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[Q] New Sidekick/Android user with Root/Roms questions ;-)

Hello everyone.
Recently ordered a Samsung Sidekick 4G and reading on the forums
I noticed people saying that this device lags a lot, has random FCs, etc. and
that they way of getting "rid" of this was by rooting and installing
custom roms. As you might have figured by my low post count, I'm
a newbie with regards to Android phones or Android in general. So
I have a couple of questions.
I know where to look if I want to take the chance and do this
by following this:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1275116
(thank God and moderators for stickies!-- making life easier )
But I would like to know:
1) What are the advantages of having Sidekick custom roms (apart
from the usual root access and what not). Is the stock Rom that bad?
Does it have lots of bloat slowing the phone?
2) Has anyone tried the different Roms out there and can I have
an assessment of what they do/offer? (i.e. which one you think
is the best with regards to battery life, bundle of sw, etc for
a newb). Basically their strenghts and weaknesses as I wouldn't want
to lose something important such as network services (i.e. 3G, WiFi, etc.)
And yes, I know that I can try them for myself, but I haven't
even received the phone and I'm scared sh!+less of rooting
don't want to think about repeating the process of the link
above to keep trying different Roms... so I will rely on your
experiences.
3) Since I wont be receiving OTA updates with or without a custom
Rom (I don't have t-mobile, it's an unlocked phone...), do
custom Roms already have stuff from OTA updates??
4) If Android 2.3 update is released for the Sidekick, will it
be available as a "custom" rom? Is that how it works for people
that don't get OTA updates?
5) If I decide to stick with stock Rom, could I still "root"
the phone and play with overclocking and all that jazz?
Finally,
6) What's the meaning of life?!?!?
Hope you can help me with these questions if you can.
And if you don't want to help me... then ... I'll be sad...
for a couple of minutes! ;-)
BTW I also ordered an LG Optimus Quantum just to also try the Windows
OS and compare between both, Android and Windows experiences
(I come from Symbian... Nokia FTW!!! ;-))
Thanks!

to question 4 it will be incorporated to the customs roms no doubt
to question 2 i have used gingerclone v2, lighting rom v2 , touchmiuiwiz, and glorious i like glorious the most so far and dislike lighting v2 the most gingerclone and touchmiui is the same rom different themes
to question 5 you can still root it and overclock it
to question 1 you get d can get better battery life, less bloatware, better signal,
to question 3 on the ota we used kg2 which was an ota as a mix with kd1

that was harsh xtreme .

saying i disliked the rom the most when basically i used 3 roms? thats not being harsh

IMO any rom developed by ayoteddy is worth checking out. Also always be sure to fully read each rom thread's first post; everything you need to know should be there.
And personally I wouldn't flash any rom or attempt to root until you're comfortable using adb commands (I've soft bricked a couple of phones myself and that's no fun at all).
There's a bunch of good youtube tutorials outlining everything from rooting to flashing custom roms. Good luck with everything and welcome to the sk4g family!
Sent from my SGH-T839 using XDA App

It was not harsh. lol. it's his opinion.

I have used gcv2 and glorius i loved the first but the later is def. Better, u can root without a custom rom. And dont fret about flashing a rom, this is my first phone that iv flashed, rooted etc. And yes after a week or so the stock launcher started lagging. Although i only got fc's on zeam
Sent from my SGH-T839 using xda premium

Thanks for the responses so far!
And I'll definitely stick with the stock settings but if I begin to experience bugs or lags, I'll definitely look into this! Now I have to check why the heck I'm only getting EDGE!! WTF?!! lol
Thanks.

go to wireless ettings and swtich from gsm to gs/wcda mode

I FAILED!!! :-(
I think I'm going to have to resell this phone on eBay...
I just noticed WHY it wont connect in 3G... T-Mobile phones seem to be "configured" to use the 1700 band but my service provider does 3G like AT&T and I think they use 1900...
Oh well... back to my second option... the Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini Pro...
Thanks guys!

gelocks said:
But I would like to know:
1) What are the advantages of having Sidekick custom roms (apart
from the usual root access and what not). Is the stock Rom that bad?
Does it have lots of bloat slowing the phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
with a custom ROM battery usage decreases in some cases and it also allows for more customization of your phone. Like in some ROMs you can change your transition effects, dock settings, and menu settings. It allows you to pick how you want your phone to look. For most people that got the OTA update their phone got really bad with freezes and force closes, you'd have to reboot your phone every day. In the end if you don't like a ROM you can always switch back.
2) Has anyone tried the different Roms out there and can I have
an assessment of what they do/offer? (i.e. which one you think
is the best with regards to battery life, bundle of sw, etc for
a newb). Basically their strenghts and weaknesses as I wouldn't want
to lose something important such as network services (i.e. 3G, WiFi, etc.)
And yes, I know that I can try them for myself, but I haven't
even received the phone and I'm scared sh!+less of rooting
don't want to think about repeating the process of the link
above to keep trying different Roms... so I will rely on your
experiences.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've tried a few and at the moment i'm using glorious overdose by ayoteddy and sduvick. This ROM is very smooth and very nice but doesn't allow for as much customization as touchMUI or GingerClone. TouchMui allows you to customize the behaviors of your phone like menu, transitions, etc. through launcherpro which comes with the ROM, BUT it wants you to buy launcherPro when you try to do certain functions. Now i'm a newby too, barely rooted and flashed my phone a few weeks ago, as well as somebody that works with me. I've also experienced alot less forceclose issues with glorious overdose.
3) Since I wont be receiving OTA updates with or without a custom
Rom (I don't have t-mobile, it's an unlocked phone...), do
custom Roms already have stuff from OTA updates??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There aren't really that many OTA updates but from what i've seen the devs here get stuff before it's actually released, such as KJ2, which we havent officially recieved yet. The one OTA update that happened actually made the phone run like crap, excuse my language.
4) If Android 2.3 update is released for the Sidekick, will it
be available as a "custom" rom? Is that how it works for people
that don't get OTA updates?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Somebody will probably post a version of it on the forums and devs will most likely use it as soon as they get their hands on it, IF there's still deving going on for this phone at that time.
5) If I decide to stick with stock Rom, could I still "root"
the phone and play with overclocking and all that jazz?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes you can, I did that before i actually flashed my phone. root is a different thing than flashing a custom ROM to your phone.
Finally,
6) What's the meaning of life?!?!?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
according to wikipedia, The meaning of life constitutes a philosophical question concerning the purpose and significance of life or existence in general.

6 the purpose of life is to find the answer to that question yourself...

Do you recommend using Xposed once it's updated for KitKat?

I tend to not like flashing ROMs as I don't need most of the features they offer and it becomes a big time waster. That's a benefit of Nexus is you get a good software experience out of the box. Without flashing ROMs, you don't have much need for things like TiBu, so I never even rooted my GNex and felt no need to. However I find myself interested in Xposed and some of the modules, namely XPrivacy and Greenify. If you have used these on past phones or in particular the Nexus 4, can you share your experiences and whether you recommend using them for the N5 once they are updated for it. How about security implications of being unlocked/rooted vs. not. What are the risks, and is it possible to relock the bootloader after obtaining root and keep root?
Thanks.

In regard to the original question in the post YES!!!! There are sooooo many things you can do with it. Like getting most to all of the customization features of custom ROM's without having to flash anything. With Greenify you can hibernate system apps with the module. Personally I hope it's up and running soon.

Yes.
there are already lots of documents/posts discussing rooting, and most of them give you clearer answers than i do..
to me, the only risk of rooting lies in the user's own (or lack of) skill level in mastering the rooted device..

Why root a Nexus 5?

Hi guys,
Just got a Nexus 5, had previously had a Samsung Galaxy S3.
My S3 was rooted, mainly to get rid of carrier bloatware and later because I wanted the Android 4.2 camera with Photosphere (my carrier was stuck on 4.1 until a few months ago).
As time wore on my device had numerous problems ultimately I felt related to rooting, I could never find ROM's with at least one major glitch. I ended up on a stock ROM for most the time with the only root change was flashing the 4.2 camera for Photosphere. Rooting in general I found caused more headaches than it was worth.
Anyways, I just got the Nexus 5 and have no real intention to root it. Since it's devoid of carrier bloatware and it runs super fast and responsive, just wondering what the real credible benefits to rooting it are? (and voiding warranty in the process)??
I don't see a lot of bloatware on the device, it's going to get constant updates from Google (as opposed to devices depandant on a carrier), I don't really need to overclock or mess with kernals on an already fast device.
Am I missing something here?

Sianspheric said:
Hi guys,
Just got a Nexus 5, had previously had a Samsung Galaxy S3.
My S3 was rooted, mainly to get rid of carrier bloatware and later because I wanted the Android 4.2 camera with Photosphere (my carrier was stuck on 4.1 until a few months ago).
As time wore on my device had numerous problems ultimately I felt related to rooting, I could never find ROM's with at least one major glitch. I ended up on a stock ROM for most the time with the only root change was flashing the 4.2 camera for Photosphere. Rooting in general I found caused more headaches than it was worth.
Anyways, I just got the Nexus 5 and have no real intention to root it. Since it's devoid of carrier bloatware and it runs super fast and responsive, just wondering what the real credible benefits to rooting it are? (and voiding warranty in the process)??
I don't see a lot of bloatware on the device, it's going to get constant updates from Google (as opposed to devices depandant on a carrier), I don't really need to overclock or mess with kernals on an already fast device.
Am I missing something here?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some people prefer different launchers or ROMs or to have access to certain functions (e.g. full backup) that require root. I've had my N5 for a month and haven't felt the need for it, so I'm still stock, locked, unrooted.

Xposed for me.
Most of the mods from Custom ROMs with the OTA updates from Google
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium HD app

Xposed framework, Adaway, Lmt launcher, AppOps, AutomateIt Pro... Basicly everything to take control over your device.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app

So.....ad blocking apps, minor tweaks, custom ROM's.
eh, not really compelling reasons for me I guess.

Sianspheric said:
So.....ad blocking apps, minor tweaks, custom ROM's.
eh, not really compelling reasons for me I guess.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldn't call them minor tweaks at all. There is an extremely wide variety of things that require your phone to be rooted. Often times an app will have limited functionality without root.
Please note that rooting your phone has nothing to do with using a custom rom. (You can in fact have a custom rom that is not rooted) Your problems with your prior phone were not in any way as a result of rooting the phone. If you had problems with the rom (sometimes custom roms have broken components) that has nothing to do with having root access.
At this point, I'd be willing to bet the most common usage of the phone at this point (amongst users of this site) are those who are rooted, but still using the stock rom. More and more users are migrating to the custom roms, but this is because rom development takes a bit of time with major releases.

AdAway is the main reason for me - I HATE adverts with a passion!
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app

Sianspheric said:
So.....ad blocking apps, minor tweaks, custom ROM's.
eh, not really compelling reasons for me I guess.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what you consider "minor tweaks", might be a big deal for someone else. Tastes differ.
i root because of 1 main reason, i paid for the device and i believe i should be able to have full control over it.
Another thing is, whatever i do with my phone, i always know what i'm doing and why i'm doing it, so the odds of screwing something up are very little. In case i do need to claim warranty, i know how to set everything back.

Sianspheric said:
So.....ad blocking apps, minor tweaks, custom ROM's.
eh, not really compelling reasons for me I guess.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ehm...why did you buy a nexus? Actually i don't even know what you are doing on xda. No offense but... Sound more like an iPhone kind a guy...
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app

It's up to you whether to root or not. Whatever problems you had with your previous device, it wasn't due to rooting persay, but rather what you did with root access. Rooting doesn't change anything, it just gives you administrative access to the operating system. Running un-rooted is analogous to accessing your desktop PC through a guest account. Rooting your Android device gives you full access like you have on your desktop as as an administrator.

He just wants to know the benefits. No need to harp on him for not wanting to root. If anything Nexus 5 has less reasons to be rooted then OEM phones.

bblzd said:
He just wants to know the benefits. No need to harp on him for not wanting to root. If anything Nexus 5 has less reasons to be rooted then OEM phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe someday he'll want to tether.

AT LEAST UNLOCK THE BOOTLOADER
Fastboot OEM Unlock
That easy, it'll erase EVERYTHING. So if you do it now you won't lose much. Do it later when you want to root (like my mother and myself) you'll have to unlock and lose everything.
If you ever need you return it just lock it again it's easy. And you won't lose ANYTHING for relocking it.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Two words....
Franco kernel
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Titanium back up because I'm too lazy to reinstall all of my apps on my previous device.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Not much reason to if your main use is as a "daily driver".
Mine is rooted mainly due to needing to use it for development work related to my job, but ad blocking and several xposed modules would require root anyways. That and I just can't help but mess with stuff like CPU frequency/voltage settings, etc.

Ben36 said:
Two words....
Franco kernel
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I second this.

I was previously on Galaxy S2 rooted. I'd tested some custom roms like chamaleon, cm, but at last, what i realized that I needed wasn't a lot of new features i only wanted a good battery performance and a fc and random reboots free phone.
So I returned to stock roms with the more stock-like rooted kernel with Xposed and some additions. At last I got a good battery performance to keep the phone full day without charging.
Now that my N5 is with me for about 6 or 7 weeks I don't need rooting, modding ... nothing. The performance for my daily use is about 30 hours between charges with almost 3 hours with screen on.
That is all I need!
And for backups (i've payed for titanium backup app for my S2) now I use ADB from command line and it's enought for me
Also, the Nexus in this conditions hasn't hanged yet.
It spent more than 350 hours until I decided to change to Dart and I had to restart the phone. this is much better than my old S2 that needed two or three weekly reboots even with stock rom.
So, i'm very happy with my non-rooted N5 but if I need to root it in the near future it will be not a problem to me doing it.

I use it for Titanium Backup myself, whose backups I periodically have uploaded to Box.com. Obviously it's there for when I want to change phone and want to restore app data, especially for game saves, but you also never know if your phone is going to malfunction and you have to wipe or get lost/stolen. I think it's pretty useful to have an app that automatically takes care of backing up your data for you.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

http://lifehacker.com/top-10-reasons-to-root-your-android-phone-1079161983
Sent from my Nexus 5

[Q] Why do people unlock bootloader?

I haven't found any good explanations on this so just wondering why people do it. Generally it's fine for most brands but for Sony, I've read so much bad stuff about camera & battery issues, hence the importance of backing up the TA partition.
Aside from being able to use AOSP/CM roms, what's the point of unlocking? It seems like you're sacrificing the camera a bit too much just for this?

To much arguments on this topic.
Someone likes AOSP look and feel more than fuctionality of camera.
What you like, i dont like and vice versa.

chaoscreater said:
I haven't found any good explanations on this so just wondering why people do it. Generally it's fine for most brands but for Sony, I've read so much bad stuff about camera & battery issues, hence the importance of backing up the TA partition.
Aside from being able to use AOSP/CM roms, what's the point of unlocking? It seems like you're sacrificing the camera a bit too much just for this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Flash custom ROM's, custom kernels, mods, etc. And these are just a few.

TheTeslaCoil said:
Flash custom ROM's, custom kernels, mods, etc. And these are just a few.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there a kernel that can give me better battery life than stock kernel. I recently found the thread where you can keep the TA partition intact with unlocked bootloader. I am happy with stock debloated ROM but would use another kernel if it means even more battery life.

jassalmithu said:
Is there a kernel that can give me better battery life than stock kernel. I recently found the thread where you can keep the TA partition intact with unlocked bootloader. I am happy with stock debloated ROM but would use another kernel if it means even more battery life.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can only backup TA to restore it later (but if you restore it you lock your bootloader)
Point is, while you have unlocked bootloader your TA is wiped..
But there is solution to have TA functions on unlocked bootloader.. But it has nothing with TA partition it self, it's a mimic of functions..
Sent from my D6603 using XDA Free mobile app

like others mentioned, it really opens up android and allows you to explore other things; custom roms, mods, kernels, minor tweaks, etc... . in the past years, ive spent alot of time editing this, modifying that, the process of learning was very enjoying. However, after exploring all those, from my perspective, nothing is better than stock if you want stability. dont get me wrong, custom roms are stable too but not 99.99% stable as the stock one from Sony. If you want to explore and have time for that, then go for it, if not, then just with locked BL and root.
and if you ask whether sacrificing camera quality and BE (which can be retained on my original Z), it depends on the user, if the user is a photographer or a person that relies heavily on the phone's camera then maybe. but an average user the trade off isnt much. Also, you can also relock the BL.

Thanks everyone for your answers!

Also, I've heard from some people they actually PREFER the post-unlock camera as the noise reduction algorithm is a bit too aggressive. (Dpreview slammed the Z3 for having overly aggressive NR that caused detail to be lost.)
In my case, I haven't had a working camera in 2-3 months as I still haven't bothered to get it working again in Omni. Cellphone cameras universally suck, and even without the DRM issues the IMX220 is actually well below-average.

Is the Pixel 2 right for me? Opinions appreciated.

Hi all,
I am enamored by the Pixel 2 for the camera, general size and clean android experience. I am coming from a Moto X (2013) DE, which I have been using for almost three years with no complaints. I am on Verizon GFUDP, am unlocked, rooted and using Xposed framework. I use the phone for tethering quite often. I don't generally use custom ROMs,; once I am setup and got everything running nice, I stop playing around with the phone and just use it.
That said, I am ready to upgrade and still want an unlockable, rootable device, which has a really good camera and will allow me to tether at will. My thought is to purchase the Pixel 2 through Google. I see that there has been some bumpiness in the road to root success, and I am wondering if this device will eventually (if it's already not) become stable enough to do what I want without a lot of fooling with it, or fear of accidentally "bricking", or other issues down the road.
So in the big picture, do you feel that the Pixel 2 can be set up, forgotten about, and just used, as I describe above, or do you think that the device will need to be tweaked on a regular basis? If so, do you have any recommendations of devices which better fit the parameters listed above?
Thanks in advance!

amajamar said:
Hi all,
I am enamored by the Pixel 2 for the camera, general size and clean android experience. I am coming from a Moto X (2013) DE, which I have been using for almost three years with no complaints. I am on Verizon GFUDP, am unlocked, rooted and using Xposed framework. I use the phone for tethering quite often. I don't generally use custom ROMs,; once I am setup and got everything running nice, I stop playing around with the phone and just use it.
That said, I am ready to upgrade and still want an unlockable, rootable device, which has a really good camera and will allow me to tether at will. My thought is to purchase the Pixel 2 through Google. I see that there has been some bumpiness in the road to root success, and I am wondering if this device will eventually (if it's already not) become stable enough to do what I want without a lot of fooling with it, or fear of accidentally "bricking", or other issues down the road.
So in the big picture, do you feel that the Pixel 2 can be set up, forgotten about, and just used, as I describe above, or do you think that the device will need to be tweaked on a regular basis? If so, do you have any recommendations of devices which better fit the parameters listed above?
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It should be good in the long run. In my personal experience after using a lot of ROM's/kernels/mods since 2011 I would say the max your needs would come to is getting a custom kernel. With no disrespect to the developers who have worked on providing great roms throughout the years, google has really developed 8.0/8.1 into a completely viable solution that till now has not got me to even consider rooting the device to get some custom features on it.

flunk03 said:
It should be good in the long run. In my personal experience after using a lot of ROM's/kernels/mods since 2011 I would say the max your needs would come to is getting a custom kernel. With no disrespect to the developers who have worked on providing great roms throughout the years, google has really developed 8.0/8.1 into a completely viable solution that till now has not got me to even consider rooting the device to get some custom features on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I said, as long as I can get the tethering function, I am pretty much good to go. Do I need a custom kernel for that?

amajamar said:
As I said, as long as I can get the tethering function, I am pretty much good to go. Do I need a custom kernel for that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Afaik just rooting and getting an app designed for that should be fine I guess. It's not something I know since we don't have that issue with carriers on that front

amajamar said:
As I said, as long as I can get the tethering function, I am pretty much good to go. Do I need a custom kernel for that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as I'm aware you can achieve this with Magisk root and a Magisk module.

Buy Pixel 2, unlock bootloader before you set up the phone (get the factory reset out of the way), then just use it as-is indefinitely until you find you need something that only root can provide. If that's the case, then install Magisk, and keep on rolling.