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[Q] Why root?

Hi,
I'm new to android and nexus S and I tried to install some applications that need to be root.
I searched a little and did find out that are many ways to root. Some of them explained in xda-developers websites.
Before I do the root process I do like to know more about the security issues of doing that. Which risks I'll soffer by doind that? May I trust the code writted "not by" google developers? What is different in that?
Thanks,
Bruno.

it has nothing to do with all of the above
it's to gain super power
you can do all kind of thing when rooted, otherwise many apps will not work
you don't need to root to use the phone, you can always find alternative app that does not require root, probably with less feature and options
non-root is to protect newbies from damaging the phone
only 1337 people root their phones to hack the innards out of it, to master control the phone to do things only imagination can provide.

I would say the main number one reason to root would be to use an app like Titanium Backup to save your settings/applications. There are also some nice utilities to have, like ad blockers and other stuff that require root privileges.
As stated, it's not really something that you need to do, it's more for power users who want total control of their device.

there are new Backup software that does not require root, like MyBackup
but it sucks compared to TitaniumBackup
however the PAID version of MyBackup Pro or something like that, can do sort of the same thing like TitaniumBackup can do without ROOT
but still shys in comparison to TB

its already been said, but the point of rooting is you gain complete super power over your device. so many things can be done with root, great custom ROMs out there. its a no brainer, and i was undecided about it at first too. but once i rooted, i'll never go back. there are too many advantages to list, and not one negative reason to avoid rooting.

No point
Another reason would be to overclock your phone.. Overclocking makes your phone "faster" but honestly i wouldnt bother. i had recently had the T-Mobile G2 and i rooted it and tried overclocking using an application called "setcpu" but it completely made the phone weird and somewhat unresponsive...
Anyways im currently using the Nexus S and i tend to think of rooting it but honestly, theres no point. this phone is in tip top shape and perfect just the way it is. i mean what ROM is out there for it besides Cyanogenmod 7? DONT ROOT! OR.. i told myself if this phone just starts to act weird and not work well, ill most likely just root it.

jeremyt727 said:
Another reason would be to overclock your phone.. Overclocking makes your phone "faster" but honestly i wouldnt bother. i had recently had the T-Mobile G2 and i rooted it and tried overclocking using an application called "setcpu" but it completely made the phone weird and somewhat unresponsive...
Anyways im currently using the Nexus S and i tend to think of rooting it but honestly, theres no point. this phone is in tip top shape and perfect just the way it is. i mean what ROM is out there for it besides Cyanogenmod 7? DONT ROOT! OR.. i told myself if this phone just starts to act weird and not work well, ill most likely just root it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CM7 itself is all you need to make you want to root. It's so easy to root.
Also. Voodoo Sound is another good reason, Voodoo Sound is simply amazing
Nexus S was built to be hacked. Use it for it's primary reason why it was built.

because you can is enough of a reason to

In simple words, you get administrative access to ur kernel !

How can I root my nexus S?

Explained in threads in Nexus S Android Development section
Check this thread.

[Q] Shouldn't Bother Rooting?

I'v jailbroken itouches several times flawlessly so the concept of rooting is not new to me. I understand what has to be done and what it does for the device, positively anyway. I'v had the G2x for about 2 weeks now and i'm thinking about rooting it, but i don't want to do it without knowing all of the cons. I know i would be voiding my warranty, and that i might not get direct updates from my service provider anymore. I'v also read a lot about people rooting it without error, but for some reason after rooting the phone crashes. i took the risk of jailbreaking my itouch because i had it for 2 years already when i decided to jailbreak it, and because it's basically still just an mp3 player. This time it would be a phone which is more important to me. im also aware that gingerbread is coming out soon, so if someone could explain to me what the negatives are or at least point me in the right direction if this thread is already answered i would appreciate it.

With my phone, unrooting is easy if you know what you're doing, so I don't worry about the warranty part. The usual horror stories about rooted phones are usually due to user error. If you don't know what you're doing and don't fully read the instructions, you can end up doing some damage that is either difficult or impossible to fix. I think some people root their phones just for wireless tether, ad blocking, screenshots, or some "root only" app they see in the market. Then they decide they want to change their status bar icons or something and flash something that was not made for their phone or the stock rom... or whatever the situation may be.
My point is, if you know what you're doing you'll be fine. You should be able to go back to stock, unrooted - I'm not familiar with your phone, so I'm speaking in generalities. There are already Gingerbread roms out for many devices that haven't received official updates yet, even for phones that will never receive an official 2.3 update.
The only downside of rooting that I can think of is that you won't be able to put your phone down. Ultimately the choice is yours. If you don't want to put the time into learning, don't do it. It's a ton of fun though, I couldn't imagine not being rooted... there's so much more available for rooted phones.
My Evo + xda Premium App = This post.

To Root, or not to Root?

Right, I'm getting sick of waiting for the official JellyBean update for my S2, will it be worth it for me to root the fone myself? If so, how do I go about doing it?
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda app-developers app

Yes it is worth it. Check the international s2 forums and search it up.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app

Yes it's definately worth it to root. A little risky at first but if you get rooted, your home free and will be loading custom roms almost daily. Many apps will only run on rooted phone. Go for it!

mr
yes it`s worth it.so you can install custom roms.good luck.

It's only "worth it" if you have a reason to.
It's like... "is it worth buying a 30 gallon aquarium for $10" ? Sure, if you actually want a 30 gallon aquarium, it would be - but if you don't, it's just going to sit there unused and taking up space (and in the case of root access, opening up potential vulnerability).
Some people are flash-happy, but I only update mine maybe every few weeks because it's kind of a pain. And I only rooted and flashed a custom ROM on my tablet because it's no longer supported by the manufacturer - meaning a custom ROM was the ONLY way to get updates. I rooted my phone because I wanted to install Google Wallet and that required some work-arounds since my carrier is blocking it.
If you get into unofficial ROMs of updated Android versions, unless it's a leak, there are often problems - various things won't work, bugs, et cetera. It can still be fun, but don't expect it to be perfect.
Find something that you want to do with your device that requires root access and then worry about it.

Banksy1892 said:
Right, I'm getting sick of waiting for the official JellyBean update for my S2, will it be worth it for me to root the fone myself? If so, how do I go about doing it?
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you own an Android device, chances are you’ve probably heard of the term “rooting” or “rooted.” If you have and are wondering if it’s for you, this post is perfect, as we break down the major pros and cons of rooting your Android smartphone.
Before we go any further though, what exactly is “rooting”? Rooting refers to gaining access to the "root" user or command prompt of your Android phone. Root access gives users full access to the device and allows for other low-level tasks to be run. Rooting an Android phone is similar to "jail breaking" an iPhone or the "unlocking" of a Windows Phone.
When you root your Android device, you gain access to the entire file system, with full admin rights. You can customize your own boot image, create a full backup of your phone, or install a full-blown Linux distro. Basically, you can do whatever you want.
So, should you root your phone? For me, the answer to that question is a resounding yes, but before you decide, read on to see our list of the major pros and cons of rooting.
Pros of Rooting
Some of the best reasons to root your Android phone include:
1. "Tethering" your 4G/3G internet connection to a laptop computer or tablet via USB cable, Hotspot or Bluetooth. While I don’t recommend this, you will essentially be able to tether for free without paying your carrier a fee.
2. Installing custom themes, mods, and ROMS. This is probably the reason most people root their phone. The ability to deeply customize your own device and upgrade software is very appealing to a lot of rooters.
3. Backing up all the data and apps on the device.
4. The ability to install any application or game, including those "blocked" or Tegra-only games.
5. The ability to underclock the processor to conserve power. This is huge for a lot of people as Android devices are real battery hogs. I have been able to squeeze out days of battery life on a medium-sized battery by underclocking, which is pretty significant.
6. The ability to remove bloatware from your carrier-branded Android device. We all know that carriers love putting quite a bit of crap on their phones and rooting is one way to get rid of it.
Cons of Rooting
Some of the major reasons not to root your Android device include:
1. If the rooting process fails you may permanently "brick" your phone, rendering it unusable for anything other than, well, a brick. Basically, your phone will be useless.
2. Rooting your phone typically voids any manufacturer and carrier warranties. This is pretty crappy, honestly, but some OEMs won't cover certain things. It is really up to the manufacturer. You could lose out big, though, if something major breaks and you have to pay the full repair price.
3. Other drawbacks are more specific to what is done after the device is rooted, such as burning out your smartphone CPU due to overclocking, wearing out the SD card prematurely and burning out pixels in the screen. Additionally, the potential monetary costs that your carrier might apply if they see you've downloaded several gigs of data to your laptop could be big.
4. Rooting usually causes general instability of your Android smartphone. This is a given, as you are basically beta testing modifications and ROMS before they become daily drivers. Expect great performance, but a lot of bugs.
So, is Rooting really for You?
If you're a hacker or tinkerer and don’t mind bugs, I’d say yes. If you’re not, I’d say hold off and make sure it’s really what you want. You must remember that with most phones, once you root, you can’t go back. It is very difficult, in most cases, to completely reset your device to factory conditions, which is definitely something to consider before you decide.
However, if you’re like me--happy with your device as is, but just love pushing the envelope--I'd say wait until your warranty expires. After your warranty runs up, which is usually a year after purchase, there is really nothing to lose.
If you have any additional pros or cons to rooting, leave them in the comment below.

If your warranty is over, definitely root.
Galaxy s2 is a pretty safe and easy device to flash. No need to mess with bootloaders and all. There are many guides in the forum, check them out. If something does go wrong, you will most probably find the solution in this forum itself.
You might might end up waiting indefinitely for the official update for your country from samsung. Flashing it yourself will keep you up to date.
But its time consuming if you are new to all this. There is a LOT to read. I know because I was there. It was after a lot of reading that I felt confident enough to root my phone. But now I flash a little bit to often!
Try a custom ROM based on the latest official samsung. I use NeatROM Lite 4.3, based on LSD. Stable, fast and bloatware free. There are a lot of them, pick the one that suits your need. Or if you're feeling adventurous, try most of them like I did!

Help With Rooting My Verizon Galaxy S3
I Am New To Rooting And I Would Like To Know If It's At All Possible To Install Android 4.2 On My Verizon Galaxy S3, I Feel My Phone Is Very Sluggish And I Would Like To Uninstall All The Bloatware On The Phone. Any Positive Help Would Be Greatly Appreciated Thanks In Advance!

Root
I was feeling the same way on my Atrix HD. Now i am glad i did it, its worth doing, you have greater access to apps, programs, and other things. IT was also simple to me.
#newbie

Harley Malvado said:
I Am New To Rooting And I Would Like To Know If It's At All Possible To Install Android 4.2 On My Verizon Galaxy S3, I Feel My Phone Is Very Sluggish And I Would Like To Uninstall All The Bloatware On The Phone. Any Positive Help Would Be Greatly Appreciated Thanks In Advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google is your friend, try using it.

Root!!!! I rooted my s2 the first day of having it. Best thing ever. I only update every 2 months or so, make sure bugs are out. I am on ga10 right now which 4.1.2. Even did it to the wife's phone. Original software is not good and slow updates. I am planning on rooting whatever new I get.

definetely root, because with root you can use many hidden capabilities like reverse tethering, free wifi tethering and so on

[Q] Why Root the One plus one?

Hi all
i Just got my one plus one last week
it was amazing , it was snappy , the screen is gorgeous , and the CM is plain great , albeit many apps did find unresponding oddly enough
i've had many phones in the past that are not so great x10 mini , x8 , galaxy ace, galaxy nexus
all of which are miles away when compared to the one plus
and since they are so freaking lag i decided to root them and gave them root and changed their bootloader
but from one phone to the other all of them seems to die out in about 9 months after i root them , and i don;'t know what i did wrong , most of them are dead because i fried the motherboard or something
still why would you root the one plus when it's already so fast ? i am considering rooting mine but i am really scared i might kill it

First, rooting doesn't make it faster or slower. Also, it doesn't broke the phone neither now or in 12 month time.
Second, you need root for some in depth access on your phone, or some programs like Titanium Backup may require root to work.
Third, the rule of the thumb say, if you don't need it, don't do it!

greenify, adblock, titanium more than enough reasons to root.

I go by the old saying "If you have to ask, you'll never know"
Generally anyone who's asked me if they should root their phone, or install 3rd party firmware, my answer is no. It has to be something you want to do and something you're willing to accept the risk doing. I'm a flashaholic. I flash a new rom every few days, or update existing ROM i have. I'm never content with the status quo on my phone and devices and always play. I accept the risk of running into a situation where I go to make a call, watch a movie, or open a email and my phone locking up due to running bleeding edge untested code. Mind you I can always recover from bootloader and know how so I know I won't permanently screw a phone, just until I can flash a older rom, or recover with a PC. If you have to ask, it means you're not sure about what you're getting into. If you fall into this situation I would refrain from asking others and instead read around in the 1,000's of posts in this OnePlus forum and decide for yourself.
Not that being said, root is simple. It's a more of a "Set it and forget it" type of deal, at least until a OTA update arrives. Custom roms is where the aforementioned comes into play mostly. If you want to start getting into the Flashing world with Android its the place to start. Myself I read and read after I got my Galaxy S4, first real Android phone, and went straight to CyanogenMod with it. Skipped rooting.

WoodburyMan said:
Generally anyone who's asked me if they should root their phone, or install 3rd party firmware, my answer is no. It has to be something you want to do and something you're willing to accept the risk doing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He may not be aware of what can be accomplished with root access and find the profits interesting. He doesn't necessarily know if he wants to do if he doesn't know it exists/is possible.

I don't want to flame or anything, but since you've been around for almost 3 years, you should really know better.
Firstly, rooting does not fry your motherboard. Seriously, why would you think so?
The fact that your previous phones became slow after a short while is because you probably got them stuffed with bloatware and have not maintained your phone in a healthy way.
As to why you should root your phone,...
Well, most apps that help you maintain your phone and keep it as optimized as possible require root.
This kind of proves my previous point regarding the speed of your previous phones.
I would start reading some more and eventually you'll be able to answer your own question.
Good luck!

Well that's easy, if your not interested in using apps that need root access there's no use in rooting your device. It's nothing magic which will make your device fly or make a cup of coffee for you.

Why not?

Is there any real advantage of unlocking bootloader and rooting HTC U11?

Hi there,
I have been rooting all previous samsung and pixel phone but i dont know if rooting or unlocking bootlaoder is needed for HTC U11.. I mean software is fast and fluid, battery is exceptional (7 hour screen on time), not much bloatware out there, sound is alo great unless we have some sound mods out there who improve it further
so is there any advantage of rooting and going after custom ROMs/Mods ?
secondly i am using HTC phone after long time so this S On/OFF is confusing. If we have unlock bootloader and root/Twrp then can we flash all custom ROMs ? or we must need to do S-OFF in order to flash some custom ROMs ?
Thanks

S-off is protection for system turned off so anything written to root is permanent.
Unlocking bootloader is what protects the phone from loading software that isn't official.
Yes you can flash roms etc without s-off. S-off is dangerous but can offer extra methods of recovery should your phone die unexpectedly. It is highly recommended to buy s-off via sunshine app if you plan on rooting.
Rooting has its uses but it has more disadvantages. Some apps won't run, ie banking apps, you can easily cheat games but it makes things boring, you can block adverts but you can get rootless options too.. Swings and roundabouts. Personally I don't root anymore.

Rajaasim1980 said:
Hi there,
I have been rooting all previous samsung and pixel phone but i dont know if rooting or unlocking bootlaoder is needed for HTC U11.. I mean software is fast and fluid, battery is exceptional (7 hour screen on time), not much bloatware out there, sound is alo great unless we have some sound mods out there who improve it further
so is there any advantage of rooting and going after custom ROMs/Mods ?
secondly i am using HTC phone after long time so this S On/OFF is confusing. If we have unlock bootloader and root/Twrp then can we flash all custom ROMs ? or we must need to do S-OFF in order to flash some custom ROMs ?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You dont need to be S Off to install a custom ROM. Although there are more and more apps and theming engines that pretty much do what the old rooting used to, I have been rooting since the old school evo days. You can always go back to stock in most cases, but its nice to see what the different custom roms developers have to offer and experience the different user interfaces. The installation of a different kernel is the the best advantage to me if you are looking to tweak battery usage and certain functions. Plus you van back up and dirty flash most roms without much hassle or loss of data. I currently am S On and have used a few different daily driver roms with no issues for years now. Just read up on firmware updating and the Rom requirements before loading.

shivadow said:
S-off is protection for system turned off so anything written to root is permanent.
Unlocking bootloader is what protects the phone from loading software that isn't official.
Yes you can flash roms etc without s-off. S-off is dangerous but can offer extra methods of recovery should your phone die unexpectedly. It is highly recommended to buy s-off via sunshine app if you plan on rooting.
Rooting has its uses but it has more disadvantages. Some apps won't run, ie banking apps, you can easily cheat games but it makes things boring, you can block adverts but you can get rootless options too.. Swings and roundabouts. Personally I don't root anymore.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not the best advice or info.
You don't need s off unless you plan on changing your u11 firmware from one cid to another (Google it). Why spend the $$ unnecessarily?
IF you root with Magisk you can use magisk Manager to hide root from banking and other apps and they'll work just fine.
It's 101...

jhill110 said:
Not the best advice or info.
You don't need s off unless you plan on changing your u11 firmware from one cid to another (Google it). Why spend the $$ unnecessarily?
IF you root with Magisk you can use magisk Manager to hide root from banking and other apps and they'll work just fine.
It's 101...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My explanation for s-off is valid. S-off has more uses than just changing the cid. Google it. I recommend s-off in all instances where the phone will be rooted. Otherwise you leave it s-on.
As for magisk, it doesn't always work. Google it. It's 101.

S off S on
Personally I've only ever used S off to downgrade stock, never needed to change cid, it makes tasks easier but a lot of the security is missing, it's swings & roundabouts soff
only temporary on the u11
jhill110 said:
Not the best advice or info.
You don't need s off unless you plan on changing your u11 firmware from one cid to another (Google it). Why spend the $$ unnecessarily?
IF you root with Magisk you can use magisk Manager to hide root from banking and other apps and they'll work just fine.
It's 101...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

I rooted an old Motorola phone (Verizon) years ago and I didn't have any problems then. I could flash all these different ROMs and it was cool and interesting to do. Later phones I owned from Verizon didn't let me root so that was that. This year I decided I wanted to get a phone directly from HTC, the U11. I got the version that I could unlock and it didn't have all the bloatware like from the other carriers. I got the phone in April of this year and did the unlock process using the HTC Dev website. All went well and I loaded up a few apps that only worked with an unlocked phone. I installed Magisk and TWRP but I never did install a custom ROM because the phone was working well - fast and long battery life and the apps that required an unlocked phone played well.
Then a couple weeks ago there was a notification on my phone that there was an OTA update. The OTA notification nag screen was constantly coming up and of course I couldn't update while the phone was unlock. Or at least that's what I thought. So I went and used ADB and gave the the command to OEM lock. That was it, my phone got corrupt and long story short my phone is headed back to HTC to be revived.
When I do get the phone back I'll leave it as is, factory stock. I really didn't see the need to flash any new ROMs after I got the phone in April. It is a hard lesson to learn but oh well. It is what it is. If I do decide to unlock again, I will make sure I know what I am doing. Obviously I didn't.
Good luck OP on what you decide.

Tethering Without Root?
I'm moving from an S7 to the U11. I've always rooted my phones in the past, mainly to get tethering and remove bloat. Is there a tether option without rooting the U11? From what I hear there isn't a ton of bloat on the U11, so if I can tether without root, I might just do that.

hunteditor said:
I'm moving from an S7 to the U11. I've always rooted my phones in the past, mainly to get tethering and remove bloat. Is there a tether option without rooting the U11? From what I hear there isn't a ton of bloat on the U11, so if I can tether without root, I might just do that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
https://www.htc.com/us/support/htc-u11/howto/sharing-data-connection-with-usb-tethering.html
Well there isn't much of bloatware on the U11 and that is one of the reasons I wanted that phone. Another reason was that I wanted the latest HTC phone (got my U11 in April before the U12+ came out). I don't care for Samsung and Apple phones and I've just gravitated toward HTC since the HTC Incredible.
I've rooted a couple phones before and they were so easy to do. No issues and it was not so complicated as it is now. I really screwed my U11 (or at least I couldn't figure out the right procedures to get it out of trouble).

I root because I want youtube adaway (Which to be fair does have a no root option) and, more importantly, adaway.
Adaway has no alternative if you aren't rooted, which sucks. I don't care for adgaurds VPN or DNS666. An App like Adaway, I would pay for that on a non-rooted phone to make it happen. Bonus, I also get to install other ROMs Once my phone stops being updated by HTC, which seeing their track record, will be around January of 2019.

KOAO said:
I root because I want youtube adaway (Which to be fair does have a no root option) and, more importantly, adaway.
Adaway has no alternative if you aren't rooted, which sucks. I don't care for adgaurds VPN or DNS666. An App like Adaway, I would pay for that on a non-rooted phone to make it happen. Bonus, I also get to install other ROMs Once my phone stops being updated by HTC, which seeing their track record, will be around January of 2019.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it can't work on rooted phones because google doesnt want to happen.
Adaway removes the reveneue of big corporations, and thats affect google, thats why google, banking apps, and even pokemon don't like rooting.
you can acess your bank in your windows PC (windows have admin mode)
but you can't in android..
F** logic..

I don't know what people are doing on this site that say we don't need root. It's like atheists on eclesiastical meeting

I often think putting a custom rom in more secure due to the security patches being updated, however obviously you need to mask it for bank apps. So how important are security updates? Banking apps like google pay dont check that condition yet they check the latter.