Android Pay & Custom ROMs - Android Builders Collective

I've been out of the custom ROM game for quite a while now. Looking to start to dabble again. Question are we able to run rooted devices and still take advantage of applications like Google pay via NFC? I thought I recall reading about some of the server side encryption pieces that Google put in to prevent NFC payments and Google pay from working if a round was rooted. Perhaps there are some work around that are new and I'm not aware of yet.
Any other audities in regard to running custom ROMs?
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

Related

Run Without GApps

Just curious , but how many here have rooted and are running without google maps, store, acct, everything?
And is it even possible to remove google everything? I want to myself but considering unlocking boot voids warranty and I just barely rooted yesterday I'm kinda on the fence. Plus I still haven't figured out how to upgrade to 77 quite yet.
The description of a rom like moonwalker's is very tempting esp. when it says no bugs. Anyway just curious to see if there is a croud like that; with no google that is. My last smartphone had a sirfstar chip, but that was winmo 6.5 days.
The reason being, I'm getting ready to pull the trigger on a getac ultra rugged laptop and they have an optional sirfstar iv chip which would be awesome. As much as I like the Z3, I consider it to be a tracking device with the way it runs now. Running a local backend for the wifi/gps feature would cut the ties nicely on the phone. I really can't stand the agps 'feature' and sirf chips don't need any.
tweker said:
Just curious , but how many here have rooted and are running without google maps, store, acct, everything?
And is it even possible to remove google everything? I want to myself but considering unlocking boot voids warranty and I just barely rooted yesterday I'm kinda on the fence. Plus I still haven't figured out how to upgrade to 77 quite yet.
The description of a rom like moonwalker's is very tempting esp. when it says no bugs. Anyway just curious to see if there is a croud like that; with no google that is. My last smartphone had a sirfstar chip, but that was winmo 6.5 days.
The reason being, I'm getting ready to pull the trigger on a getac ultra rugged laptop and they have an optional sirfstar iv chip which would be awesome. As much as I like the Z3, I consider it to be a tracking device with the way it runs now. Running a local backend for the wifi/gps feature would cut the ties nicely on the phone. I really can't stand the agps 'feature' and sirf chips don't need any.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Quite possible. If you have error you can remove all Google. Unless app specifically need Google Play Services then you can just get apks and install those without Play Store.
As for ".77" upgrade it is easy and there is a thread with nice guide. Simply grab PRFC and 77 FTF and preroot it. Then flash with recovery and you are ready to go 77 rooted.
Sent from my D6603 using XDA Free mobile app
Cool. Updated it yesterday. I'll wait till I get my laptop, then I'll gut google.

Root and custom ROM support

Hey!
I have currently a Vivo NEX on order from AliExpress.
I wonder how fast (if at all) there will be a way to root the device, and most importantly: install Google Play and custom launchers on it.
A custom ROM; something stock like would also be exciting to see soon.
Another question that I have is: will I be able to use the in-display-fingerprintsensor when I install a custom launcher?
I guess that's a very noob question but I really have not much experience with that because this will be my fist phone with a fingerprintsensor at all.
Greeting from Austria!!
LOL Meister said:
Hey!
I have currently a Vivo NEX on order from AliExpress.
I wonder how fast (if at all) there will be a way to root the device, and most importantly: install Google Play and custom launchers on it.
A custom ROM; something stock like would also be exciting to see soon.
Another question that I have is: will I be able to use the in-display-fingerprintsensor when I install a custom launcher?
I guess that's a very noob question but I really have not much experience with that because this will be my fist phone with a fingerprintsensor at all.
Greeting from Austria!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Root and custom roms will be available as soon as Vivo release source code and blobs, and yes you can use the fingerprint sensor on custom launchers, even if it doesn't have play store you can still install launchers and apps from an apk.
Exanneon said:
Root and custom roms will be available as soon as Vivo release source code and blobs, and yes you can use the fingerprint sensor on custom launchers, even if it doesn't have play store you can still install launchers and apps from an apk.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats great news actually. I have successfully rooted and installed a custom ROM on my galaxy S5. But I am still quite new to the topic and therefore I want to ask: if some videos or websites claim that they have a way to root *any* android device: can that be true from a technical standpoint or is such a thing always scam?
LOL Meister said:
Thats great news actually. I have successfully rooted and installed a custom ROM on my galaxy S5. But I am still quite new to the topic and therefore I want to ask: if some videos or websites claim that they have a way to root *any* android device: can that be true from a technical standpoint or is such a thing always scam?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is definitely a scam, there's no way of rooting *any* phone, it's true that most phones become rootable sooner or later, but that depends on the manufacturer and those who modify the device. The thing is that technically any android phone can be rooted, but that can only be done if one first has access to a bootloader which they can send commands to, such as flashing a recovery. Apps or sites that say they can root any phone is a very deceptive way of tricking inexperienced users, based on somewhat facts.
The process of rooting a phone goes something like this:
1. Manufacturer releases software which allows a pc to communicate with the phone, therefore allowing for the pc to send commands such as flashing a recovery, sideloading a custom rom, restoring stock firmware, etc.
2. At that point, the user has complete access to their phone, just as the manufacturer would, so they can flash a recovery, through which they could flash supersu or magisk in order to root their phone, or a custom rom.
Now the thing about apps that can supposedly root a phone through the os, without it having root, is that some of them are legit, but they work in many different ways, those ways vary from each device. Apps such as kingroot (roots the phone without the need of a pc) is that they normally look for system apps which they can exploit and use as a backdoor to gain root access for the device, such apps can indeed root multiple devices, but no app can root literally any phone. This is because, if for example there was a phone that was released 15th june, 2018, and would have extremely good security, no apps that could be used as a backdoor, the app simply couldn't exploit that device. This is exactly why very new phones (such as the vivo nex) have no custom roms or root, because they're so new that no exploits have been found, and the manufacturer hasn't released software for users to root, nor have they released source code for developers to start building custom roms for them.
Sorry for the long paragraphs, hope I helped.
Moral of the story: don't trust weird apps saying they can root any device.
Exanneon said:
It is definitely a scam, there's no way of rooting *any* phone, it's true that most phones become rootable sooner or later, but that depends on the manufacturer and those who modify the device. The thing is that technically any android phone can be rooted, but that can only be done if one first has access to a bootloader which they can send commands to, such as flashing a recovery. Apps or sites that say they can root any phone is a very deceptive way of tricking inexperienced users, based on somewhat facts.
The process of rooting a phone goes something like this:
1. Manufacturer releases software which allows a pc to communicate with the phone, therefore allowing for the pc to send commands such as flashing a recovery, sideloading a custom rom, restoring stock firmware, etc.
2. At that point, the user has complete access to their phone, just as the manufacturer would, so they can flash a recovery, through which they could flash supersu or magisk in order to root their phone, or a custom rom.
Now the thing about apps that can supposedly root a phone through the os, without it having root, is that some of them are legit, but they work in many different ways, those ways vary from each device. Apps such as kingroot (roots the phone without the need of a pc) is that they normally look for system apps which they can exploit and use as a backdoor to gain root access for the device, such apps can indeed root multiple devices, but no app can root literally any phone. This is because, if for example there was a phone that was released 15th june, 2018, and would have extremely good security, no apps that could be used as a backdoor, the app simply couldn't exploit that device. This is exactly why very new phones (such as the vivo nex) have no custom roms or root, because they're so new that no exploits have been found, and the manufacturer hasn't released software for users to root, nor have they released source code for developers to start building custom roms for them.
Sorry for the long paragraphs, hope I helped.
Moral of the story: don't trust weird apps saying they can root any device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks a lot for the detailed explanations!
That with the bootloader makes a lot of sense to me as I work a lot with microcontrollers especially; AVRs and PICs. Some of them have a dedicated part of the FLASH where you can keep code around that runs at system startup. A bootloader. That per example lets the AVRs flashed with an Arduino Bootloader communicate with the PC without the need for a programming device!
So I won't load any itchy software on my new device haha.
An other question I have is:
Are there any disadvantages of having a Chinese ROM other than having to install all Google services manually?
LOL Meister said:
Thanks a lot for the detailed explanations!
That with the bootloader makes a lot of sense to me as I work a lot with microcontrollers especially; AVRs and PICs. Some of them have a dedicated part of the FLASH where you can keep code around that runs at system startup. A bootloader. That per example lets the AVRs flashed with an Arduino Bootloader communicate with the PC without the need for a programming device!
So I won't load any itchy software on my new device haha.
An other question I have is:
Are there any disadvantages of having a Chinese ROM other than having to install all Google services manually?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well most of the time stock android is always faster and more stable, be it touchwiz, miui, flyme. Touchwiz for example uses very high resolution icons for the ui, which take up more ram (and make the rom size much bigger, therefore sacrificing internal memory) making the phone more sluggish. Basically roms that aren't stock always have some element to them which is likely to make them slower, or have more bugs, possibly.
Because how can you have a better android rom than pure android? Building upon it is always a good thing, but changing it completely usually results in a not so good experience. These sort of things certainly don't apply to what oneplus do with oxygen os and whatever the stock rom is for motorola phones.
As much I fall in love with this phone but VIVO is totally developer unfriendly.
Due to unavailability of kernel sources third party developers couldn't build any custom aftermarket ROM's.
It’s the opposite from what OnePlus offer.
I will wait 6-9 months we will see many other OEM building same design and feature 3d fingerprint reader under the screen and most important developer friendly.
Even Samsung device it’s very very easy rooting and installing twrp and has plenty of development support with custom rom,tweaks and mod.
This Funtouch OS out of the box Vivo phones is totally not acceptable and DOA to me.
It’s a shame such wonderful device with really bad and closed software.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro
paatha13 said:
As much I fall in love with this phone but VIVO is totally developer unfriendly.
Due to unavailability of kernel sources third party developers couldn't build any custom aftermarket ROM's.
It’s the opposite from what OnePlus offer.
It’s a shame such wonderful device with really bad and closed software.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well dammit then. I came here to check about this, potential availabilty of any custom roms (linegae / RR)
I'm gonna check about others vivo. Thanks for warning
I think I'm sort of hijacking the thread but it's on topic so should be ok ... I hope.
I've never bought a Chinese phone, but this year I will be getting my first Chinese Android device (Vivo or not).
I've rooted phones in the past so not worried about it but is it required to get Google Play Store and framework on the device? Basically I'm asking how does one make this Chinese phone into a Westernized one.
01alim said:
I think I'm sort of hijacking the thread but it's on topic so should be ok ... I hope.
I've never bought a Chinese phone, but this year I will be getting my first Chinese Android device (Vivo or not).
I've rooted phones in the past so not worried about it but is it required to get Google Play Store and framework on the device? Basically I'm asking how does one make this Chinese phone into a Westernized one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Basically you cann install the playstore through the gmail hack. You install gmail via the included chinese store app. Then it will automatically load playstore on the device.
If you pick your seller with care they will have a semi western rom on the phone. I (I posted the link to the seller in the where to buy thread) ordered my vivo nex from a seller who does that. They will have english language, playsore gmail, maps youtube etc preinstalled.
Despite the not open software of the nex just because its sheer popularity there will be custom roms and hacks. You can bet on that! Just not as many of corse.
so not open software is final ?
It's one of many deciding factor for me.
ayamgoreng said:
so not open software is final ?
It's one of many deciding factor for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess noone can say for 100% sure because the phone will start selling just tomorrow. But people with vivo expreince have claimed that the software on vivo phones is generally not very developer friendly.
Even if there won't be custom ROMs I can still have a custom launcher on it.
ayamgoreng said:
so not open software is final ?
It's one of many deciding factor for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Our only hope is for wider spread selling across globe and not only Asia that maximaze possibilities.
As more and more users across globe getting know Vivo then its more possible.
Don't forget Vivo is major sponcored of World Cup 2018 that's major worldwide athletic event and think Vivo has ambition to sell to western world some time(not to far hope)
LOL Meister said:
Basically you cann install the playstore through the gmail hack. You install gmail via the included chinese store app. Then it will automatically load playstore on the device.
If you pick your seller with care they will have a semi western rom on the phone. I (I posted the link to the seller in the where to buy thread) ordered my vivo nex from a seller who does that. They will have english language, playsore gmail, maps youtube etc preinstalled.
Despite the not open software of the nex just because its sheer popularity there will be custom roms and hacks. You can bet on that! Just not as many of corse.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you.
So what's the things we are missing using a semi westernised ROM over a full western ROM?
How are sellers able to get custom ROMs on the phone so early? (Or are they not custom ROMs?).
01alim said:
Thank you.
So what's the things we are missing using a semi westernised ROM over a full western ROM?
How are sellers able to get custom ROMs on the phone so early? (Or are they not custom ROMs?).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think they might have some contracts with Vivo...
Even more proof of that if you look on AliExpress they charge way premium for the devices. I paid 800€ on the 8G 128G version!
I think that there are no disadvantages besides anything regarding their AI tech which will only understand Chinese I think.
Once I am not planning to use that, that's no problem. People claim that the funtouch OS is somewhat unstable but I will test that for myself. The seller I ordered from claims that I will be able to receive over the air updates so they will surely patch things over time.
Remember that if you do not like their OS you can still install a launcher from playstore.
But if any of that holds true, I will see when my phone arrives. The seller claims that they will ship it out over the next 7 days per DHL.
I will update here on my experience, installing launchers, if playstore is there or not etc.
LOL Meister said:
Basically you cann install the playstore through the gmail hack. You install gmail via the included chinese store app. Then it will automatically load playstore on the device.
If you pick your seller with care they will have a semi western rom on the phone. I (I posted the link to the seller in the where to buy thread) ordered my vivo nex from a seller who does that. They will have english language, playsore gmail, maps youtube etc preinstalled.
Despite the not open software of the nex just because its sheer popularity there will be custom roms and hacks. You can bet on that! Just not as many of corse.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
will the gmail hack enable google services like Calender and contact sync also??
When you open the developer options, your phone will keep warning on status bar???
野比君 said:
When you open the developer options, your phone will keep warning on status bar
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you serious??
Btw, do you know if you can eliminate the chinese software that comes pre-installed? And can you configurate everything you need as if it were a "normal western android"? (contacts, calendar sync, emails, etc)
LOL Meister said:
Hey!
I have currently a Vivo NEX on order from AliExpress.
I wonder how fast (if at all) there will be a way to root the device, and most importantly: install Google Play and custom launchers on it.
A custom ROM; something stock like would also be exciting to see soon.
Another question that I have is: will I be able to use the in-display-fingerprintsensor when I install a custom launcher?
I guess that's a very noob question but I really have not much experience with that because this will be my fist phone with a fingerprintsensor at all.
Greeting from Austria!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the Vivo Nex now. Can't use third party launcher unless you sign up for a vivo account which can only be done with a China phone number. This is a new development as I was able to get nova on vivo x21 without account.
Really annoying.
radioraheem2 said:
I have the Vivo Nex now. Can't use third party launcher unless you sign up for a vivo account which can only be done with a China phone number. This is a new development as I was able to get nova on vivo x21 without account.
Really annoying.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for informing! I really hope that someone finds a workaround soon!
Just a note at the side: I don't know about stability but even though the Vivo OS looks a lot like iOS especially for larger phones like that things like the quick draw from the bottom are quite nice features.
DrG0nz0 said:
Are you serious??
Btw, do you know if you can eliminate the chinese software that comes pre-installed? And can you configurate everything you need as if it were a "normal western android"? (contacts, calendar sync, emails, etc)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Also interested in this one, since the phone is available now! Mine will take some time in shipping though.

About to Buy a Pair of Pixel2 on Google FI: Is there anything I need to know?

We're still on a Galaxy S4 and S5 via Verizon
I enjoyed having control over my own phone and loading custom ROMs onto my S4 until the bootloader Apocalypse update Verizon pushed out a few years back.
I've replaced both batteries once, but it looks like I'll need to do it again, and Verizon's basically abandoned these phones now so I think it's time to move on and Verizon can burn in hell.
Is there anything I need to know about the Pixel 2 or FI before I pull the trigger on this?
I realize replacing the battery in these phones isn't a trivial endeavor.
I'm currently doing fine with 16gb of space... So the 64gb model seems huge to me. How much is left after the OS? I just can't imaging needing 128gb. My wife however, seems to be attempting to store the entirety of Facebook and Snap chat locally so... yea.
I'd also like to be able to hide root from some processes so I can run the Outlook app, though I know the tool for that is still in beta.
Oh, and if anyone has any of those promo codes?
Replacing batteries is always tricky with the "new" smartphones and thus more expensive. But it's possible if you plan to use the device for as long as your current devices.
You can hide Root with Magisk. Perfectly working and easy to do. There's a dedicated section for Magisk on XDA.
For Project Fi, I cant help you because I'm from Europe.
Regarding storage: I can't imagine how to fill 64 GB or even 32 GB. But I know people who like to store movies, music and pictures on their phone. I've never used more than 25 GB on any phone.
I'd wait a few more months and get a pair of Pixel 3.
There is nothing really wrong with the Pixel 2 so far.
Having been on Project Fi from 2013 with Nexus 5x, Pixel 2, Pixel. With project Fi installed from Play Store in my experience the Non Google Gapps, Open Gapps, Slix X Gapps all have troubles. Yes permissions can be correctly done, but the dailer codes used by Stores app confirm that only Google based Dialer, Platform, Services will work as the stock Phone Project Fi operations. Appears in switching network providers something hangs. So unless a Custom Rom uses Google App's base in my experience Rom's are not worth using on Project Fi. I've noticed that usually 2 or more current Roms for both Pixel and Pixel 2 use Google Base apps and work fine with Project Fi. It is nice that when you wipe and restore new rom's MOST of the time the previous txt, mms are reinstalled with Google Backup if Messages folder is added too. Nice Feature when moving around various Roms.

Question Unsupported Countries and Root

Hey guys i need your advice.
Tomorrow my Pixel 7 pro arrives and i am living in an unsupported county. I have read a lot of guides about the root etc. i just want to verify that i will be able to use the full features of the device if i rooted....like call screening, 5g etc. and how risky is to be rooted nowdays because last time i root my phone was 10 years ago....if after the mandatory things i don't install any app outside of the store and don't grant access root will my device be safe ? thank you
try hentaios In the latest update it was activated 5g in unsupported countries
m3ath said:
try hentaios In the latest update it was activated 5g in unsupported countries
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HentaiOS for Pixel 7 Pro? Is it on Telegram or another third-party place?
ekin_strops said:
HentaiOS for Pixel 7 Pro? Is it on Telegram or another third-party place?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes for 7 pro and 7
They have a channel in Telegram
I am certainly not an expert. I remember the days of flashing roms. I used to sometimes flash multiple roms a day.
Now most of the features I used to use custom roms for are already in Android.
Also if you have a Pixel you have a pretty clean version of Android.
So I don't really see the point. Maybe in your situation because you are using the phone in an unsupported country you might be able to enable some features but I would think the network bands are hardware based and either your carrier is compatible with the Pixel or not?
IMHO I would not root or install custom software on a brand new phone like a Pixel or other flagship. It generally voids your warranty and if you soft brick the device and can't revive it what do you do? Also with root you have huge security vulnerability. Pixel is supposed to be one of the most secure Android phones so why would you get rid of that benefit?
Also updates would be a pain.
If I had a free cheap phone from a carrier with a crappy version of Android that I would risk rooting and maybe installing a custom ROM but I just don't see the need on a Pixel??
robbbzilla said:
IMHO I would not root or install custom software on a brand new phone like a Pixel or other flagship. It generally voids your warranty and if you soft brick the device and can't revive it what do you do? Also with root you have huge security vulnerability. Pixel is supposed to be one of the most secure Android phones so why would you get rid of that benefit?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) It doesn't void your warranty on the Pixel.
2) Root isn't a security vulnerability in and of itself but the unlocked bootloader can be if someone gets ahold of your phone. Seeing how the filesystem is encrypted though, it's not so much a risk to your data as it is to the person being able to steal the phone easier.
3) Most other phones have largely been locked down so a lot of us get the Pixel *because* it can be rooted.
robbbzilla said:
Also updates would be a pain.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not too bad. Pixel Flasher makes the whole process easy. Plug into the computer, launch Pixel Flasher, download the update, click the patch image button so it makes a Magisk image, select that image, flash. It's all done with a user friendly GUI. While it's not as straightforward as updating directly on the phone, it also installs faster, so it's a worthwhile trade off.
EtherealRemnant said:
1) It doesn't void your warranty on the Pixel.
2) Root isn't a security vulnerability in and of itself but the unlocked bootloader can be if someone gets ahold of your phone. Seeing how the filesystem is encrypted though, it's not so much a risk to your data as it is to the person being able to steal the phone easier.
3) Most other phones have largely been locked down so a lot of us get the Pixel *because* it can be rooted.
Not too bad. Pixel Flasher makes the whole process easy. Plug into the computer, launch Pixel Flasher, download the update, click the patch image button so it makes a Magisk image, select that image, flash. It's all done with a user friendly GUI. While it's not as straightforward as updating directly on the phone, it also installs faster, so it's a worthwhile trade off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good to know. I thought enabling root level privileges would cause system wide insecurity.
As I prefaced my comments I am no expert and it has been a long time since I rooted my phones.
That is why it is good to ask questions and learn about the state of things now.
I didn't know that you could root a Pixel device and not void the warranty. I am used to the Samsung lock down.
Also with Pixel or with previous Nexus device it was always fun to see what new features Google would add in a new update/feature drop so I never felt the need to root a Pixel phone.
However if you like rooting and can do so without much risk then why not? I can see the fun in trying different software and gaining better control over your device.
robbbzilla said:
Good to know. I thought enabling root level privileges would cause system wide insecurity.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seeing how you still have to authorize the use of root and Magisk even has added support for fingerprint verification to do so, it's not much more of a risk than having an unrooted device really.
robbbzilla said:
Also with Pixel or with previous Nexus device it was always fun to see what new features Google would add in a new update/feature drop so I never felt the need to root a Pixel phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You still get this stuff when you're rooted and even on most custom ROMs for Pixel. The only downside comes from apps that don't want to play nice. As long as I can use Google Pay, which I'm able to do after using the SafetyNet fix mod, I don't mind having to use the web browser for a banking app here and there (and right now there's only one that flat out won't work, Security Service FCU, so I'm not too put out by it).
It's a pain in the ass to enable carrier features like VoLTE, VoNR, etc. Pixel features like call screening require phenotype edits, which are also a pain in the ass.
G_Vasi said:
Hey guys i need your advice.
Tomorrow my Pixel 7 pro arrives and i am living in an unsupported county. I have read a lot of guides about the root etc. i just want to verify that i will be able to use the full features of the device if i rooted....like call screening, 5g etc. and how risky is to be rooted nowdays because last time i root my phone was 10 years ago....if after the mandatory things i don't install any app outside of the store and don't grant access root will my device be safe ? thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One bit of warning/caution, I've seen/found a lot of users on this forum who are in other countries (maybe unsupported) biggest issue would be NFC pay & banking apps not working. I personally have only seen a few select apps stated on this forum that can't be launched due to root detection that SafetyNetFix and Zygisk DenyList/Shamiko wasn't able to successfully hide, but there are some -- I myself have Wallet, Gpay, 4 banking apps, Xfinity apps, working while I've discussed with some other users the same banking app not working for them -- that, no matter how much users tried, they were unable to get it working. Supposedly there are combinations of root hiding methods and modules that have blocked mostly all of the stubborn apps, but then there seems to be some apps that merely just having an unlocked bootloader is enough to restrict their use.
So if this might be your situation where you have certain apps (most likely banking) that you can't really live without and/or use daily/frequently but they are known to not run on a rooted & unlocked bootloader device, that's the only real downside to rooting.
Other than that, I believe obtaining root on our device benefits so much far outweighing the risks. If certain things stop working, usually there are workarounds to get them to work or alternatives. If anything, particularly in your case, I don't believe you can get those features of 5G and call screening and camera sound and VPN and whatever other feature is restricted in an unsupported country without root....
So there are them pros & cons...
Thank you for your answers guys.....I also think that pros are more than cons....as far as I know and from the ways I found here my Bank apps will work normally.....and also I found a tutorial here that say it will enable all the Pixel features in unsupported countries so hopefully it will work...if by any case anyone tried it I would like to hear the feedback especially for google screening.

Question Rooting Pixel 7 Pro or Pixel 6 is it worth it?

For starters I apologize for the lack of formatting Ill do my best but I'm not used to posting on forums, but I want to make a informed decision and over the years I have found this is the best place to find the answers I'm looking for.
The First Question
I'm debating with myself on two things. Should I root my Google Pixel 7 Pro (my new daily driver) or My Google Pixel 6 (my previous daily driver)?
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The deciding factors would be​
1. Do I lose tap pay functionality?
I consider this because I rooted Google Pixel 5a and I couldn't figure out for the life of me how to re-enable "secure apps" such as google wallet and banking apps.
In essence I don't want any functionality missing or disabled as a result of rooting and not setting something up properly. If this is avoidable please let me know and shoot me over available resources.
This goes for both phones regardless id like everything to work properly on either phone. I would rather not root the 7 Pro if it meant these types of apps work properly.
2. Are there any benefits or differences when it comes to rooting the 7 Pro vs the 6?
The answers to this question will help me weight the options, for instance if there is a decent enough benefit to rooting the 7 Pro then I might just forgo the "secure apps" mentioned in the last question.
I have been in and out of the rooting scheme for a while now and its hard to get updated with current app, edits, extensions, etc. I wouldn't even know what to look for.... depending on how this post goes Ill probaly make another post to ask what kind of stuff root has to offer these days, but for now if you guys can give me any general but impactful information on the differences/benefit/compatibility of rooting one device or the other, I would be grateful.
3. Which device would be easier to root and consistently update?
Right now I have a ATT carrier locked (I didn't buy it from ATT, I bought it from a used phone store and neither of them can or will unlock it...) Pixel 7 Pro and a T-Mobile (soft unlocked) Pixel 6. I have seen a guide for the Pixel 7 Pro and it seems simple enough, and I'm not to sure about the 6 because as I was looking around I was getting some people saying it is possible and others saying its not. I mainly just want to root either phone and have a simple-ish way to update it.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The Second Question​Is it worth doing?
I know this is mainly a personal preference thing. I like being able to use things like titanium backup, or quick switch, or substrate themes, etc. I am heavily into customization and a lot of things can't be customized the way Id like to be able to. On top of that the ability to hyper configure the device to do exactly what you want when you want is exactly what I want.
This question is mainly to get a properly list of pro's and cons, so I can further weight my options.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Thats the end for this post
If you guys don't mind with your guy's answers if you could post some updated resources I can look at for root apps and tweaks that would be great.
Thank you for helping me figure this out, and if you didn't or don't want to that's fine too, I'm just glad somebody read this xD.​
It seems like chatgpt is striking again. You asked it a question and it posted it? The links for rooting and what you can do are on page one. You see the awkward wording, ufff.
Kai2150 said:
1. Do I lose tap pay functionality?​
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. P7P rooted here, tap-to-pay works. You will of course need USNF mod by Displax and Shamiko.
Kai2150 said:
2. Are there any benefits or differences when it comes to rooting the 7 Pro vs the 6?​
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't own the P6P so I can't compare, but P7P has a newer chip and I would be inclined to use it as my daily driver.
Kai2150 said:
3. Which device would be easier to root and consistently update?​
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Both should be equally easy using PixelFlasher. Keep in mind that P7P patches init_boot.img and not boot.img. You'll find that explained in details in the relevant PixelFlasher thread(s).
Kai2150 said:
Is it worth doing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AdAway / AdGuard
AOSP Mods (since you're into customisations)
Better Internet Tiles
Mixplorer
Repainter
SD Maid
SmartHertz
Substratum Lite
Swift Backup (best replacement for Titanium Backup)
Termux
Themer
Warden (to kill all app trackers in one go)
You decide.
wangdaning said:
It seems like chatgpt is striking again. You asked it a question and it posted it? The links for rooting and what you can do are on page one. You see the awkward wording, ufff.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No i wrote that all my self lol
Fishawy said:
No. P7P rooted here, tap-to-pay works. You will of course need USNF mod by Displax and Shamiko.
I don't own the P6P so I can't compare, but P7P has a newer chip and I would be inclined to use it as my daily driver.
Both should be equally easy using PixelFlasher. Keep in mind that P7P patches init_boot.img and not boot.img. You'll find that explained in details in the relevant PixelFlasher thread(s).
AdAway / AdGuard
AOSP Mods (since you're into customisations)
Better Internet Tiles
Mixplorer
Repainter
SD Maid
SmartHertz
Substratum Lite
Swift Backup (best replacement for Titanium Backup)
Termux
Themer
Warden (to kill all app trackers in one go)
You decide.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alright you make a good case, could you link me to the various pages with the information for both the PixelFlasher and the above apps/modules
Fishawy said:
No. P7P rooted here, tap-to-pay works. You will of course need USNF mod by Displax and Shamiko.
I don't own the P6P so I can't compare, but P7P has a newer chip and I would be inclined to use it as my daily driver.
Both should be equally easy using PixelFlasher. Keep in mind that P7P patches init_boot.img and not boot.img. You'll find that explained in details in the relevant PixelFlasher thread(s).
AdAway / AdGuard
AOSP Mods (since you're into customisations)
Better Internet Tiles
Mixplorer
Repainter
SD Maid
SmartHertz
Substratum Lite
Swift Backup (best replacement for Titanium Backup)
Termux
Themer
Warden (to kill all app trackers in one go)
You decide.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you know if I can unroot? Like say i cant get the banking apps to work and want to go back could I unroot and get access to those apps back?
Kai2150 said:
Do you know if I can unroot? Like say i cant get the banking apps to work and want to go back could I unroot and get access to those apps back?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Root
Pixel Flasher
Universal SafetyNet Fix
AdAway
AOSP Mods
The rest can be found here on XDA or on Play Store.
Not sure about unroot since I don't need it, perhaps a bit of a read in P7P forum here can help.
Reflash stock init_boot.img and you will be unrooted. Depending, you might have to do a factory reset and bootloader relock. It really depends on the apps and such.
Kai2150 said:
For starters I apologize for the lack of formatting Ill do my best but I'm not used to posting on forums, but I want to make a informed decision and over the years I have found this is the best place to find the answers I'm looking for.
The First Question
I'm debating with myself on two things. Should I root my Google Pixel 7 Pro (my new daily driver) or My Google Pixel 6 (my previous daily driver)?
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The deciding factors would be​
1. Do I lose tap pay functionality?
I consider this because I rooted Google Pixel 5a and I couldn't figure out for the life of me how to re-enable "secure apps" such as google wallet and banking apps.
In essence I don't want any functionality missing or disabled as a result of rooting and not setting something up properly. If this is avoidable please let me know and shoot me over available resources.
This goes for both phones regardless id like everything to work properly on either phone. I would rather not root the 7 Pro if it meant these types of apps work properly.
2. Are there any benefits or differences when it comes to rooting the 7 Pro vs the 6?
The answers to this question will help me weight the options, for instance if there is a decent enough benefit to rooting the 7 Pro then I might just forgo the "secure apps" mentioned in the last question.
I have been in and out of the rooting scheme for a while now and its hard to get updated with current app, edits, extensions, etc. I wouldn't even know what to look for.... depending on how this post goes Ill probaly make another post to ask what kind of stuff root has to offer these days, but for now if you guys can give me any general but impactful information on the differences/benefit/compatibility of rooting one device or the other, I would be grateful.
3. Which device would be easier to root and consistently update?
Right now I have a ATT carrier locked (I didn't buy it from ATT, I bought it from a used phone store and neither of them can or will unlock it...) Pixel 7 Pro and a T-Mobile (soft unlocked) Pixel 6. I have seen a guide for the Pixel 7 Pro and it seems simple enough, and I'm not to sure about the 6 because as I was looking around I was getting some people saying it is possible and others saying its not. I mainly just want to root either phone and have a simple-ish way to update it.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The Second Question​Is it worth doing?
I know this is mainly a personal preference thing. I like being able to use things like titanium backup, or quick switch, or substrate themes, etc. I am heavily into customization and a lot of things can't be customized the way Id like to be able to. On top of that the ability to hyper configure the device to do exactly what you want when you want is exactly what I want.
This question is mainly to get a properly list of pro's and cons, so I can further weight my options.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Thats the end for this post
If you guys don't mind with your guy's answers if you could post some updated resources I can look at for root apps and tweaks that would be great.
Thank you for helping me figure this out, and if you didn't or don't want to that's fine too, I'm just glad somebody read this xD.​
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just a note/thought...
I'm not entirely sure you'll be able to root either device (Pixel 6 or P7P)...carrier variant Pixel's are notoriously inconsistent (& sometimes just as difficult) to get the bootloader unlocked -- which is necessary to root. Apparently, carriers vary -- Verizon is a nonstarter and is for the most part impossible -- and, from what I've seen around the forum here, a lot of the times you'll need to pay off the device fully to get the carrier to send the signal to SIM unlock your device which will get the OEM unlock tick enabled (another necessity to root). You've stated that AT&T already has given you a hard time and has yet to unlock it, and from what I recall AT&T is similar in T-Mo that you must get it SIM unlocked -- so if they won't get that far, your options might be limited in terms of the Pixel 7 Pro that is an AT&T variant. In a lot of cases for T-Mobile, speaking them through Twitter support and/or regular customer service support can get them to send that signal that will SIM unlock (depending on what you tell them; i.e. you are a developer and require for it to be unlocked, you are traveling internationally and need to input another SIM temporarily, etc.); I'm unsure if you can do the same for AT&T.
Another note/thought is that, after rooting, updating isn't too difficult, BUT it is not as easy as using the built-in System Update process. Using the tool PixelFlasher makes it very straightforward and basically is almost the closest way to have a one-click update method, but it isn't as easy. BUT it is DEFINITELY faster than updating via OTA using the built-in System Update process (3-5 minutes vs. 20+ minutes)!
Lastly, be aware that in order to root, you must unlock your bootloader, and when you unlock your bootloader, it is required that your device is wiped -- since you speak as if you've used both devices at least a fair amount (moreso your Pixel 6 as it's been your daily driver for a while now), I'm sure there is also a fair amount of data and customizations on there that you will now have to re-enter, re-setup, re-transfer, re-download, and the like...
Just some thoughts that you might want to keep in mind...good luck to you!
simplepinoi177 said:
Just a note/thought...
I'm not entirely sure you'll be able to root either device (Pixel 6 or P7P)...carrier variant Pixel's are notoriously inconsistent (& sometimes just as difficult) to get the bootloader unlocked -- which is necessary to root. Apparently, carriers vary -- Verizon is a nonstarter and is for the most part impossible -- and, from what I've seen around the forum here, a lot of the times you'll need to pay off the device fully to get the carrier to send the signal to SIM unlock your device which will get the OEM unlock tick enabled (another necessity to root). You've stated that AT&T already has given you a hard time and has yet to unlock it, and from what I recall AT&T is similar in T-Mo that you must get it SIM unlocked -- so if they won't get that far, your options might be limited in terms of the Pixel 7 Pro that is an AT&T variant. In a lot of cases for T-Mobile, speaking them through Twitter support and/or regular customer service support can get them to send that signal that will SIM unlock (depending on what you tell them; i.e. you are a developer and require for it to be unlocked, you are traveling internationally and need to input another SIM temporarily, etc.); I'm unsure if you can do the same for AT&T.
Another note/thought is that, after rooting, updating isn't too difficult, BUT it is not as easy as using the built-in System Update process. Using the tool PixelFlasher makes it very straightforward and basically is almost the closest way to have a one-click update method, but it isn't as easy. BUT it is DEFINITELY faster than updating via OTA using the built-in System Update process (3-5 minutes vs. 20+ minutes)!
Lastly, be aware that in order to root, you must unlock your bootloader, and when you unlock your bootloader, it is required that your device is wiped -- since you speak as if you've used both devices at least a fair amount (moreso your Pixel 6 as it's been your daily driver for a while now), I'm sure there is also a fair amount of data and customizations on there that you will now have to re-enter, re-setup, re-transfer, re-download, and the like...
Just some thoughts that you might want to keep in mind...good luck to you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I spent the entire night I made this post trying to bypass the OEM lock and that morning called the providers and neither of them can unlock it, which is BS cause I'm not the person who didn't pay their bill. I'm just going to wait until someone finds a work around, if y'all figure something out lemme know.
I do not even need a smartphone without root rights !!
We should push legislation so that Google will must include root access by default in the settings for any Android device !!
Kai2150 said:
Yeah I spent the entire night I made this post trying to bypass the OEM lock and that morning called the providers and neither of them can unlock it, which is BS cause I'm not the person who didn't pay their bill. I'm just going to wait until someone finds a work around, if y'all figure something out lemme know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry to hear that...but it is as I feared...
Unfortunately you shouldn't hold your breath. Locked down Pixels are fairly notorious about not being able to bypass; Verizon has locked down every Pixel since the original, with bounties $4k+ offering to bypass/unlock, all without success -- I'm unsure if there was ever one with other carriers. The only time there was a "work around" was with the original Pixel seven years ago, which was patched within a month or two. There hasn't been one since...
simplepinoi177 said:
Sorry to hear that...but it is as I feared...
Unfortunately you shouldn't hold your breath. Locked down Pixels are fairly notorious about not being able to bypass; Verizon has locked down every Pixel since the original, with bounties $4k+ offering to bypass/unlock, all without success -- I'm unsure if there was ever one with other carriers. The only time there was a "work around" was with the original Pixel seven years ago, which was patched within a month or two. There hasn't been one since...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah outta the 4 Pixels I own, Pixel 7 Pro, Pixel 6, Pixel 5a, and the Pixel 4, the only one that i can root is the pixel 5a which is annoying because it has lower specs and Refresh rate. The Pixel 7 Pro is locked to ATT bought through a third party and they said since i dont know the person who bought it and because there is a balance owed on the device there is no way to unlock it. The Pixel 6 is locked to Sprint/T-Mobile same situation as the P7P, and the 4 is Verizon locked and they said they dont even have it in their system, so yet again no way for me to get it unlocked.
I'm going out on a limb and gonna say there is likely no way to get these unlocked right now but if anyone see's this and knows of a way to convice these people at these companies to unlock the phones let me know cause as of right now i think it is impossible to get the phones unlocked via an unlock service or a program
Kai2150 said:
Yeah outta the 4 Pixels I own, Pixel 7 Pro, Pixel 6, Pixel 5a, and the Pixel 4, the only one that i can root is the pixel 5a which is annoying because it has lower specs and Refresh rate. The Pixel 7 Pro is locked to ATT bought through a third party and they said since i dont know the person who bought it and because there is a balance owed on the device there is no way to unlock it. The Pixel 6 is locked to Sprint/T-Mobile same situation as the P7P, and the 4 is Verizon locked and they said they dont even have it in their system, so yet again no way for me to get it unlocked.
I'm going out on a limb and gonna say there is likely no way to get these unlocked right now but if anyone see's this and knows of a way to convice these people at these companies to unlock the phones let me know cause as of right now i think it is impossible to get the phones unlocked via an unlock service or a program
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It seems that if you are interested & fine with getting 3rd party second-hand devices, places like Swappa.com is a great place to purchase that you can be sure is global unlocked/no-carrier-variant and has checks/redundancies/ways-of-confirming that the device being sold is legit; if anything you should be able to message the seller and ask for the IMEI so you can check with all the carriers to see if the device is free and clear in their systems...
If this is where you bought your devices and/or you know of this place, you can please disregard the suggestion

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