Are we Dead Yet (Root Users)?

[Narsil]

Owning a phone without root is like owning a PC without Admin rights. I cannot fathom why anyone would voluntarily own a computer over which they do not have control.

 

[liftedplane]

they can offer these features all they want but telling me I cannot do what I want on my phone will never work.

that's like telling me I can't install linux on my laptop because I bought it from bestbuy and they don't like it.

I install what I want on my devices... that's my prerogative not theirs and it's not their place to tell me.

that's why I believe root needs to still exist.

 

[misteruplink]

I'm on Note 3 running Beans 2 still an extremely stable rom. unlimited data on Verizon life is still very good 4 me !

 

[pc747]

but telling me I cannot do what I want on my phone will never work.

Playing devil's advocate; that is where I feel OEMS went wrong. They spent so much time and effort putting up barriers and that made people want to root more. Load up the phone with features, specs, and whatnot and people will not even bother to want to root.
Even of those rooted in this thread, we are down to the main reason left to root is to remove ads (minus those who still ROM).

A year ago I created a similar thread and the main reasons people rooted I listed in the op (minus ads). Not saying I would ever say give up root or stop pushing for development devices like the Nexus, but year after year the voices are getting quieter. And unlike previous years when asked why I rooted and responded with a passionate list of reasons, I am now left asking myself the same question only to realize the list has decreased. Before, the trump card was that you could make your android device better by rooting. But now I can not say that. Look I am not saying that roms and stuff are not cool to play with. But those who rom know the game and know that for every good rom there are several that might as well be alpha and beta builds that are passed as stable. For the hardcore that is ok but that is not something I would recommend to someone new to android. Plus, what you give up by rooting (various apps not working, potential voiding of warranty, soft bricking a device) the rewards are barely (if at all) outweighing the risks or time and effort used to root/rom/keep up with the latest rom build (that was what did it in for me with roms, I no longer had the time to continue to follow the latest builds and what they broke/fixed/broke).

Honestly, to those that Rom. Are you really getting more battery life (I mean significantly more and not just an hour or 2) that you go....man I would not have gotten through my day today if it was not for rom/kernel ______ (well maybe if you are rocking a Samsung device then maybe)?

Or the speed this rom offers is really noticeable, even over the built in settings in Google's development settings of dropping the speeds to .25?

It's like getting a new Nissan GT-R and feeling the need to modify it. You modify it because you just want to tinker with something but the reality is the modifications made is most likely insignificant because the car you bought was already a beast. To me that is a good thing because finally the manufacturers listened and gave us a beast from stock vs a pup we had to mold.


I am glad we have people who still root and like you I feel like they would have to pry SU permissions from my cold dead hands. But I realize that in less than two years we will be passing out t-shirts that says "SU 4 life" so that people will not forget how far android has come because of the rooting and development community. And in 2 years rooting will be met with more people saying "I remember doing that back in the day" and a generation of members who will have no clue what root was or what it did for android. People will use their new devices and will never know that that neat new feature they are using was developed years ago by small time developer who spent many sleepless nights perfecting it for his ROM only to have people praise Samsung/Google/Apple/(other OEM) for their innovation in putting it in their latest phone.

 

[pc747]

Forgot my picture of a GT-R,

let me fix that for you.

 

[Miller6386]

When I got my first Android. (Thunderbolt) my sole reason for rooting was to get wireless tether.. As the time went on Romming and themes really came into to play... But now as I have "grown" I found root not really necessary. I did miss adblock but found a work around for that.. The only other thing that bugs me is no being able to fully remove all the bloat. I feel as though this is my phone I should have control over it the way I want... Does the bloat really bother me....? No but it's more the principle of the matter... If GM tried to sell me a car with a TON of crap I didn't want they would find or offer a way to remove what I didn't want... I am the consumer and what I want should be the driving force in what the producers produce.

 

[pc747]

So that people who find this thread through search engine can be enlightened, those that root list your reasons and how you achieve that (ie theme-use X theme), and those who found a work around (ie for aware) without rooting post the work around.

Thx

 

[akhenax]

Just read my signature and you know where I stand on this issue.

+1 for Xposed (no need for ROMs).

 

[pc747]

Still Beta as of August 17th

Must be a stable beta as I am seeing many on here using it. And with Marshmallow around the corner they might be in beta again.

 

[Jonny Kansas]

Owning a phone without root is like owning a PC without Admin rights. I cannot fathom why anyone would voluntarily own a computer over which they do not have control.

While I get what you're saying, I don't think that's a very good comparison when you look at the consumer base as a whole. With the exception of folks like us here on these forums, the average computer user isn't digging under the hood in the way that root users do here. Your standard PC user isn't overclocking the CPU or doing any number of other things that would equate to what the "average" root user does with these phones.

 

[akhenax]

While I get what you're saying, I don't think that's a very good comparison when you look at the consumer base as a whole. With the exception of folks like us here on these forums, the average computer user isn't digging under the hood in the way that root users do here. Your standard PC user isn't overclocking the CPU or doing any number of other things that would equate to what the "average" root user does with these phones.

That same standard PC user wants to install software that didn't come preinstalled on the PC or uninstall software that's taking too much space on the HD. In order to do so, they need administrator rights.

Maybe their memory has gone bad, and they want to upgrade RAM. They might need to password to the BIOS to install new RAM.

 

[bkdodger]

I don't root for better battery.. I feel any stock phone can run better rooted with development.. It's just that simple to me.. You have stock Nexus 6.. It runs great ... But with root and small tweaks it's just smoother.. It's not a placebo.. You might not get better battery.. Though I can definitely achieve it... But you will run smoother.. What Google or a manufacturer have in mind is just better when our developers get their hands on it.. Most these guys should be working for Google.. It's a list of all Stars..
Yeah you can get a great experience stock...but why not add to it IMO for peeps like myself there is no other way we want it..

NexusSix

 

[Batman8]

I can't speak for the rest of you, but I have ALWAYS rooted ALL of my Android devices (from my OG Droid, Droid-X, Droid Bionic, Galaxy S3 and all of my Note series). Not only so I could run some of the best software that requires root in order to fully have control over all aspects of Andriod, but since many of the HD games for Android are now over 2GB easily, there is no way to store all that data internally for more than a handful of games! The ONLY way to have games read their data files from an SDcard instead of from internal storage is to ROOT and then run an app like "Directory Bind" or "FolderMount" so that the phone/tablet now looks at external data like it's still internal data. So if a device can't be rooted, I won't even consider it. Therefore, obviously I was extremely pissed to see that Samsung has now screwed us with the new Note 5 which doesn't even have an SDcard slot so they have completely turned their backs on HD gamers continuing to buy the series. 32GB of total memory is a complete joke!! I have a Note 2, Note 3 and Note 10.1 and was very excited to buy the new Note 5 until hearing what Sammy did to it this time around. So now the Note series is out of the question, and I guess I'll have to find a new OEM that actually cares about the mobile gaming community, and start buying their phones from now on.

I carry a good 35 to 50 HD games on my phones and tablets at all times, along with a wide variety of music and movies. Combine that with the fact that Titanium Backup has saved my life several times, concludes that I absolutely can not live without root! ROOTING IS NOT DEAD, and for some of us it is absolutely necessary.

 

[techinv]

I root to run custom ROM/kernel combinations for responsiveness, better battery, more flexibility. This is on Nexus 5. Root lives on!!

 

[Amagine]

I usually root to install Cyanogen. Especially if its a TouchWhiz phone.