Develop Bugs

[Q]Why "root" your phone ?

Hi, everyone.
I am fairly new on the forum. I keep reading about "rooting" your phone. I have a Samsung Galaxy SII T989 and my questions are:
1. What is "phone rooting" ?
2. What are the advantages of having your phone "rooted" ?
Thank you.

I'm *hoping* this is a joke, but if it isn't, here's a good place to start:
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=why+root+your+phone

unclespoon said:
I'm *hoping* this is a job, but if it isn't, here's a good place to start:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow that's pretty awesome, would have never thought about that ha ha ha
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium

Yes... It is a job to think: Why would you risk to unstable your phone by "root" it?
I see that:
- people are removing the wrong apps that negatively affect their phones (e.q. a ccounts and sync).
- people's phone are missing other thinks they used to like (bars, the small flashing blue light when you scroll to the top and to the bottom of the screen).
- the pletoria of apps for rooted phone are not that great...
- the advantage you get is that you only free up some internal space?

I have no issues with my phone rooted. I am on a stock T-Mobile ROM and froze all the bloatware. You can get rids of ads in apps when rooted which is pretty damn convenient for me. Do research on what is safe to freeze and you wont have any problems. Freezing is more safe than uninstalling...
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium

The reason is you then have 100% control over your system. If you know what you're doing, having root can be a very powerful tool. You can greatly speed up the phone, free up ram, theme things, it gives you total control.
Now this is a double edged sword too. All the horror stories you're hearing about root are by people who don't have the faintest idea what they're doing and are breaking things.
Think of it in terms of computers. On linux, having root is, well, having root. You have full access to the system. On windows, (vista and above mainly) it's like having an administrator account with UAC turned off. In the right hands, this is very very nice. In the wrong hands, it can cause problems.
If you don't see the benefit of rooting, then I'd highly suggest you do not do so. These devices are not windows boxes where you screw up and "oh well, guess it's time to bust out the windows cd and do a re-install. I'd also suggest perhaps looking through the market at things that require root, and the benefits they give you. (Titanium backup, for instance. Or tethering when your provider doesn't want you to.)

Sui Generis said:
Yes... It is a job to think: Why would you risk to unstable your phone by "root" it?
I see that:
- people are removing the wrong apps that negatively affect their phones (e.q. a ccounts and sync).
- people's phone are missing other thinks they used to like (bars, the small flashing blue light when you scroll to the top and to the bottom of the screen).
- the pletoria of apps for rooted phone are not that great...
- the advantage you get is that you only free up some internal space?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly if you don't want to root your phone do not root it. A lot of the problems you mention stem from people attempting to root and don't know what they are really doing. I am one of those people who are strictly against one click root methods. Because you literally don't need to read anything to understand what exactly are you doing.
If you know what you can do with a rooted phone things like
-Better battery life by manipulating the cpu cycles and governors.
-Change the entire look of the phone to look as if it a totally different os.
-Better performance overall of your phone
-Overall better experience than what the carrier give you.
I could name endless things about why rooting is better than what the stock gives you.
A lot of people I hear just say go to xda and root your phone. Which is very ignorant. Not everyone should root. If your phone is doing what it needs to do then leave it alone. My friends who have android phones ask me to root for them i tell them no root it themselves. With one click methods people make an xda account and blame the developer saying their rom sucks and is bad battery life where as the problems stem most of the time the user side.

I agree. I haven't rooted my SGS2 yet because the stock ROM, for me, seems to be serving its purpose very well. All my benchmark scores are within standard deviation of the OC kernels and now we've got wifi calling. I use ADW for a new UI and that suits me just fine. Yes, ICS will come from CM long before it does from the carriers, but I'm ok with that - even though I'll probably end up rooting and installing ICS once it's stable. My previous Android phones were rooted within days of purchase, and yes I would like to remove bloat, but with all the internal storage and my 32gb sd card I think I'll be a happy camper. It would be nice to know carrier IQ was gone, though...

rooting = control
no root = no control over settings
they don't let you root by default to prevent noobs from damaging their phone by changing some settings they should have not touched

when i rooted my phone and got beastmod 4.0 with flaux kernal my battery life increased like 50x than stock x.x
Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk

I personally don't think I'll be rooting (at least not while the phone's still new). I'm happy with the level of customization on the stock.
One question though. So basically, when rooted, you are "logged in" to your phone as root user? Are there any security risks with this?

Killbynature said:
Honestly if you don't want to root your phone do not root it. A lot of the problems you mention stem from people attempting to root and don't know what they are really doing. I am one of those people who are strictly against one click root methods. Because you literally don't need to read anything to understand what exactly are you doing.
If you know what you can do with a rooted phone things like
-Better battery life by manipulating the cpu cycles and governors.
-Change the entire look of the phone to look as if it a totally different os.
-Better performance overall of your phone
-Overall better experience than what the carrier give you.
I could name endless things about why rooting is better than what the stock gives you.
A lot of people I hear just say go to xda and root your phone. Which is very ignorant. Not everyone should root. If your phone is doing what it needs to do then leave it alone. My friends who have android phones ask me to root for them i tell them no root it themselves. With one click methods people make an xda account and blame the developer saying their rom sucks and is bad battery life where as the problems stem most of the time the user side.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agree entirely, back on the ns forums I was constantly advising people against one click.
Sent from my Hercules with xda Premium.

eMace said:
I personally don't think I'll be rooting (at least not while the phone's still new). I'm happy with the level of customization on the stock.
One question though. So basically, when rooted, you are "logged in" to your phone as root user? Are there any security risks with this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only if you use bad apps. Its just like on any other os: if you're the administrator you have to be twice as careful wity what you install
Sent from my Hercules with xda Premium.

Rooting your phone is like getting under the hood of your car.
If you have never worked on a car, it would not be wise to just start pulling out plugs/wires, moving things around and installing enhancements as you would probably ruin your car and end up paying a mechanic to fix it.
However, if you take the time to read up on any changes before you make them, then you could end up with a turbo-boosted hot rod with a custom Chrome setup that not only looks better but performs like a champ.

www.youtube.com/themrroxtar noob tutorials and rom reviews. Check it out. Plus everyone can find how to win a free Hercules at the end of this month!
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium

for me, rooting is mainly removing bloatware.
just like when you buy a new laptop, they install a lot of crap and it slow your computer down.
rooting can remove bloatware and also give you more speed, but you might lose the upgrading from the OTA(official t mobile update) and need to check update in here.
but if you are ok with the performance that you can on your phone now, stay with it.

It's all about the flash (yeah, bahby!) The custom ROM's can't be flashed without root: Forget about deleting/freezing unwanted applications and find a developers ROM you like - experiment a bit and have some fun with the phone.
As well, applications that require root - quick boot and appinstaller, are a must for me, making root mandatory for my phoning pleasure.
I had an HD2 before, and while there's greater variety in the ROM's, set-up to root is a biach on the HTC devices, so we can thank our lucky stars Samsung makes this easier (prolly not on purpose, though )

TheMrRoxtar said:
www.youtube.com/themrroxtar noob tutorials and rom reviews. Check it out. Plus everyone can find how to win a free Hercules at the end of this month!
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What's up man...wheelerhomes from YouTube.
Enjoying my rooted sg2! Have to agree with some comments ...understand what you're doing or don't do it. I learned just enough to be dangerous! But am picking up more and more as I read. I do wish the tutorials went a little more into WHY you're doing this or that vs just saying do this. It confusing to grasp what rooting is but when start downloading Odin, loading superuser, clockwork mod recovery, titanium, etc its REALLY overwhelming not knowing what each step does.
I certainly did not need to root. But like all these phones, it started out nice and snappy and within a week it was glitching like my old vibrant ...all kinds of stupid crap running in the background. Rooting was stressful because I didn't know exactly why I was doing these different steps!! Once I did it I was stoked at how fast my phone was. Just flashed wifi stock rom today that whitehawkx put up and I'm already missing my Juggernaut! But wifi calling/texting is slick for my location!

OK,
- better battery life can serve me better...
- being able to install other apps (such call recorder) can also be beneficial...
The problem is that I come from the Windows side rather than the Linux or Apple so I do not excel into this so I am afraid not to brick the phone.
Having said that, it would be VERY, VERY, VERY nice of you (or everyone else with a very rooted stable phone) to post clear and "for dummies" instructions on how to:
1. root your phone
2. install customed rom (beastmod, juggernaut or odin, etc - upon your recommendation).
Many thanks in advance !

eMace said:
I personally don't think I'll be rooting (at least not while the phone's still new).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Installed clockwork mod recovery on the first boot while the phone was still in the plastic wrap. Rooted via superoneclick on the 2nd boot ONLY because you have to reboot after flashing clockwork mod.
The process is easy if you read the instructions.
Sent from my Hercules using XDA App

[Q] Is there a genuine, legitimate reason to root

I've had my E4GT for about 2 or 3 weeks now, I received the OTA update to FI27 last week, and overall I'm pretty happy with it (I was happy before the update though, but to be honest because I only had the phone a few days I haven't noticed a difference ).
I rooted my last phone, which was a Virgin Mobile LG Optimus V, but that was because Virgin loaded it with a bunch of bloatware and there was a very good ROM that removed all of it, improved battery life, etc etc.
But with this phone, I don't find I have any issues with battery life, I have plenty of space on my phone with way more apps installed than I had on the Optimus, it runs smoothly, and the only complaint I have is that my LED notification light isn't working correctly, which I know can be fixed with an app.
So, to all the people that have rooted and know what else this phone can do, is there a good reason other than "you can install lots of different custom roms" that I should root my phone? What else will I be able to do with it? What benefits will I see? Installing different ROMs doesn't mean much to me. Even though I did that on my old phone, there was a real reason to do it: I could install more than 4 apps on it (and I kept that same ROM on it the entire time). I don't have that issue with this phone, so why should I?
Thanks

I personally consider customization, removing bloatware, and tweaking to your own liking genuine and legitimate reasons. You also have Ad blocking & WiFi tether though.

You shouldn't if you are happy with it.
I rooted for those reasons..
-Tired of stock look. Install new roms.
-Use apps needing root like titaniun backup.
-Get rid of stock apps.
I didnt root for almost 2 months. I was eager to try ics leaks before ota so I eventually rooted.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda app-developers app

someguyatx said:
I personally consider customization, removing bloatware, and tweaking to your own liking genuine and legitimate reasons. You also have Ad blocking & WiFi tether though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well this is what I don't really understand. What sort of customization and tweaking can be done to the phone? What are the effects of it?
BluesRulez said:
You shouldn't if you are happy with it.
I rooted for those reasons..
-Tired of stock look. Install new roms.
-Use apps needing root like titaniun backup.
-Get rid of stock apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't you really only need Titanium Backup if you are gonna be rooting though? The bloatware I can deal with as the phone hasn't (yet) told me that I don't have enough space to stop me from installing new apps.

mewikime said:
I've had my E4GT for about 2 or 3 weeks now, I received the OTA update to FI27 last week, and overall I'm pretty happy with it (I was happy before the update though, but to be honest because I only had the phone a few days I haven't noticed a difference ).
I rooted my last phone, which was a Virgin Mobile LG Optimus V, but that was because Virgin loaded it with a bunch of bloatware and there was a very good ROM that removed all of it, improved battery life, etc etc.
But with this phone, I don't find I have any issues with battery life, I have plenty of space on my phone with way more apps installed than I had on the Optimus, it runs smoothly, and the only complaint I have is that my LED notification light isn't working correctly, which I know can be fixed with an app.
So, to all the people that have rooted and know what else this phone can do, is there a good reason other than "you can install lots of different custom roms" that I should root my phone? What else will I be able to do with it? What benefits will I see? Installing different ROMs doesn't mean much to me. Even though I did that on my old phone, there was a real reason to do it: I could install more than 4 apps on it (and I kept that same ROM on it the entire time). I don't have that issue with this phone, so why should I?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no reason for you to root. You are happy that's good.
XDA's 4,697,117+ Members are just nuts. We're unhappy with our stuff and insist on making it less useful to us.
Nothing to see here....
Seriously if you need to ask and don't want to investigate for yourself then rooting and certainly these forums are not for you.

I root because
- Hate Touchwiz look
- Customization
- Themes
- Battery Saving options
- AOSP (AOKP)
- JELLYBEAN
- Better reception and data

You may be happy with bloat. I do not want battery resources going to apps I will never open. I like battery life. I like optimization. I like customization. If you don't see a need then don't do it. But if your phone ever drowns don't complain that you lost all your game data or texts and stuff. With titanium backup I can even set a schedule to back up those items for me at whatever time to my sd card. So if my phone drowns I pop my as card into my new phone and its all there. Also make nandroids when I receive my replacement its like my phone never died. Its all exactly how I had it.
sent from my BAD A$$ Epic touch

I run stock 90% of the time.
My main reason to root at least after FF18
-Tethering
-Tethering nothing more
I said after FF18 because on Gingerbread there's no need to root for tethering thanks to FoxFi but since ICS, Sprint block it and they are working on a new version for ICS when they found a way again I'm back to Stock.

Do what you want!
That is what is most important.
If there was any legitimate reason, it would be because you want to.
Otherwise you are just following what someone else says. Of course, there are very good reasons for both. The one thing I am told a lot by people on the other end of the phone conversation consistently, is that there seems to be feedback and they hear themselves a lot(- since I started Modding). What do I care, I hear everyone just fine. But I do care. I use my phone for work a lot. NOW, someone else is going to post after this that you can play with modems and what not to clear this up... which is true. And also you can reflash and do this & do that. What if the person using the phone just wants simplicity.... stay stock! Do not pass go. It takes tweeking, fine adjustments, research and ROM updates(The almighty Search box on XDA is awesome) and time to figure some of this stuff out. And ALSO it doesn't hurt to have an interest in android, Apps, ROMs and so on and so on.

Sometimes either the manufacturer or the carrier sends out updates that just don't work well. I like having the ability to keep it working properly, not working the way Sprint thinks is best for me.
You have only had your phone for a month. I have had mine for about a year, and others here have had it longer. If you are trying to convince us not to root, you should spend your time on the Sprint message boards instead of here.

Your happy that's what matters. Your choice
Sent from my HTCEVOV4G using Xparent SkyBlue Tapatalk 2

It comes down to personal choice. Android is customizable right out of the box. It is even more so once you root and get under the hood.

Agreed with all that say it's your choice. Also your habits are very important. One of the reasons why I love Android is that I can literally change my software whenever I want. I was running AOKP 2 days ago, M'ICS the day after. Now today I'm on stock rooted FI27.
Honestly though, this phone is really good out of the box. I had the LG Optimus V for over a year as well, and the only way to get that phone to perform was to root it and put a custom ROM on it. It was actually a great phone for being low end. I had said that when I upgraded to this phone that I wouldn't root it, but that didn't last long. Really though, you can easily get the performance you're looking for on this phone without rooting it.

I rooted for UV/OC ability.
And I really didn't like touchwiz, but I accidentally found that it comes stock with both the ICS launcher and TW launchers, so that was a plus.
I'm on a stock rom running agat's source 6.5 kernel. Runs great. Only thing better would be if I could find an optimized stock rom (much like Sprint Lovers on the OG Evo 4G.)

I'm rooted because I like to tell my devices what to do.
I guess rooting might make more sense if you've ever been an administrator or if you've ever ran any Linux machine.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

Tethering and titanium backup. There is no way to truly backup data without root and on something as accident prone as a smartphone that's a necessity.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

mewikime said:
Don't you really only need Titanium Backup if you are gonna be rooting though? The bloatware I can deal with as the phone hasn't (yet) told me that I don't have enough space to stop me from installing new apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can't reliably backup say your angry bird progress without TiBu or the like and being rooted. Sure for this specific series of apps there have been applications made to back up the save progress but they have proven often at times to be unreliable.
Maybe your favorite app gets pulled from the market, lets say flash. Too bad you didn't back up the APK. Of course for flash you can download the apk from adobe still so not a great example but you get the idea.
But overall something like Titanium Backup comes in handy if you ever need to format the phone. Like say the OTA to ICS, problems for unrooted users were easily solved by a factory reset (except for that brick bug triggered by factory reset...). Nice to be able to restore all your user apps with all their settings and save data.
I rooted so I could use a PS3 controller back on gingerbread. As time goes on many things that required root like taking screenshots have become officially available in Android or OEM firmware. Question is you want to be able to do completely normal and reasonable things up to a couple years ahead of Google catching up? Surely if someone locked down your windows PC so you couldn't do things you take for granted you would wish for root access.

I waited about 5 months before I finally rooted my phone. My old phone was rooted and I liked CM7 and MIUI but with stock ICS on this phone I was getting amazing battery life and I was using GO Launcher and it looked great. The only thing I hated was the black status bar and it could only be changed if it was rooted.
There are a lot of roms for our phone but I really missed the CM7 rom I had on the old optimus S. It supported status bar transparency and I could change the color of the status bar and status bar text. It looks like no rom for our phone has that feature. Right now I'm on MIUI which has a great looking UI but battery life isn't nearly as good as the unrooted FH13. I get the best battery life with CM9 which is still a lot less than before when it wasn't rooted. My phone used to last around 60 hours with very light use and now I could only get around 48 hours with CM9 and maybe 30 hours with MIUI. But I'm still happy with it since I get tons of beautiful themes and new features and I like to try new roms and it keeps me busy lol.

Rooting allows you to have full control of the device whether its software or hardware. I agree that this phone is just fine stock. It just works and its fast.
Reasons why I'm rooted
Titanium backup, roam control, extended toggles, root explorer to push custom themed apps to /system/app. When rooted you can do almost anything with your phone that comes to your mind. There's a pic of the super super handy extended toggles that I can't live with out.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda app-developers app

leaderbuilder said:
There is no reason for you to root. You are happy that's good.
XDA's 4,697,117+ Members are just nuts. We're unhappy with our stuff and insist on making it less useful to us.
Nothing to see here....
Seriously if you need to ask and don't want to investigate for yourself then rooting and certainly these forums are not for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
byrdcfmma said:
You have only had your phone for a month. I have had mine for about a year, and others here have had it longer. If you are trying to convince us not to root, you should spend your time on the Sprint message boards instead of here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wasn't trying to imply that anyone who has rooted this phone is nuts, you shouldn't have done it, and that it's less useful. I was asking what are some specific advantages to rooting, how does rooting make it more useful, as at the moment I have had no issues with the operation of the phone, but I don't know the full extent of what it can do when rooted, and I thought that these forums would be the place to get such answers from experienced rooted users who have had their phones for a year and know more than I do. I should have worded my initial question differently to explain that better.
hrffd said:
I root because
- Better reception and data
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is interesting to know. At home I get 1 bar of reception if I'm lucky, dropped calls, and no 3G data. I had to ask Sprint for an Airave. When I leave my street but am still in the general neighbourhood I get no service again. Is reception improved by root-only apps or certain ROMs?
patrao_n said:
You may be happy with bloat. I do not want battery resources going to apps I will never open. ... But if your phone ever drowns don't complain that you lost all your game data or texts and stuff. With titanium backup I can even set a schedule to back up those items for me at whatever time to my sd card. So if my phone drowns I pop my as card into my new phone and its all there. Also make nandroids when I receive my replacement its like my phone never died. Its all exactly how I had it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for telling me that. It's not that I'm happy with them, I just haven't yet had my phone tell me I can't install a new app. When that happens no doubt I wouldn't be pleased. I assumed that because I hadn't opened the bloatware apps that they weren't using battery resources so it's good to know that they do, and that this is a good reason for rooting and removing them. Your reasons for using Titanium backup were something I hadn't thought of as well.
Omar04 said:
I run stock 90% of the time.
My main reason to root at least after FF18
-Tethering
-Tethering nothing more
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Again, good to know. As I said, I've had the phone a couple of weeks and only now with a lower workload have I really had time to sit and contemplate what to do with my phone, and look into what it does and what it can do. I have the paid EasyTether app but I haven't used it on this phone yet. I also saw that it comes preloaded with Sprint Hotspot app.. I take it then that EasyTether won't work on this phone with current stock setup?
mjs2011 said:
Agreed with all that say it's your choice. Also your habits are very important. One of the reasons why I love Android is that I can literally change my software whenever I want. I was running AOKP 2 days ago, M'ICS the day after. Now today I'm on stock rooted FI27.
Honestly though, this phone is really good out of the box. I had the LG Optimus V for over a year as well, and the only way to get that phone to perform was to root it and put a custom ROM on it. It was actually a great phone for being low end. I had said that when I upgraded to this phone that I wouldn't root it, but that didn't last long. Really though, you can easily get the performance you're looking for on this phone without rooting it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think if I did root, I'd do what I did with the OV and stick with the same ROM for a good time. Again, not to insult those that do (see above reply), but I don't think I'd have the balls to run different roms on a daily basis in fear of bricking it and also because once I've found something I'm happy with I'm usually okay not to look any further!
Mattix724 said:
I'm rooted because I like to tell my devices what to do.
I guess rooting might make more sense if you've ever been an administrator or if you've ever ran any Linux machine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, no. No Linux experience here except for a tiny bit of stuff on my seedbox, installing 7zip and using Putty to unzip iso's and stuff.
I'm going to spend the next couple of days reading the various forums, looking at what ROMs are available, what they do, etc etc, checking out what apps that require root access I'm missing out on.. one has piqued my interest already: Root Call Blocker. But I use my phone to make calls, make texts, check emails, surf the web a bit, and let the kids play a few games on it. So this is why I was wondering if there were any other benefits for me to do this.

Should i root or not

Proud new owner of HOX was using GS3 before and HATED every moment of using that piece of crap! So far im in love with my HOX but since im running stock ICS i do suffer some performance issues time to time, So therefor i need your opinion should i root my one x and install custom JB rom or should i wait for the official OTA from htc, My main reason for rooting is like a said to flash JB other than that i can live without rooting my one x so should i root or wait for the OTA.

Use your phone for a while first, there have been a couple of issues that have turned up a little while into ownership so best ensure you don't have them first.
Then, once your happy you won't have issues, it's up to you whether to root or not, personally I always root for better control and backup ability.

Could you elaborate more into what kind of issues?

jb ota is right around the corner if your phone is not branded...
just wait till you get it and decide after if you still feel the need to root.

Will the gaming performance improve with jb cuz rite now when i play gta 3 it lags like crazy! i cant even imagine playing gta vice city which should be coming out in few weeks.

Astonrynlds said:
Will the gaming performance improve with jb cuz rite now when i play gta 3 it lags like crazy! i cant even imagine playing gta vice city which should be coming out in few weeks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if it comes better optimized its smoother, but yeah rooting it will give a better performance and battery savings

Don't root your phone it will void warranty with htc ,wait at least a couple of months to see if any of the hox issues that may or may not shows up ( WiFi ,screen issues.hotness) on your phone
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium

Agree with #2, #4 and #7

Not just yet, wait to see if another root method comes that won't void warranty or at least until your phone settles in n you know it has no problems, mine after 2 months speaker gave up and headphone jack stopped working so had to send it off was so pleased I hadn't voided my warranty
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium

If you like gaming you must root as there is a gaming boost app made by hamdir and mwilky that improve the gaming a lot and there are kernel with oc GPU that help but sadly these are just for a ICS.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda app-developers app

atrako1973 said:
Don't root your phone it will void warranty with htc ,wait at least a couple of months to see if any of the hox issues that may or may not shows up ( WiFi ,screen issues.hotness) on your phone
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
^^^ Not necessarily true, a lot of the time HTC repair center's will turn a blind eye to the phone if it's rooted as a lot of users have verified now, read the threads.
---
@ OP- I'd stay stock for a while mate, as said here before, OTA's are just around the corner, if, after that you still feel curious just root it and install ARHD, that way you'll still have the stock experience and it won't be too much of a culture shock for you.
AND Then if you still feel curious flash customer kernels and mods etc...
Baby steps bro...
You can use my thread (check my sig) to root the phone, then stop there once rooted and then use this JB Flasher Tool to make getting onto JB easier for you.

Thanks alot guys! Since OTA is just around the corner figure i'd wait for that. But as far as issues goes so none whatsoever infact the battery is been surprisingly been on par with s3 or iphone 4s.

Do non-sense roms have the same aggressive memory management that the stock rom has? I'm going to wait for the JB update, but if it still kills apps quickly like stock ICS does, I might go with a custom ROM.
It's REALLY annoying when I open a 3rd (gasp!) app, and when I pop back to the first, it has to completely reload. Mostly annoying when that app is a browser page.

tush said:
Do non-sense roms have the same aggressive memory management that the stock rom has? I'm going to wait for the JB update, but if it still kills apps quickly like stock ICS does, I might go with a custom ROM.
It's REALLY annoying when I open a 3rd (gasp!) app, and when I pop back to the first, it has to completely reload. Mostly annoying when that app is a browser page.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That'll always happen with multitasking, HTC muffed up the multitasking so it isn't what I'd call 'true' multitasking. It'll mostly need to reload the app.
I think Hamdir wrote a good thread on how to counter that with some script changes, try asking him?
I don't think the aggressive memory management is down to HTC Sense per se I think it's an Android thing? Again that'd need verification.

Root can be handy to have. The most obvious use is backup, if you want to make sure your app data (for those apps that still insist on using phone storage for data/savegames) and settings are covered. But I've personally had a few "needs root" things pop up now.
It's worth at least unlocking the bootloader sooner rather than later in case you ever do decide you want root, because when you do the unlock it wipes your phone. Better to go through re-setting it up early rather than having to wipe it later when you have loads of stuff on it.
On the other hand it voids warranty, and they can tell even if you re-lock the device as it will permanently say "re-locked". If you have a hardware fault you can probably pull some sort of consumer protection law thing on them, but you need to be aware that they'll probably fight it tooth and nail and claim that your warranty is "Void. Period." People's experiences are well documented in the warranty thread.
My approach was to wait a month and not get too settled-in with my data/apps/etc during that month. A really high percentage of hardware faults with any device or machine show up within the first month* so after that I felt comfortable enough to take the plunge.
* (The month thing is known as the breaking-in period... I work for an electronics manufacturer and one thing they offer is doing the break-in testing in-house before even shipping to the customer. At a fairly high price of course)

Noup. If u ask about it, u shouldnt root hox.
Stay away from rooting things.
Yes bro... Why not?
SkyDragon Sense Rom V1

Well,
if you agree that you may loose warranty, let me tell you why I always root my phones..
- to delete all crappy applications (stock, soundhound, carriers app...)
- to be able to install some cleaning app which needs root (game cheats, ad cleaners ...)
- to change Roms and find the one I need (in fact I change every week )
- many, many others usefull things...
By the way, i already return old phones to sellers, they were repaired, even with unlocked bootloaders & root. Maybe I was lucky

Mihmoh said:
Well,
if you agree that you may loose warranty, let me tell you why I always root my phones..
- to delete all crappy applications (stock, soundhound, carriers app...)
- to be able to install some cleaning app which needs root (game cheats, ad cleaners ...)
- to change Roms and find the one I need (in fact I change every week )
- many, many others usefull things...
By the way, i already return old phones to sellers, they were repaired, even with unlocked bootloaders & root. Maybe I was lucky
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I totally agree with you. I just hate those crappy apps. It's like buying a notebook full of bloatware and not being able to remove it! I'm sure that is not cool LOL. Besides that, I think Titanium Backup Pro is a must, and it only works on rooted phones.

To ROOT or not to ROOT, that's the question.... :laugh:
davidflam said:
I totally agree with you. I just hate those crappy apps. It's like buying a notebook full of bloatware and not being able to remove it! I'm sure that is not cool LOL. Besides that, I think Titanium Backup Pro is a must, and it only works on rooted phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

davidflam said:
I totally agree with you. I just hate those crappy apps. It's like buying a notebook full of bloatware and not being able to remove it! I'm sure that is not cool LOL. Besides that, I think Titanium Backup Pro is a must, and it only works on rooted phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, Titanium Backup is The Must.
My Favorites are, as said below, Titanium (pro) , Nova Launcher (with root), Lucky Patcher, and of course Adfree.
Usually, as soon as I get a new phone (having 3 now : DHD, Sensation, One X... Nexus 4 coming) or Tablet (Xoom wifi MZ604, Nexus 7) , I root it after having unlocked it.
I can't stand having some lags & freez screens on devices.
So should you root ?
Maybe you should see with some friends of yours or some relatives that owns some rooted HOX. Of course, before unlocking and footing your device, make sure your device is working good, have no problems.

Why root, besides natural causes..

Just got my Nexus 7 today. Been a root user since HTC desire (still use it, even though I've been through One X and others..)
I know the pros of being rooted, but why should I root my Nexus 7 when it's a pure google device already? Are there any significant changes in the ROMs that diff from the official KitKat 4.4?
I'm not searching for an angry argument, would just like to know if there is much for me to benefit from rooting now, at the moment. And, I'm sure someone will ask; I do everyday tasks, but am very curious to geeky stuff and all that.. but, a side from that, is it worth rooting?!
Thanks!

Titanium Backup.
For me it's worth rooting even only for this single app.

k3lcior said:
Titanium Backup.
For me it's worth rooting even only for this single app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And Adfree! I've never installed any fully custom roms, just left them standard but rooted, on all the Androids I've had. On my first one, a Xoom, I did install another rom, but only because someone produced a nice 'standard' one, with just overclocking added.

Ah yeah completely forgot it, first thing to install. Though i'm using AdAway.
Also FasterFix.
I couldn't use Android without these 3.

k3lcior said:
Ah yeah completely forgot it, first thing to install. Though i'm using AdAway.
Also FasterFix.
)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does fasterfix help the GPS lock time if you're not using the other google location services?

alpine101 said:
Does fasterfix help the GPS lock time if you're not using the other google location services?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry i dont understand your question, anyway FasterFix improve gps lock time.

Well its not all ad free, that depends on what apps your running.. And, still; pretty obvious reasons, but I agree. Oh well, guess I just root the anyway, since I know I'm going to do it at some point.. Just need to play with it for a while and find a absolute awesome ROM first.. I would still appreciate other good 'whys' though!

If you think you are going to want root do it now before you get to far into setting your tablet up. Rooting the N7 requires unlocking the device and well reset the device.
fasthair

Root because its a Nexus...a toy that needs to used to its full potential and for root apps we need and love, I also need a kernel that I can customise with trickster mod to increase sound and just generally tweak!
deud said:
Just got my Nexus 7 today. Been a root user since HTC desire (still use it, even though I've been through One X and others..)
I know the pros of being rooted, but why should I root my Nexus 7 when it's a pure google device already? Are there any significant changes in the ROMs that diff from the official KitKat 4.4?
I'm not searching for an angry argument, would just like to know if there is much for me to benefit from rooting now, at the moment. And, I'm sure someone will ask; I do everyday tasks, but am very curious to geeky stuff and all that.. but, a side from that, is it worth rooting?!
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Yeah, true. But I don't mind full wipes/resets that much.. Kind of used to it! I realize now this topic maybe was a little unnecessary, since I AM going to root at some point.. Got a bit carried away here, blown by the sweetness of N7! So I figured 'why root?!', but I ain't foolin' no one, I will root, haha.. Any ROMs that are specifically better?! I like pure Android, fast 'n stable..
Edit:
I mean; **** is lightening fast as it is already! Great hell, I'm amazed by this machine..

You can use Stock and Root it.

Rooting versus not Rooting

Hey guys, is rooting really worth it on this phone. I mean just look at all the threads of this issue and that issue after somebody roots. I mean for me the phone is awesome as it is with exception to it's poor SPARK speeds. But that can't be fixed by rooting. I have yet to see any real gain posted by anyone other than removal of Sprint bloatware which is much less than any other carrier. So really is the gain worth the hardship and potential issues this phone seems to have after rooting?
All I see is this phone has X issue and then next line is always the same I rooted or I installed Y ROM. It seems to me that Samsung has done something to make this phone unreliable/unstable once the Factory integrity has been compromised either through rooting or ROM replacement. I did root mine using CF auto root before seeing all these issue posted. I can say now after rooting that I as well am seeing little bugs with touch screen response, as well as other little bugs it did not have before rooting. So this just strengthens my hunch about Samsung somehow making this device less stable once it is compromised.
I don't think I am going to fool with it any further. I don't want to become one of the many help I rooted and my phone won't boot post popping up around here lately.

You dont have to install ROMs to better your device, you can root stock odexed and it will be fine.
It unlocks more capabilities the phone cant do when its pure stock, such as Freezing wake locking apps that drain battery, or enabling etc mods that make the device better under certain circumstances.
You will run into issues whether rooted or not.
Is it worth it? Depends on user opinions. Does it have more problems than usual, Sure from time to time.
The peoples reviews of custom roms are there for a reason. There are things that are fixable and others that cant be fixed or modified upon.
Its more about exploring the full capabilities your device can do when it is rooted.
How far this device has come is massively huge because of the help brought from the community and devs.

You will typically find best performance and reliability with stock android with very few modifications. I use to flash a lot of roms/kernels on my Epic 4G and 4G touch and wouldn't call either of them reliable. I stay with mostly stock roms with my GS4, just Knox removed and everything is real stable.

Solarenemy68 said:
Hey guys, is rooting really worth it on this phone. I mean just look at all the threads of this issue and that issue after somebody roots. I mean for me the phone is awesome as it is with exception to it's poor SPARK speeds. But that can't be fixed by rooting. I have yet to see any real gain posted by anyone other than removal of Sprint bloatware which is much less than any other carrier. So really is the gain worth the hardship and potential issues this phone seems to have after rooting?
All I see is this phone has X issue and then next line is always the same I rooted or I installed Y ROM. It seems to me that Samsung has done something to make this phone unreliable/unstable once the Factory integrity has been compromised either through rooting or ROM replacement. I did root mine using CF auto root before seeing all these issue posted. I can say now after rooting that I as well am seeing little bugs with touch screen response, as well as other little bugs it did not have before rooting. So this just strengthens my hunch about Samsung somehow making this device less stable once it is compromised.
I don't think I am going to fool with it any further. I don't want to become one of the many help I rooted and my phone won't boot post popping up around here lately.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have both rooted and unrooted, stock roms and custom roms on a few devices at home. Does JUST ROOTING cause any additional problems? No. Its essentially like installing any other apk. Where majority of the bugs and problems come in is user error and custom roms. Don't get those confused as they typically are. Most "I rooted any my phone isn't booting" posts are from people that do things improperly. Or sometimes things just don't stick and you have to try again. CF Autoroot didn't work the very first time I flashed it on my wifes device (last night) after I had used it more times than I can count on my own since 1 week after device launch. I flashed it again, worked great. She didn't like stock, so I flashed my own custom rom on her device.
Custom Roms come with their own bugs if they aren't just simply stripped stock. Want less chances of bugs? Use the completely debloated and no-knoxed ones. They just make things simple by removing both carrier bloat and added items (can also be buggy themselves). Also keep in mind that the software shipped isn't always bug free . We saw some big changes to the actual code from NIE to NK2, we aren't 100% sure why they changed things in some places but I'm not an expert there at all. Ever wonder why Tmobile or verizon may have a feature thats actually turn off or locked on our device? It could be buggy for a specific carrier and the carrier just decided they wouldn't include it for their customers.
Samsung perposely sabatoging our devices because they are rooted...... eh they did have nexus devices at one point in time. So I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt and say this isn't the case. You may have just experienced bad results. I don't go a device without rooting, if not only to remove carrier bloat. MY last 3 devices I did not even let sprint reps boot before I took it home and rooted (literal first boot is rooted stock) I have been to the sprint techs LESS than when I had stock devices. This also allows certain users to fix their own problems themselves, and not leave device issues in the hands of carrier techs who by default will generally do a software reset and send you out the door.
Pros vs cons of rooting? Completely down to each specific user.

Yes rooting is absolutely worth it. For hotspot tethering, and Xposed. But you do need to add a fix to Xposed if you do decide to install it on this device.
Sent from my SM-N910P using XDA Free mobile app

beezar said:
Yes rooting is absolutely worth it. For hotspot tethering, and Xposed. But you do need to add a fix to Xposed if you do decide to install it on this device.
Sent from my SM-N910P using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have hotspot tethering included in your plan like I do why would you need to root to have it? Unless you are trying to get it for free?

Solarenemy68 said:
If you have hotspot tethering included in your plan like I do why would you need to root to have it? Unless you are trying to get it for free?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
reguardless if you pay for it or not, it limits the amount of devices you can connect/tether to. Who's to say I only want to tether 4-5 devices? What If I'm traveling and have 6 devices?
If you don't like rooting, this certainly isn't the place to try and shun it. If you are looking to be convinced to root again? Still the wrong place. You root because you want to, or you want to do something that you can't without root. Plain and simple. Rooting is essentially controlling your own device while you OWN IT. Not owning a device someone else has complete control over.

millerboy3 said:
reguardless if you pay for it or not, it limits the amount of devices you can connect/tether to. Who's to say I only want to tether 4-5 devices? What If I'm traveling and have 6 devices?
If you don't like rooting, this certainly isn't the place to try and shun it. If you are looking to be convinced to root again? Still the wrong place. You root because you want to, or you want to do something that you can't without root. Plain and simple. Rooting is essentially controlling your own device while you OWN IT. Not owning a device someone else has complete control over.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I root everything I own that can be rooted. My question has about the N4 as it seems like I said it has more issues after a root then it did before and that seems fishy. The way Sprint and Samsung are handling the poor data speeds is already a screw job when they are both aware it is a real problem. Add to that the more mods you do to the phone the more unstable it gets that just seems shady. I was not asking to root or not to root so much as I was asking is THIS device worth the trouble?

Solarenemy68 said:
I root everything I own that can be rooted. My question has about the N4 as it seems like I said it has more issues after a root then it did before and that seems fishy. The way Sprint and Samsung are handling the poor data speeds is already a screw job when they are both aware it is a real problem. Add to that the more mods you do to the phone the more unstable it gets that just seems shady. I was not asking to root or not to root so much as I was asking is THIS device worth the trouble?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems you aren't running the right rom. I haven't had any major instabilities.

It's not the rooting that causes the problems, its what they do after they root.
Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk

Solarenemy68 said:
I root everything I own that can be rooted. My question has about the N4 as it seems like I said it has more issues after a root then it did before and that seems fishy. The way Sprint and Samsung are handling the poor data speeds is already a screw job when they are both aware it is a real problem. Add to that the more mods you do to the phone the more unstable it gets that just seems shady. I was not asking to root or not to root so much as I was asking is THIS device worth the trouble?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As we all have said before, its user opinionated and what they do regarding with root in general.
I go with rooting because of extra battery saving features such as Greenify + Xposed, Underclocking GPU and CPU. To top that off, force lower dpi resolution and tablet mode on specific apps to see more on the screen. Modifying files such as build.prop and user key controls for enhanced performance, and like everyone, changing Sounds and boot anims, moving apps from user to system to help with stability etc.
If its unstable doing certain things well thats the bummer downside to the Apps or devices capabilities. But as long as you can get more out of the device ( which you can! ) with all the freedom of not being locked to user specific controls. It makes it better!
Thats how i feel.

I mean you can root the device and just install twrp and just keep it like that just until something catches your eye. I personally say if you rooted your previous devices. You should root the note 4. I am rooted and I am just plain stock cause I almost bricked my device. So I am going to wait until 5.0 gets to our phones before I flash anymore roms but until then I'm going to be completely stock.

Root your phone immediately.
Root your phone immediately. My god, what are you thinking going around unrooted?
Oh, you want details?
Open the hidden stuff if you want details.
Just kidding. I too suffered from doubts and waited several months before popping my phones warranty cherry.
Root is nice, even on the Note 4. But:
If you don't need root for anything special and you are perfectly happy with stock without root, DON'T ROOT!
If you need superuser authority (titanium backup?), if you want to disable Exchange Security so you can have work email but still use the fingerprint scanner, or you just like having better/different looks than stock in some way not achievable without root, ROOT. ​
That advice is general and applies to all phones. If you don't need/want it, why ask?
I can vouch that rooting the Note 4, installing custom Recovery and operating the custom ROMs is the similar to any other Samsung phone of recent vintage both in manner and difficultly (e.g. S3, S4, S5). (not the same though so do your research)
I have nothing against any ROM but, from personal experience, the ROMs from Pongoface and co work extremely well and look really nice. Make sure to wipe data and let them have 10 minutes or so to settle after first boot.
Those are:
[PORT] BoBCaTROM
and
[Port] Sprint Xnote (The time to settle was important on this one for me. Else, I got forced closes, not sure

Everything is stable on my phone after rooting and a LOT of Xposed mods. It just makes my phone much better.
If you have rooted all your other phones, then really why are you asking this question? You already know the benefits and risks of rooting so there is no need for us to tell you what to do.
Sent from my SM-N910P using XDA Free mobile app

Solarenemy68 said:
I root everything I own that can be rooted. My question has about the N4 as it seems like I said it has more issues after a root then it did before and that seems fishy. The way Sprint and Samsung are handling the poor data speeds is already a screw job when they are both aware it is a real problem. Add to that the more mods you do to the phone the more unstable it gets that just seems shady. I was not asking to root or not to root so much as I was asking is THIS device worth the trouble?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
False. False. False. What's shady is the lack of knowledge on behalf of a user which these issues are caused by. There is no "shady" business going on that would cause instability issues upon rooting your device. Instead of a carrier or Samsung playing shenanigans with it's customers by introducing bugs and instability issues if a user roots their device, it would be more logical for Sprint and Samsung to simply lock down the bootloader and take measures to prevent root in the first place... such as all the Verizon and AT&T customers who are still crying about not having root. If you want to believe otherwise that's up to you.
As already mentioned by millerboy3, rooting doesn't cause the instability issues you or anybody else might be having. The more mods you do the more unstable the rom??? That's just plain and simple ignorance my friend. Yes it could be true that a rom might be "buggy" but if a rom is well planned and time taken to ensure everything is right, then there will not be stability issues. There are roms out there with tons of mods that are 10 times more stable and faster than the stock rom. I happen to have a rom that fits that criteria along with a few other people. With that said, I do agree with you on the fact that the Note 4 is perfectly awesome straight out of the box without the need to root it. This is the first phone I've owned that I really don't feel the need to change anything because everything works great stock. There are a few mods that I find are well worth the effort and definitely worth rooting the phone for.

tx_dbs_tx said:
False. False. False. What's shady is the lack of knowledge on behalf of a user which these issues are caused by. There is no "shady" business going on that would cause instability issues upon rooting your device. Instead of a carrier or Samsung playing shenanigans with it's customers by introducing bugs and instability issues if a user roots their device, it would be more logical for Sprint and Samsung to simply lock down the bootloader and take measures to prevent root in the first place... such as all the Verizon and AT&T customers who are still crying about not having root. If you want to believe otherwise that's up to you.
As already mentioned by millerboy3, rooting doesn't cause the instability issues you or anybody else might be having. The more mods you do the more unstable the rom??? That's just plain and simple ignorance my friend. Yes it could be true that a rom might be "buggy" but if a rom is well planned and time taken to ensure everything is right, then there will not be stability issues. There are roms out there with tons of mods that are 10 times more stable and faster than the stock rom. I happen to have a rom that fits that criteria along with a few other people. With that said, I do agree with you on the fact that the Note 4 is perfectly awesome straight out of the box without the need to root it. This is the first phone I've owned that I really don't feel the need to change anything because everything works great stock. There are a few mods that I find are well worth the effort and definitely worth rooting the phone for.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He said it much better than I.

i'll also throw a vote in for rooting. i've come to consider AdAway & Xposed as must-haves, which both require root.

The N4 was the first phone I considered not rooting, it was that good straight away. However, then I remembered why I rooted, besides custom ROM's, and it was 2 (now 3) main reasons.
1- AdFree: After seeing ads all over a bunch of my favorite apps, I remembered I didn't have AdFree installed, which requires root. This is my biggest quality of use reason, if you've ever went to tap something in an app only to have a ninja ad come out of nowhere right as your finger hit the screen and redirect you to a website or the app store, you know what I mean.
2- TWRP + Titanium Backup - The ability to backup ALL my apps and settings to a separate SD card was huge, plus all the other features of TB.
3 - Lastly, I found Xposed: I'd never used before, but now, I couldn't imagine not having it. It's allowed me to tweak things that irritated me, like color schemes on the contacts and dialer screens, without the worry of installing custom ROM's or RW editing mods.
Just my feedback, your requirements may differ.
Sent from my SM-N910P using XDA Free mobile app

Newbie, who wants to have better use of ExtsdCard
I am looking into rooting, for the first time. After an update to my, prior, S4, I couldn't edit my ebooks, about 700, delete photos, several thousand, or remove duplicates, on my extsdcard. I just got a new Note 4, and a 128G extsdcard. If there is anyway to restore my control of the sdcard that I paid for, other than rooting, please tell me. Otherwise, Android and Samsung are forcing me to root. Am I wrong??
Thank you very much,
Randy "Pugmeister"

Pugmeister said:
I am looking into rooting, for the first time. After an update to my, prior, S4, I couldn't edit my ebooks, about 700, delete photos, several thousand, or remove duplicates, on my extsdcard. I just got a new Note 4, and a 128G extsdcard. If there is anyway to restore my control of the sdcard that I paid for, other than rooting, please tell me. Otherwise, Android and Samsung are forcing me to root. Am I wrong??
Thank you very much,
Randy "Pugmeister"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm a little fuzzy on what your saying. Are you saying that you can't edit or delete the contents of your external SD card in the note 4? If so, that's not a problem root could solve, as you should have full control over everything on the external card. Rooting would allow you access to edit the main android system files on the internal storage.
Sent from my SM-N910P using XDA Free mobile app