Database Info

Will Anyone Buy a HTC Device If it becomes totally Unrootable

I have the HTC inspire 4G, and I'll be watching closely on phones i do not even own such as the thunderbolt to see if anyone is able to unlock the bootloader. Coming from a jailbroken Iphone 3GS and Iphone 4, to a rooted samsung captivate which I liked, has awesome graphics capability. 3 Months after buying the captivate the Inspire 4G was released and I had to have it. Not because its 4G, My 3G here in Tampa, Florida streamed HD videos without never having to stop to buffer, so I was satisfied with that, I average 3.8 down with almost every 3G phone I've ever owned. I bought it because of the screen size and camera flash. And I love it, I'm very impressed with my rooted Inspire, However a year from now, and I want another phone, If HTC becomes impossible to root, I'll go back to Samsung. Took 45 seconds to root my captivate and that includes downloading the one click root lol.
Sent from my Inspire 4G using XDA Premium App

I'm not saying I agree with them locking down the bootloader given the nature and ethos of Android, but from a business standpoint it does make sense. Perhaps they decided to begin locking things down because they were getting too many warranty/support claims by people who had screwed things up by modding their devices.
Again, I'm not defending it at all. Just try looking at it from the other perspective, eh?

The original code crunchers won't like people to mess with their software! But it's alright our great developers of XDA will breeze past any obstacles
Sent from my X10minipro using XDA App

from a business point of view it does make sense, specially with what angingrich says, a boycott is not gonna help because
a)either way people will still buy the phone
b)only a minority actually gets into hacking the phone like us
so there you go, that been said i don't think they will stop with the locking process, now try that on Docomo or Softbank they won't even unlock the phone even if you threat them with lawsuits....i guess business is business after all.

consegregate said:
The original code crunchers won't like people to mess with their software! But it's alright our great developers of XDA will breeze past any obstacles
Sent from my X10minipro using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I understand, I just feel it is my device, and I should be able to alter it the way I want. Just like the way I can on the Laptop I own. Be like getting a computer with no r/w access on your hard drive except to store multimedia.

angingrich said:
I'm not saying I agree with them locking down the bootloader given the nature and ethos of Android, but from a business standpoint it does make sense. Perhaps they decided to begin locking things down because they were getting too many warranty/support claims by people who had screwed things up by modding their devices.
Again, I'm not defending it at all. Just try looking at it from the other perspective, eh?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think support claims are the reason. Have you ever read about people bricking their HTC phones when they tried to root them? They brick their phones when they try to bypass a NAND lock or the Motorola signature check.

Given the choice I will not buy another handset with a locked bootloader.

budco2000 said:
I understand, I just feel it is my device, and I should be able to alter it the way I want. Just like the way I can on the Laptop I own. Be like getting a computer with no r/w access on your hard drive except to store multimedia.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mostly because r/w access to system files can eff things up more on a phone then a laptop? Safety for the average users and rooting for the more experienced who won't brick their phone and cry for warranty.
I won't buy an android phone if there's no root though! Nearly chucked my x10 mini pro because stock rom sucks.

In depth with the bootlooping "gingerbread" caused bricks

Does it only boot up to the HTC screen and bootloop? Basically what I'm asking is, can Verizon Wireless tell if the phone is rooted or not? ;]

Yes.
Sent from my ThunderBolt using XDA App

So if I get someone stupid at the store, if they miss it and hand me a new device, I'm in the clear? And if I do it via mail, and I get the replacement before I mail my device in, how do they protect themselves that way?
edit: Take out the pronouns and add "one". I'm more interested for curiosity's sake, not frauding out VZW, I already went back to froyo, ha.

I don't know how they would know, but I believe they can, I think you may get a new/refurb but may see a charge for your bricked phone.

I can see it now... all these people turning in bricked phones for replacements under warranty.
Next thing you know Verizon will be checking every single phone returned to make sure there was no "tampering" that will void the mfg warranties.

Verizon employees are just regular people with regular 10$/hour jobs. The technicians aren't any sort of certified or even necessarily technologically inclined (not that they should be, they're not professionals with careers, they're working for an hourly paycheck). Hiring skilled technicians for these jobs would cost WAY too much dough so I dunno how they could feasibly do it.

miketoasty said:
Yes.
Sent from my ThunderBolt using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see what you did there.
-sent via 1.21 giggawatts of android.

Yufice said:
Verizon employees are just regular people with regular 10$/hour jobs. The technicians aren't any sort of certified or even necessarily technologically inclined (not that they should be, they're not professionals with careers, they're working for an hourly paycheck). Hiring skilled technicians for these jobs would cost WAY too much dough so I dunno how they could feasibly do it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let's see, most of the people on here are just "regular" people as well. You don't think that if Verizon wanted to, they could not write up a simple script for any employee to follow to check obvious tampering (i.e booting into hboot and checking for s-off?)
I mean, sure they wouldn't catch all of them, but don't you think they would catch some? Not that they would do it, but I'm sure they keep track of what goes on over here in no-no land (at least for Verizon).
Let's face it, trying to get around the "system" is what causes cell phone companies to keep trying to lock us down. When it starts to affect their bottom line, don't you think they may take some steps to mitigate the problem?
Just my two cents.

Dnakaman said:
Let's see, most of the people on here are just "regular" people as well. You don't think that if Verizon wanted to, they could not write up a simple script for any employee to follow to check obvious tampering (i.e booting into hboot and checking for s-off?)
I mean, sure they wouldn't catch all of them, but don't you think they would catch some? Not that they would do it, but I'm sure they keep track of what goes on over here in no-no land (at least for Verizon).
Let's face it, trying to get around the "system" is what causes cell phone companies to keep trying to lock us down. When it starts to affect their bottom line, don't you think they make take some steps to mitigate the problem?
Just my two cents.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At least one reported bootlooping in hboot also so not sure if it's long enough to see S-OFF. Another said he was able to get into hboot and flash stock firmware and S-ON but it wouldn't boot and stock recovery bootloop'd everytime it was accessed.

The bootloop itself would be a red flag. Employees in stores would not have to do anything but note: bootloop issue.
Since the phone is tied to you, maybe they send phones exhibiting the issue to a special group of (trained) techs, who will go into more indepth diagnostics.
If it is obvious the phone was rooted (not saying they can tell or not), 1 month later you see a charge for 500 bucks for a phone!
Yikes!
Again, just my two cents.

funkybside said:
I see what you did there.
-sent via 1.21 giggawatts of android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At least someone did.
Verizon can't tell. Well they probably could if they wanted to but the time it would take to check the amount of phones they receive every day because of warranty replacements would not be worth it.
If I were you I would call and get a replacement the people on the phone just have you battery pull and try again then ship you a new one.
Finally, in the time it would take to tell that 1 phone was rooted they could have probably fixed 50 phones at that point and would void out any money they could charge you.
If it makes you feel better, I sent in a Droid 2 that was rooted and could still boot, got a new one with no charges.

I know this community is just "Regular" people, that's why I used the word regular; you have tons of arrogant posts of people saying "omg the verizon guy didn't even know what a kernel [email protected]!!!" when the verizon guy has no reason to care.
The problem is a lot of people in our community overestimate verizon/other carriers. Working at a verizon store, i've seen many of my less honest co workers do a warranty exchange over the phone/mail just because they didn't like the scratches they had put on the phone. A simple call to warranty saying "my phone reboots into a white screen sometimes" would get a new phone once every few months (up until the end of the one year warranty). Watching that go down really really really makes me doubt that there is some tech booting into HBOOT making sure it says S-ON. Even with a script, it's still a bunch of high school kids playing with a corporate giant's bank account: if they decide not to care and just give you a replacement, it doesn't effect them at all. I'm just curious if anyone working in a tech center can confirm that there is some second level testing going on.

Dnakaman said:
The bootloop itself would be a red flag. Employees in stores would not have to do anything but note: bootloop issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is just wrong. When someone comes up with a phone with a problem, the procedure is pretty short:
pull battery.
Check settings.
Factory Reset.
RSD Lite is no where near our dell computers. There are no fancy screwdrivers with fancy technicians. I check settings and see if there is anything out of the ordinary.
If the phone is bootlooping/white screen/otherwise inoperable there are two choices:
1) Pull the battery. If there is no water damage, try to turn it on. If it doesn't work, tell them to call 1-800-922-0204 and talk to Verizon Customer Service
2) Pull the battery. If there is water damage or obviously physical damage, call Asurian and give them 99 bucks for a new phone. That's it.
What I was asking was am I the last link in the chain? Or is someone double checking my "work"?

PJnc284 said:
At least one reported bootlooping in hboot also so not sure if it's long enough to see S-OFF. Another said he was able to get into hboot and flash stock firmware and S-ON but it wouldn't boot and stock recovery bootloop'd everytime it was accessed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This was me...as a last resort I used the first two files in this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1009423 and when I flashed the second file I did not receive the secitury warning so I'm taking it as the first one flashed.
When done flashing the frist two files in that thread my hboot version was S-ON

Yufice said:
I know this community is just "Regular" people, that's why I used the word regular; you have tons of arrogant posts of people saying "omg the verizon guy didn't even know what a kernel [email protected]!!!" when the verizon guy has no reason to care.
The problem is a lot of people in our community overestimate verizon/other carriers. Working at a verizon store, i've seen many of my less honest co workers do a warranty exchange over the phone/mail just because they didn't like the scratches they had put on the phone. A simple call to warranty saying "my phone reboots into a white screen sometimes" would get a new phone once every few months (up until the end of the one year warranty). Watching that go down really really really makes me doubt that there is some tech booting into HBOOT making sure it says S-ON. Even with a script, it's still a bunch of high school kids playing with a corporate giant's bank account: if they decide not to care and just give you a replacement, it doesn't effect them at all. I'm just curious if anyone working in a tech center can confirm that there is some second level testing going on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ya, I see what you are saying.
This is my take on this. I've had an Android device since day 1 when I got my G1. All of the phones I had got rooted at some point.
In the "early" days, you had more, shall we say for a lack of a better term... technically advanced people rooting devices.
Fast forward a bit...many "regular" people are wanting to root, seeing all the benefits that the "chosen" few have been enjoying since rooting was possible.
As a community, we accommodated these "regular" people by creating a Staples "that was easy button", in the meantime, the Android user base is growing by leaps and bounds.
Fast forward to now...technology has changed, the OS has become more sophisticated. Companies see the huge profitability in Android, so they want to hold on tightly to their treasure (locked bootloaders, etc). So now the "easy" button, is not as easy to push anymore, yet us "regular" people still want the "easy" button..."Why can't I just do a one click method???!!!!"
As Android continues to grow and get a larger base of users, there is becoming more and more exposure to the "dark side" of rooting devices for customization. Now although it sounds like things may be changing here in the future as far as how easy it may become to build customizations, at this time, it is still kind of a no no, in the eyes of corporate America. That being said, sure right now Corp America is not too concerned, but as the user base grows, it is possible that the economy of scales may tip the other direction.
Ok, stepping off my soap box now, LOL

All I know is that MANY people here (XDA) are talking about committing fraud.... Then the SAME PEOPLE complain about encrypted bootloaders.

Article discussion: Failure to Launch – HTC’s Bootloader Policy

Given this relates directly to the Sensation and many of us wanting it unlocked, I felt this would be a good place to discuss this article. Please give it a read if you have not already:
Failure to Launch – HTC’s Bootloader Policy
All I have to say is this, I've REALLY been trying to be patient with HTC on this issue. But darn it, if they don't come through with an unlock for the Sensation that removes ALL THE LOCKS with NO STRINGS, I'm going to have to get something else.
Knowing there are multiple locks all over the Sensation, more than just the bootloader is really ticking me off big time .
Really I'll accept even if 3rd party developers unlock it all, but I don't want anything held back on my device.
My carrier is not getting the SGS II, but T-Mobile USA is getting the Samsung Hercules in September. So for me, that is the deadline. Either HTC or 3rd parties have the Sensation totally open by then or I'll buy Hercules.

Will wait and see
If HTC didnt change their policy at all, then WE ALL WILL WALK AWAY TO FREE UNLOCK BOOTLOADERS. If HTC is ready to loose Millions and Millions Money, then Let other compagny get our money and in return we receive FREEDOM.

An open bootloader is the primary reason I upgraded from my HD2 to a Galaxy SII instead of a Sensation. And it's paid off because there are already 2-3 custom roms for the Samsung and it was rooted weeks ago.
Bad decision by HTC, they have lost one customer in myself and I'm sure there are numerous others.

darnell i really dont see much sense in your thinking of course there is gonna be strings attached always been do you really think a company doesnt kno that someone bricked a phone and are trying to get a warranty from it... i couldnt care less i havent actually bricked any phones and if i did with my personal ill just go out and buy another one. but theres still work arounds to getting a new replacement for free or close to it

boostedb16b said:
darnell i really dont see much sense in your thinking of course there is gonna be strings attached always been do you really think a company doesnt kno that someone bricked a phone and are trying to get a warranty from it... i couldnt care less i havent actually bricked any phones and if i did with my personal ill just go out and buy another one. but theres still work arounds to getting a new replacement for free or close to it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems Samsung and others have learned how to open things up. So I find my logic makes perfect sense.

Any thinking by HTC that normal users who have no clue about bootloders will buy phones will be in for a shock not only cause of the facebook/twitter thing but the fact that the bugs on the phones means people are sending them back. Radio drivers usually sort out most common bugs ie camera, gps, wifi/3g. If HTC think this is bad wait till Techradar and other popular sites magazines make a review. Any bugs will give the phone a poor score. I must add i do love my phone...just thinking of the bigger picture for everyone. Seeing as there are official htc roms knocking around some peeps on here would have hopefully sorted their phone problems without having to take theirs back or cancelling their contracts.

Darnell_Chat_TN said:
Seems Samsung and others have learned how to open things up. So I find my logic makes perfect sense.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dude go always go for the best deal you can get. Especially if you are tied to a contract.

I don't think they will be unlocked without strings, we have never had that. Don't forget all current HTC devices have been locked and have consequently been unlocked by many developers and not HTC. The big difference here is the way that they are locked, much more secure than previous.
We may get the ability to unlock and I hope we do but I don't think it will be official and thus not without strings.

Well I don't really care how we get an unlocked Sensation. If it comes via developers here I'll be just as happy. But given how HTC is trying to be difficult and then got my hopes up in talk about "reviewing" their policies. I'm at a point now where I'll take the best Sensation competitor once available on my carrier, if the Sensation is not unlocked by the time the competitor is available.
I'm not on contract. I have one of T-Mobile USA's older "no contract" plans, that is much cheaper monthly than their contract rates. So I have no problem paying full price for a device and given I'm going to pay a premium I don't want something that I can't fully customize. Since I have to pay in full outright, I want something I can do whatever I want with.

Even if HTC unlocks the Bootloader for the Sensation, T-Mobile will MAKE sure that the 4G version for their network is NOT. They do not want to deal with handset replacements due to idiots that don't know how to flash something on their phone. I"m sorry to say it brother cuz I'm in the same shoes as you, but you will never get an HTC unlocked boot loader so long as your on TMO USA.
You could, if you wanted to, switch to CrapT&T and get an SGSII. I think I read that it is the proper 3G bands for their network.
Either way, love that article!

setzer715 said:
Even if HTC unlocks the Bootloader for the Sensation, T-Mobile will MAKE sure that the 4G version for their network is NOT. They do not want to deal with handset replacements due to idiots that don't know how to flash something on their phone. I"m sorry to say it brother cuz I'm in the same shoes as you, but you will never get an HTC unlocked boot loader so long as your on TMO USA.
You could, if you wanted to, switch to CrapT&T and get an SGSII. I think I read that it is the proper 3G bands for their network.
Either way, love that article!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nexus One and the Nexus S, on TMO, both have..... fastboot oem unlock ... Granted the NS is a Samsung phone, but, the point still applies...

bfspider said:
Nexus One and the Nexus S, on TMO, both have..... fastboot oem unlock ... Granted the NS is a Samsung phone, but, the point still applies...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, that point doesn't apply as those phones are NOT sold or supported by T-Mobile. If warranty return is required you would NOT go through T-Mobile. T-Mobile does, however, offer support via a service rep for general issues, but not for returns/warranty issues. I don't remember when I got my Nexus One if you did warranty returns through Google or HTC. Either way, it was not T-Mobile.

bfspider said:
Nexus One and the Nexus S, on TMO, both have..... fastboot oem unlock ... Granted the NS is a Samsung phone, but, the point still applies...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea and folks using the T-Mobile USA G2X already have it rooted and custom ROMs.
So the Sensation is setting the bar higher than others in terms of lock-down and being hard to crack.
If Samsung leaves it unlocked, I believe the Hercules will be sold that way by T-Mobile.
With the Sensation, I highly suspect the new "HTC Watch" service is part of the reason they've locked it down so much. Like with Google's new movie service and Blockbuster recently locking their app down from rooted devices. HTC may be catering to movie studios more than even carriers.

Darnell_Chat_TN said:
Yea and folks using the T-Mobile USA G2X already have it rooted and custom ROMs.
So the Sensation is setting the bar higher than others in terms of lock-down and being hard to crack.
If Samsung leaves it unlocked, I believe the Hercules will be sold that way by T-Mobile.
With the Sensation, I highly suspect the new "HTC Watch" service is part of the reason they've locked it down so much. Like with Google's new movie service and Blockbuster recently locking their app down from rooted devices. HTC may be catering to movie studios more than even carriers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good observation there... bt personally i dont really care about Watch since im not gonna use it, def not gonna rent a movie for 4 dollars for 24hrs i believe it is...y do that when i can just watch movies like ive always done thru my sd card...i guess the only thing im curious to see is how the qHD 16:9 ratio actually looks..

This just posted on facebook:
HTC "There has been overwhelmi ngly customer feedback that people want access to open bootloaders on HTC phones. I want you to know that we've listened. Today, I'm confirming we will no longer be locking the bootloaders on our devices. Thanks for your passion, support and patience," Peter Chou, CEO of HTC
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA Premium App

Yea, that's great news.
If the Sensation gets fully opened up I'll get one.
We'll see once true US version is released.

Darnell_Chat_TN said:
Yea, that's great news.
If the Sensation gets fully opened up I'll get one.
We'll see once true US version is released.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, as I've read it somewhere else on this forum, a few others on this forum were thinking: "I want to know if this also counts for shipped phones", so they had the guts to send Mr. Chou himself a e-mail, asking him if the sensation was going to be unlocked as well. His reply was that in the future, they will make sure the shipped phones also get a unlocked bootloader.(couldn't find the original post, but I'm quit sure the topictitle was something like: "Htc will no longer lock bootlead" or something down that line)

Why dont they just add a counter like sgs2 has. Although its easy to reset, maybe they can find a more permanent solution. Modders/hackers know that we void our warranty with custom roms, rooting etc.
In my time reading forums I can somewhat understand where htc is coming from. So many noobs including myself until I got educated, do stupid things to there devices. When we cant figure out how fix them, we/they lie to these companies and try to get new/refurb devices.
I dont think HTC and others should lock their bootloaders. I do think that we as owners of these devices should be able to do as we please. But we all should be able to deal with whatever consequences companies choose.

[Q] AT&T Detecting rooted phones?

I have no reason to believe this as I haven't been able to find any proof of it but...
I read on the Android and Droid forums that Carriers keep a database of users that root their phones and will block your warranty if you try to return it for anything. I've never heard of this happening to, well...anyone. But the point was also brought up that Google is able to tell if the device is rooted due to the fact that they can block the movies tab from showing up in Market on rooted phones, so carriers can do the same. So, my question is... has anyone heard of this happening or had it happen to them?

I'm pretty sure that is all bull****. I work at best buy mobile and barely anyone knows what rooting is. I'm the only one in my department that messes with that kind of stuff and knows which phones are rooted. We also get crazy carrier support and they just tell us to not mention anything about rooting/jail breaking. Same with my friend who is a manager at verizon. He doesn't know how to detect a rooted phone.
So when you bring in a messed up phone for warranty, everyone is trained to just make sure imei numbers match with original receipt and to check the water mark stickers.
Sent from my HTC Desire HD using XDA Premium App

D-REW said:
I'm pretty sure that is all bull****. I work at best buy mobile and barely anyone knows what rooting is. I'm the only one in my department that messes with that kind of stuff and knows which phones are rooted. We also get crazy carrier support and they just tell us to not mention anything about rooting/jail breaking. Same with my friend who is a manager at verizon. He doesn't know how to detect a rooted phone.
So when you bring in a messed up phone for warranty, everyone is trained to just make sure imei numbers match with original receipt and to check the water mark stickers.
Sent from my HTC Desire HD using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1, I've returned a stock, rooted phone and even forgot to put the modded battery icon back to stock. No issues.

Go back to stock before you ship back your warranty device and they can't tell. I've done several
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997R using XDA App

Yeah, I didn't believe there was any actual truth behind it. It just wouldn't surprise me if AT&T would start trying doing something like that though. I mean they couldn't even tell I was using my HD2 on a non-smartphone data plan, much less that it was a rooted phone.
Sent from my HTC Inspire 4G using XDA App

U escape hd2 cuz its t mobile and its imei is not in thier system
Sent from my Inspire 4G using XDA App

Actually, I read that Verizon and Sprint have the ability to verify if the device is rooted, and they keep track of them along with ESNs. From what I have read, it would be impossible to implement this on GSM devices...

good thing I wear my tin foil hat

Pirateghost said:
Actually, I read that Verizon and Sprint have the ability to verify if the device is rooted, and they keep track of them along with ESNs. From what I have read, it would be impossible to implement this on GSM devices...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, that's what they were saying on the Droid forums. It didn't click that its cdma devices they were talking about, and not GSM. Hopefully they don't find a way to do it. I read that over 60% of all android phones are rooted...that's alot of voided warranties.
Sent from my HTC Inspire 4G using XDA App

Sully6789 said:
Yep, that's what they were saying on the Droid forums. It didn't click that its cdma devices they were talking about, and not GSM. Hopefully they don't find a way to do it. I read that over 60% of all android phones are rooted...that's alot of voided warranties.
Sent from my HTC Inspire 4G using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe that the number of rooted android phones would be closer to 10%, rather than 60%. The average person is just not geared into fiddling with their phones the way we in the modding community are. Most of my friends, I'm sad to say, are running around with 4 or 5 year old feature phones, and will happily keep on using those things until they finally give up the ghost.
Another deterrent to rooting is that many people are paranoid about voiding their warranty. If you're into modding, losing your warranty is something that you had to come to terms with long ago. You just accept the fact that whatever happens to the phone is now YOUR problem and move on - but a lot of people can't, so they refuse to make any changes to their phones. In the end, we are a minority of cell phone users, albeit an *enlightened* minority.
-Mike

I agree with most of the guys here. Its impossible for AT&T to detect if your phone is rooted or not. Mostly because there is no function on your phone created to send that kind of info to your carrier. Plus if you are on another carrier like T-Mobile they cant tell your IMEI which means they wont know what phone are you using in first place.
Sent from my Inspire 4G using XDA App

As a matter of fact, I just did a warranty exchange on my inspire just the other day. I flashed back to stock and s-on before the exchange. But before doing so, I've been on the phone to the warranty department multiple times to troubleshoot the issues I've been having and not once did they mention or even ask if my phone was rooted. If they could detect that my phone was rooted, they would have denied my request for a warranty exchange. And if that were the case, i would think they would explain the denial due to it being rooted.
Sent from my Inspire 4G using XDA App

I don't believe AT&T can tell if you are rooted unless you are using a custom apn for data. The stock apns are locked down and I have found trying to have three apns will cause issues. When AT&T sees data registering thru "wap.cingular", instead of "phone", they will know a user more than likely rooted their phone. When they see really heavy data usage on "wap.cingular" they will suspect tethering, but can't tell unless they go analyze it. With the stock apns, one can look at usage on their bill and see usage for both apns. Usage for "wap.cingular" will be very small, as it is used only for location services and the occasional mms. The bulk of data will show on the "phone" apn.
Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk

the only thing AT&T cares about is you paying your bill lol

SuicideMyk said:
the only thing AT&T cares about is you paying your bill lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, but you are not going to get me to believe AT&T is not thinking, the bigger the bill the better.
Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk

Ultra Droid said:
I believe that the number of rooted android phones would be closer to 10%, rather than 60%. The average person is just not geared into fiddling with their phones the way we in the modding community are. Most of my friends, I'm sad to say, are running around with 4 or 5 year old feature phones, and will happily keep on using those things until they finally give up the ghost.
Another deterrent to rooting is that many people are paranoid about voiding their warranty. If you're into modding, losing your warranty is something that you had to come to terms with long ago. You just accept the fact that whatever happens to the phone is now YOUR problem and move on - but a lot of people can't, so they refuse to make any changes to their phones. In the end, we are a minority of cell phone users, albeit an *enlightened* minority.
-Mike
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wish more if the "enlightened " group were female though.. it gets kinda lonely sometimes lol.
Sent from my Inspire 4G using Tapatalk

ashies7 said:
Wish more if the "enlightened " group were female though.. it gets kinda lonely sometimes lol.
Sent from my Inspire 4G using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol
Sent from the most interesting device in the world.

They didnt block the Warranty of my phone.
I took my ATT inspire into the AT&Ts repair shop 3 months after i got it because the bottom of the glass on my phone wasn't glued down (or it felt like it wasn't) so i took it in the girl looked it, I was running Inspire Ace (So she might have thought it was a HTC OS) but she took it anyway and gave me a new phone.

SBasham said:
They didnt block the Warranty of my phone.
I took my ATT inspire into the AT&Ts repair shop 3 months after i got it because the bottom of the glass on my phone wasn't glued down (or it felt like it wasn't) so i took it in the girl looked it, I was running Inspire Ace (So she might have thought it was a HTC OS) but she took it anyway and gave me a new phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I have this same problem and I'm sure ATT gets a lot of these requests so another person stated it "the money spent investigating these claims would far outweigh the cost of the phone" as this is true as the phone is made literally cents if not less a cent on the dollar in sweat shops around the world. Im going to the ATT tech/warranty shop tomorrow and i would imagine that the legal cost of them trying to prove that the phone had been rooted vs them just replacing the parts or simply doing clean wipe with the technical tools they have at hand far outweigh the legal costs of litigation that they would have to pursue in the US at literally at an exponential cost just for the parts and labor/tech support of the phone. Plus from a business perspective they would lose millions in customers if they gave existing/long-term customers any flack about an expensive phone they paid for along with a long-term plan.

So sad...

just a vent. My company is passing an IT policy banning the use of rooted phones. I've been rooting since I got my HTC Evo on release day. I don't want to run stock. It's so icky, and outdated, and ugly...

huskerpat said:
just a vent. My company is passing an IT policy banning the use of rooted phones. I've been rooting since I got my HTC Evo on release day. I don't want to run stock. It's so icky, and outdated, and ugly...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why would they ban the use of a rooted phone???

are you allowed to get a nexus?
do those come 100% open to ROMS or do you still need to root them? im not too familiar

Just be really nice to IT. Problem solved.

Get a personal phone to play with? But yeah I understand them not allowing modification of a work phone. If an employee where I work soft bricked a work phone on it would be a big problem (considering the need for mobile communication).

Tell them that if you're IT then you need to be admin privilege on the phone as same as on the PC? right?

How would they even know? Do they go around checking phones?

I am IT...being nice to myself. they've got a device purchased that somehow detects a rooted or jailbroken device. Reason given is that it could pose potential security risks to the network. a bunch of hogwash, but I'm not going to loose my job over a rooted phone.

Wow. I hope they do know it still can be a security risks to the network even on unrooted and/or unjailbroken phones. I guess they are trying to lessen the potential risk.
Sometimes it is best to have a business phone and a personal phone now days even though Samsung's commercial saying it is good for phone now.

This is like discrimination for phones

My company actually wanted me to root our tablets we use for free tether. F U VZW.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

I think a big reason is that work/company phones can hold sensitive data and one doesn't know what mind of modifications rooted phones have. What if the rooted ROM somehow send all sensitive work data to a external server? With stock you don't have to worry about that since everything is in a controlled environment.
Sucks, but makes sense.

huskerpat said:
I am IT...being nice to myself. they've got a device purchased that somehow detects a rooted or jailbroken device. Reason given is that it could pose potential security risks to the network. a bunch of hogwash, but I'm not going to loose my job over a rooted phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
in all my years in corporate america i have never heard of such a thing.
my next comment, do you have your own phone?

dragon042 said:
I think a big reason is that work/company phones can hold sensitive data and one doesn't know what mind of modifications rooted phones have. What if the rooted ROM somehow send all sensitive work data to a external server? With stock you don't have to worry about that since everything is in a controlled environment.
Sucks, but makes sense.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's true. I mean I was in the synergy thread and they had to swap out some coding in one of their notification toggle mod because it was sending phone info (I think it was imei or something) to some server in China. You never know and companies don't want to take that risk.
Edit:I went back and it was actually the included advanceS app (which lets you modify the lidroid toggles and their order) that had the questionable coding.

I can understand why your company would do it, but that still sucks

I unrooted Monday night. Nova Launcher has made it easier to transition back, but there are so many small usability features added by AOSP roms that I'm missing. My next phone may have to be a Nexus device. I can't even run Dashclock now...

fearlesspaula said:
Just be really nice to IT. Problem solved.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Or do what I did, become IT

It sucks that you had to unroot your phone but I can see potential problems within a company with rooted devices.

My government phone is rooted they can supposedly check for root. But they never have detected it rooted.
Sent from my MIUI powered S3 thanks to StrumerJohn

Back when I had a sprint nexus s. It was sending sms to Vietnam I never found out what it was and sprint wouldn't tell me or they couldn't stop it. They kept insisting it was me because they said it was both sending and receiving... Screw you sprint they still charged me for it too
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app