get a carrier phone over a factory one, you need to choose between functionality or reception..
i wonder if Xposed is responsible for crazy bootloader security moving over to root.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using XDA Free mobile app

The lack of root in the foreseeable future really ruined my excitement for this phone I have gotten so used to all the nice features of root (in addition to custom ROMs) like Ti Backup, AdAway, customization, etc. that I do not want to fork out the money for a phone that doesn't feel truly mine.
That said, I'm confident the devs will find a solution. Just like every iPhone has been jailbroken there will be root for the Note 4!

There is a root for the note 4.....just not ours ...as intended...if we want root we bought the wrong device...I got it the day before it came out in the mail and was excited I wasn't aware that it was going to be so neglected...I was at least hoping for a safestrap like the note 3 I had that I don't anymore because it shattered and they gave me this as a replacement...now I can't get root...way too sleezy...they got me!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using XDA Free mobile app

I certainly don't see it as 'sleezy', as the devices were always known to be locked. It isnt like AT&T were endorsing root or safe strap in the first place... Or secretly locked it at the last minute without telling anyone.
But opinions on morality aside, it is disappointing that root may take a while. Though I'm still optimistic that it will happen eventually.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using XDA Free mobile app

JasonJoel said:
I certainly don't see it as 'sleezy', as the devices were always known to be locked. It isnt like AT&T were endorsing root or safe strap in the first place... Or secretly locked it at the last minute without telling anyone.
But opinions on morality aside, it is disappointing that root may take a while. Though I'm still optimistic that it will happen eventually.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have a feel for how long it might take? How many phones have there been historically that never made it? Cheers!

funnycreature said:
Do you have a feel for how long it might take? How many phones have there been historically that never made it? Cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Depends if you have a smart enough person with enough time / incentive.
Thus....the bounty thread we all made to hopefully catch a genius eye or 2

funnycreature said:
Do you have a feel for how long it might take? How many phones have there been historically that never made it? Cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AT&T Note 3 still does not have an unlocked boot loader. I wouldn't hold out for one on this phone. Also everyone with locked boot loaders will loose root permanently when lollipop rolls out.
Sent from my SHIELD Tablet using XDA Free mobile app

pr0cl1v1ty said:
Depends if you have a smart enough person with enough time / incentive.
Thus....the bounty thread we all made to hopefully catch a genius eye or 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with you but "enough time" could be a whole year

mircury said:
It is now thus more important than ever to buy unlocked devices if you want root."
Edit: Tikerz beat me to it. His post is here. Mods delete if you want.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, if you can afford it, for the rest of us though, it sounds like we'll be out of luck.

Maybe we need to start looking at hardware hacks, like when chipping a console?

Maybe an insecure boot.img can root this phone.

Focus on the boot loader. If it gets unlocked we will be fine with root.
Sent from my SHIELD Tablet using XDA Free mobile app

ShrekOpher said:
AT&T Note 3 still does not have an unlocked boot loader. I wouldn't hold out for one on this phone. Also everyone with locked boot loaders will loose root permanently when lollipop rolls out.
Sent from my SHIELD Tablet using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which is why I will be buying the T-Mobile Note 4 and unlocking. They already have root and TWRP.

At the very least, I just want AdAway to be functional.

I may sell my att one when my bb pre-order arrives and buy a T-Mobile version...

mshinall said:
Maybe we need to start looking at hardware hacks, like when chipping a console?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That would be the way to go if the bootloader will not be unlocked. It.will be like Playstation 3 .

nice having posts like this just right up front.... I come to xda for the modding and mainly rooting of my phones.... att releases a totally locked down note 4 and already people are speaking out about its probably not going to get an unlock like the s5... I give up all hope of seeing a subsidized note 4 and start waiting on a nexus 6 to see if the bootloader is still unlockable.
So within 3 posts and less than 15 minutes I learned abandon the att n4... quick and easy... ty xda :highfive:

fbauto1 said:
I agree with you but "enough time" could be a whole year
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im coming from the S5 I have faith in the Devs here in the beginning with the S5 seemed like all hope was lost and then out of nowhere root was available. I'm going to enjoy the device and give whoever has the means enough time to do their thing it will happen eventually

[Q] help Root SCH-i535PP on 4.4.2

Ive been searching night and day trying to find a way to root my galaxy S3 (SCH-i535) running 4.4.2 . Ive come up empty handed and as may know TOWEL ROOT DOES NOT WORK ON THIS BUILD. The most progress I have made is unlocking developer options with 7-tap doctrine. (haha) So this is pretty much a "calling all car" for those out there who are well versed in the art of rooting and all things $ sudo.
Info on safely reverting to an android OS that is rootable would also be useful.
l or any knowledge about the SCH-I535PP on 4.4.3 (pre paid verizon Galaxy S3) and exploits discovers .
Im lightly knowledgeable in Terminal, soooooo. If any one knows some work arounds or anything that would at least make me smile please feel free to write.
Tell me me what you all know and restore my faith in the power of the internet community.
much love,
-Lifehertz

ive also been looking
ive also been looking to root my phone also. all ive been able to dig up is possible roms that might be flashable with this model. and help would be greatly appreciated!

I knew I wasnt alone.
For some reason i have faith that someone is working on getting this phone rootable.
Until then lets keep the conversation going.
Do you have any links to these rims. Also, what are your thoughts?

I want root too because this phone is not compatible with samsung gear apps for my neo...very heartbreaking. ..wanted to put more apps on my watch but can't because this verizon galaxy s3 prepaid is not updated like all the other ones.....

Hey guys, I'm just posting to join in the misery. I feel like a hero for getting past the activation setup wizard! I have spent many hours researching how to root this stupid phone, and at this point its my white whale. There will be a way eventually, and this thread can be our anchor when that day comes. If anyone has a problem with the setup wizard, let me know.

The white whale under my friend.
Im curious as to how long the SCH-I535PP has been available on 4.4.3.
Because if it has been a short amount of time then the true developers and root wizards
Probably haven't had much need or want to work on a root for this phone.
I am noticing though after walmart dropped the price of the phone severely
And christmas came around. There are a Lot of new SCH-I535PP users. So maybe if we keep asking around and raising awareness about this build needing root, then a root genie will hear the cries of the community and get to work granting us our wish.
Verizon really locked this up with the recent update. This phone is two years old and there are many stronger phones coming out the root gods are focusing on blessing. But, its not hard to see that the SCH-I535PP is fantastic tool for its price point.
Please, anyone who reads this and is well versed in rooting phones, please do the SCH-I535PP community a solid and help us step out from being the prison bars of 4.4.2.
Thank you for letting me ramble. I hope it helped keep the spirit alive. Haha

Disclaimer: I'm an android noob, and everything in this post could be wrong. I'm just trying.
lifehertz said:
Im curious as to how long the SCH-I535PP has been available on 4.4.3.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know that version of kitkat was released on June 2nd, 2014, if that helps.
I don't understand whether ALL sch-i535 after that date are blocked from rooting, or ONLY the sch-i535pp (prepaid) version. I've read conflicting things because the circumstances change over time, but the threads on forums stay the same. What was true 5 months ago might not be true anymore.
I believe (could be wrong) that every single phone that was updated after June 2nd is completely SOL and blocked from being rooted. I think Towelroot was the last thing that worked for anybody, and even that method is lost to ANYTHING with a Kernel date of June 3rd or later. Mine is July 22nd. I believe the truth is that the vast majority of people that are rooted are just not updating to KitKat because they know it will un-root them and the party is over. I think that anyone with a phone that is old but updated to kitkat can reset to factory and get back to JellyBean or whatever version they originally had that can be rooted. So that leaves a small, but growing population that just simply can't root because we have the newest galaxy S3s with late kernel dates off the shelf . It's just getting harder and harder to find exploits. They guy who wrote towelroot works for google now, finding/fixing exploits that he once used to hack phones.
Either the population will catch up with us 'un-rootables' or they will leave us behind as bigger and better things come along. The Galaxy S3 is (kind of) yesterday's problem. I'm just sayin.....

I truly hate to be the burden of bad news but I can't say I'm surprised by verizon finally locking down the S3. The contract version was rumored to have been locked down with a version past the last official OTA of 4.4.2 but it seems that the pp version was moved to 4.4.3 which in all seriousness was then locked down by big red
Going forward I'd stay away from verizon as far as phones go, the short version of this is the fact that they will try anything possible to lock down every android phone they can
My S3 running BlissStalk

Damn it. The mutiny. The injustice!
Im beginning to accept this fact. You all have been great. If verizon is a bust, do you know of any prepaid phones that are easily rooted? I might sell this stupid paper weight. My goal is to be able to fully use terminal and learn the android Unix shell. These things are extremely powerful and yet we arent supposed to know or use its power..
Anyways. I don't know much about using Sims on phones because ive only owned CDMA. I don't really need a nee phone. Just somthing with 2gb of ram at least. Any suggestions or experiencs?

lifehertz said:
Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't bother with the Aquos Crystal. It's such a great phone for the price, but it hasn't been rooted yet. I have one, and I enjoy it for the stock.

lifehertz said:
Im beginning to accept this fact. You all have been great. If verizon is a bust, do you know of any prepaid phones that are easily rooted? I might sell this stupid paper weight. My goal is to be able to fully use terminal and learn the android Unix shell. These things are extremely powerful and yet we arent supposed to know or use its power..
Anyways. I don't know much about using Sims on phones because ive only owned CDMA. I don't really need a nee phone. Just somthing with 2gb of ram at least. Any suggestions or experiencs?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sadly I don't off hand no, I moved over to straight talk and thankfully can get almost any phone I'd like. I'm currently debating on a Nexus 5
My S3 running BlissStalk

I Have An Idea!!!!!!!!
How about someone looks for the 4.3 kernel for this phone, flashes it through ODIN, root with towelroot, and goes back to the new kernel with root! That's what they did with the AT&T Galaxy S5, and it should work and Verizon devices too.

sezamer66 said:
How about someone looks for the 4.3 kernel for this phone, flashes it through ODIN, root with towelroot, and goes back to the new kernel with root! That's what they did with the AT&T Galaxy S5, and it should work and Verizon devices too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you flash a kernel on the VZW S3 you will brick the phone on a locked bootloader
Sent from my Nexus 5

ShapesBlue said:
If you flash a kernel on the VZW S3 you will brick the phone on a locked bootloader
Sent from my Nexus 5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I doubt that'll happen, since the AT&T and Verizon S5 and many other devices have been rooted with downgrading the kernel. Either way though, IDK if it'll even work, sknce it sounds impossible to boot a JB kernel on a KK platform. Has anyone tried Cydia Impactor on this device?
Sent from my SCH-I535PP

sezamer66 said:
I doubt that'll happen, since the AT&T and Verizon S5 and many other devices have been rooted with downgrading the kernel. Either way though, IDK if it'll even work, sknce it sounds impossible to boot a JB kernel on a KK platform. Has anyone tried Cydia Impactor on this device?
Sent from my SCH-I535PP
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On the S3 I've been around here and seen many people do just that. While it may be an option on other devices even the VZW S5 it will not work on the S3
Sent from my Nexus 5

I honestly think we're screwed guys. I'm not lying, I've tried 6 OR MORE DIFFERENT METHODS to root!!!!! The kernel probably denies any file by the name of "su" or any file in general to be pushed from adb to the /system partition or any root partition. Let's just quit and leave it to Chainfire lol

sezamer66 said:
I honestly think we're screwed guys. I'm not lying, I've tried 6 OR MORE DIFFERENT METHODS to root!!!!! The kernel probably denies any file by the name of "su" or any file in general to be pushed from adb to the /system partition or any root partition. Let's just quit and leave it to Chainfire lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While chainfire is an excellent developer I doubt even he can crack what VZW did to this device
Sent from my Nexus 5

ShapesBlue said:
While chainfire is an excellent developer I doubt even he can crack what VZW did to this device
Sent from my Nexus 5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And I surely doubt it too, unfortunately. I dream of the day Big Red will cut the ****.

sezamer66 said:
And I surely doubt it too, unfortunately. I dream of the day Big Red will cut the ****.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd say probably never, especially when they can basically tell there customers to do whatever they want when they want. I think it would be nice but I highly doubt it
Sent from my Optipop N5

ShapesBlue said:
I'd say probably never, especially when they can basically tell there customers to do whatever they want when they want. I think it would be nice but I highly doubt it
Sent from my Optipop N5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I want to root this phone too. The kingroot 4.1 do not work phone just reboot.

Galaxy Note 5 Root Progress

Highly unlikely there will be a root for the AT&T version but lets see... Post any "root" progress or discussion here...

This post should be titled Pigs Flying Progress.

Not to be rude, but we can come back to this thread a year from now on a non-rooted AT&T Note 5.

Why?

Because it's locked hard core. Most people will just buy a non att version and unlock it. Sucks for the few that didn't want to pay $1200 for the phone. I just want root to remove crap and a custom kernel no rooms for me.

Any idea who said it is locked hardcore? Did somebody actually try?

I tried it today. I used pumpkin, apple, sunflower, even tomato seeds. No roots yet.

luciferiusXI said:
Any idea who said it is locked hardcore? Did somebody actually try?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's Knox locked for now tell someone cracks it or a unlocked bootloader is leaked.

http://www.idigitaltimes.com/samsun...d-features-att-and-verizon-models-wont-468357

That article is rubbish. I believe there simply aren't any good hackers working on this project. Autoprime has always rooted lots of impossible devices, but unfortunately there isn't any interest on this one. Those that are interested have no knowledge, therefore cut it short and just say that root is impossible.

Just know that in the future if you want a rooted device don't go through AT&T, I think that's been pretty clear for awhile now.

whmgreen said:
Just know that in the future if you want a rooted device don't go through AT&T, I think that's been pretty clear for awhile now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nothing is impossible

luciferiusXI said:
Nothing is impossible
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would like to share in your optimism, but you likely never owned the AT&T note 4...still waiting on a root there a year in.

whmgreen said:
I would like to share in your optimism, but you likely never owned the AT&T note 4...still waiting on a root there a year in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I owned but my theory is different. I believe that we can't achieve root because there aren't any more great developers working on the att note series. Number of developers kept decreasing every year. Most of the good ones grew up, found real jobs, have family and stuff and no free time to mess with the phones. Note 1 and note 2 had great developers then Note 3 was slow then Note 4 had 0 developers and same situation with Note 5. So at this point there only are themers left out there but no real developers. Anyways even if there was root on this device I doubt I would root it. First time I am very happy with stock rom experience on an android phone.

luciferiusXI said:
I owned but my theory is different. I believe that we can't achieve root because there aren't any more great developers working on the att note series. Number of developers kept decreasing every year. Most of the good ones grew up, found real jobs, have family and stuff and no free time to mess with the phones. Note 1 and note 2 had great developers then Note 3 was slow then Note 4 had 0 developers and same situation with Note 5. So at this point there only are themers left out there but no real developers. Anyways even if there was root on this device I doubt I would root it. First time I am very happy with stock rom experience on an android phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm actually fine with not rooting either the note 4 or note 5, they are both very fast after some light tweaking. The argument that there isn't enough developers is fair, but I believe there isn't more development because these phones are very hard to crack. You can hack a temporary root for the note 4, but I doubt that will be possible with the note 5. Either way these are superior phones to those a few years ago which were barely useable without root.

I'm not feeling the need to root this phone. My wife has my LG G3 (T-Mobile variant on AT&T). That was my phone prior to the Note 5. It was plenty quick on AOSP (not very quick on a stock-like ROM). Playing with it after using the Note 5 and it surprises me the LG feels slow. The Note 5 is plenty of snappy.
My only gripe...no Titanium Backup and no Ad Blocker. I've got Firefox as the browser and an ad blocker plugin for that but for the other apps I don't have any luck. I know there's AdGuard but don't feel like using that one.

Nosferatu. said:
I'm not feeling the need to root this phone. My wife has my LG G3 (T-Mobile variant on AT&T). That was my phone prior to the Note 5. It was plenty quick on AOSP (not very quick on a stock-like ROM). Playing with it after using the Note 5 and it surprises me the LG feels slow. The Note 5 is plenty of snappy.
My only gripe...no Titanium Backup and no Ad Blocker. I've got Firefox as the browser and an ad blocker plugin for that but for the other apps I don't have any luck. I know there's AdGuard but don't feel like using that one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you mind posting a link of the adblocker pluginfor firefox?

luciferiusXI said:
Do you mind posting a link of the adblocker pluginfor firefox?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Install Firefox from Play Store
Then go to: Settings --> Tools --> Addons
Search for uBlock Origin
Done
This is the direct link if you can't find it...
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/android/addon/ublock-origin/?src=search

whmgreen said:
I'm actually fine with not rooting either the note 4 or note 5, they are both very fast after some light tweaking. The argument that there isn't enough developers is fair, but I believe there isn't more development because these phones are very hard to crack. You can hack a temporary root for the note 4, but I doubt that will be possible with the note 5. Either way these are superior phones to those a few years ago which were barely useable without root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Getting mine tomorrow, what light tweaking do you mean?

iSwiftical said:
Getting mine tomorrow, what light tweaking do you mean?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Disabling apps with package disabler pro, turning off unneeded sensor stuff, and things like hd voice (since it's not in my area anyways).

Bootloader unlock and root access

I'm interested in buying the note7 but I need to know first that if it is possible to unlock its bootloader and have root access.
Thanks in advance

I can say with certainty that this phone, as with most android phones, can be rooted. Bootloader is a more tricky issue. If you are running the international exynos version root should come fairly quickly. If you are running the snapdragon version in the US, bootloader has to be hacked so be prepared to wait. Of course I am saying this assuming note 7 is similar to the S7. I am not a tech guy so dont quote me on these. But from experience, all phones gets root treatment with time. The question is how long you can wait. : ) Oh and be prepared to lose access to Iris scanner and Samsung Pay as they are directly tied to Knox.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

mix1987 said:
I can say with certainty that this phone, as with most android phones, can be rooted. Bootloader is a more tricky issue. If you are running the international exynos version root should come fairly quickly. If you are running the snapdragon version in the US, bootloader has to be hacked so be prepared to wait. Of course I am saying this assuming note 7 is similar to the S7. I am not a tech guy so dont quote me on these. But from experience, all phones gets root treatment with time. The question is how long you can wait. : ) Oh and be prepared to lose access to Iris scanner and Samsung Pay as they are directly tied to Knox.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldn't speak so fast, there are enough devices out there with locked BLs that dont have root...after years.
And reading the S7 root thread its messy and really slows the device down, can't speak from experience but have a read in that thread.
Sent from my Note 5 or S6. Note 7 ordered

Guitarist147 said:
I'm interested in buying the note7 but I need to know first that if it is possible to unlock its bootloader and have root access.
Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
U will have wait till its released or people get early access to it
Sent from my SM-G900T using XDA-Developers mobile app

Root exploit

Has anyone else noticed that root is taking longer and longer to drop? I remember note 3 & 4, root dropped before the phone was put up for sale. I think they phone manufacturers and carriers are making it harder and harder to crack bootloaders. It is sad. We pay hundreds of dollars for a device and it really is not yours. They will tell you what they want and don't want you to do with your device.
Solution...... (yes I am dreaming and understand people will not band together)
We all need to stop upgrading and getting new devices. Hit them in the pocketbook. They WILL change their policies.
Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

That strategy will never work with such a popular device. There's too few people who are interested in this. The only thing that would work here is legislation.

It's the nature of Android. Not only are devices more secure, but there's fewer and fewer people who desire to root phones these days. Those that do, have mostly moved over to dev-friendly phones like Nexus, Pixel, OnePlus, etc.

There is already a few private exploits for the s8/s8+ but i doubt they will be released

No more than 10% of Android user even know what root is. Manufacturers could care less if you decide not to buy because of lack of root.

since we can flash un-branded firmware on our devices now, i honestly have no desire to root anymore. The only thing i wish is that somehow get the Wi-fi calling and volte to work with the unbranded firmware.

darthmalus said:
since we can flash un-branded firmware on our devices now, i honestly have no desire to root anymore. The only thing i wish is that somehow get the Wi-fi calling and volte to work with the unbranded firmware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I totally agree. With the unlocked firmware and all the themes in the theme store I have no need to root either. Half of the modifications people make for rooted devices are not exactly stable and will cause all sorts of instabilities with the os anyway. I've been rooting all my devices since the galaxy note, galaxy s days. I find it more useful to actually keep all my data on my device instead of flashing and reflashing all the time lol. ?
Sent from my SM-G955U1 using XDA-Developers Legacy app

That's the reason I gave up on Samsung,need root MagnumOpus, Titanium, ROM and kernel mod etc. Google Pixel XL 2.... Come to butthead
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

llawen said:
Has anyone else noticed that root is taking longer and longer to drop? I remember note 3 & 4, root dropped before the phone was put up for sale. I think they phone manufacturers and carriers are making it harder and harder to crack bootloaders. It is sad. We pay hundreds of dollars for a device and it really is not yours. They will tell you what they want and don't want you to do with your device.
Solution...... (yes I am dreaming and understand people will not band together)
We all need to stop upgrading and getting new devices. Hit them in the pocketbook. They WILL change their policies.
Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The majority of users don't know what rooting or a bootloader is, so those of us who like to root our phones, unlock the booatloader, use custom ROMs, etc are a very small percentage of the Android user base. As the software has developed, the reasons some individuals ran custom ROMs has been addressed, and those of us who were once diehard modders have slowly lost interest. I know back in my older Android days (LG G2, Galaxy Note 4, etc) I refused to use a device that wasn't running on a custom ROM. Today, I couldn't care less because the issues that drove me to rooting my device and using custom ROMs are no longer there. If I do get the itch to play around with custom ROMs, I can just buy a Nexus or Pixel device to play around with and my itch is satisfied.
The majority of the user base is your typical user who just wants to use the device. Most users care more about features over modability. And once you try out a few ROMs, it's a vicious cycle. I never had a stable device back in my Android KitKat days because I was swapping ROMs every other day. Part of the reason I intentionally buy devices where the bootloader cannot be unlocked, because I know I'll find myself in that same situation again. So just buying a second device and using that as my play-around device, and using my flashy Galaxy S8+ as my main driver is the best solution for me.

The best reason for no root in my opinion is awesome security. I'm happy to see there is no root just yet. Families who use this phone for bills, money trade, etc. need a solid secure phone. On the other hand if your not using this phone for financial data, than it really does suck. It sucks because of the limitations of theming.
Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

I've been rooting for many years. Met a bunch of awesome devs and remained friends with them. I can actually say rooting your device has became a thing of the past. Past few phones I've had I didn't root. Just seems like rooting now causes to many problems which is mentioned up above. It's not stable enough to count on when it's way to buggy. Not saying anything about the devs we have today but the devs even back in the day still had bugs. Just seems staying unrooted is the way to go for more stable unbuggy rom to catch an upgrade for more fixes which are stable and add on's.
Sent from my SM-G955U using XDA-Developers Legacy app

Eh, this is the first phone I've had in the past few years that I didn't feel like I needed to root. My previous phone was a Nexus 6p - while pure android and fast security updates was a definite plus, it just didn't have a lot of little features that I liked: theming, close Recents button at the bottom, stuff like that. And I never really felt that the custom kernels provided much better battery life than the stock kernel, which is the only reason that I flashed them in the first place. I'm pretty happy with the customization features present in Samsung's version of android, so I'm fine staying as is. Just being able to change carrier firmwares is enough for me.

This is also the first phone I haven't rooted on day one since the T-Mobile G1. In addition to the Samsung theme store there is now Substratum for Samsung available of which I am currently using Swift Black from the Play Store. Also on XDA there is a thread where you can use layers on your S8 or S8+. In addition to all of the customization the battery life is better than my rooted Nexus 6, best battery life of any phone I've ever had.

root has been achieved, developers are working the package:
Announced by @BotsOne
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=73336318&postcount=1235

The root package hasn't been released yet has it?

GDane1 said:
The root package hasn't been released yet has it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Root has been released for our phones it's a lot of steps but follow everything as it says in the op and you will be fine I rooted first try
https://forum.xda-developers.com/ga...root-g955u-g955u1-snapdragon-sampwnd-t3658911

This is the first phone since the T-Mobile G1 that I haven't rooted on day one. I feel that there is no need for root on the S8+, we have the Samsung Theme Store and even better we now have Substratum on an unrooted S8+ plus quite a few layer to use for customization.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/apps/substratum/7-0-substratum-sex-tw-beta-t3620796
https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s8+/themes/substratum-inversion-ui-overlay-overlays-t3604341

I wouldn't buy a phone that I can't install Viper4android and Ti on it.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

True. Security is incremental: little by little security gets better & better building on previous security features. Root is nice, also true. Bootloader unlock would be awesome for development of custom roms/kernels, etc. Here's to hoping!

Nonsense!
I agree with one of you, we should look for dev friendly device.
But it will be so much pain if you face tons of unfriendly bloatware, overheat device and lag even with 4 or 6gb RAM. No matter what root still essential factor to develop friendly firmware.