Why I haven't Rooted

WookieClaws

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First off I love my GNex; it's a great phone and works well for me. It's also stock and running 4.0.4 and that update made this phone rock in my opinion. I also have a WiFi Xoom and seeing 4.1.1 on it makes me want it on my GNex. Inevitably complaints about updates from VZW get comments from people that say "root" and that generally leads to "that's what this phone was made for". So I thought I'd talk to why I personally haven't rooted my GNex.
  1. I've never rooted a phone. Big learning curve and it's a bit scary. What if my hardware goes bad and I'm stuck with a brick and no longer have a warranty. I have the protection plan and would hate to lose out on a cheaper replacement if something happens. Up to this point EVERY phone I've owned has had to be replaced at some point. I will also say that my GNex has lasted longer than any phone I've owned.
    1. I did some research on rooting and I think I'm technically inclined enough to do it successfully.
  2. I actually like the stock experience. Sure I might enjoy a custom ROM even more and the geek in me wonders what more this phone can do. But the stock experience gets me the functionality I want/need.
  3. There are lots of ROM's to choose from, and lots of variations of radio's etc. I'm not sure I want to bounce around all off those options to find the one that works for me.
Now with all that said will I ever try rooting? It's very likely. If I were to get a replacement GNex I would seriously have to think about at least unlocking the bootloader first off so I had an easier option to root down the road if I chose too (I wish I would have understood what that meant when I bought my phone and how easy it was as I would now do it first thing). Right now unlocking my bootloader means reseting my phone and losing all my music etc. Playlists too (though I'm hoping I can back them up from PowerAMP and not have to create them again).
 

dezymond

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1. Taking the big step in rooting can be scary, it was for me with my OG Droid. After that though, no doubt in my mind that my future Android phones would be rooted. If you want the easy way out, you can use Wug's Toolkit. I used it just for fun and it keeps things real simple with step by step instructions.

2. Yes stock is great, but I needed more out of my Nexus so I chose to root and ROM. Gets the phone the way I want it and still gives me that nice vanilla android feel. Whatever works for you man.

3. Options is what makes Android awesome. We all can have the same phone, but run different ROMs and setups (take that iPhone). There are a handful of top devs and all their ROMs are great, but it's a matter of personal choice like when you first picked up your Nexus over the other phones on display.

And just to ease your mind, it's very easy to return your phone back to factory settings and erase all traces of root. All this can be accomplished with Wug's Toolkit as well and I'm sure that option is available with any other Gnex toolkit, should you choose that route.

edit: I'm not trying to pressure you into rooting, just addressing your concerns. If you are happy with stock, then I'm happy for you.
 
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Durandgir

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Root is a great thing. I remember I didn't want to root my OG droid for the reasons you listed. But I wanted gingerbread.so I did it anyways.if you are happy with stock I would probably wait it out and see if Verizon stops being a jerk with updates.I recently just unrooted I got a little bored of it.I was tinkering too much. So far I honestly don't miss it. Its all opinion if you don't feel like you need root then you don't have too.
 

syndicate0017

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Also, even if your hardware goes bad (like your usb port) you can still get back to stock and locked bootloader. Losing warranty is of no concern.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
 

tgyberg

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If you are curious and do want to take yer shot at hacking, this is the perfect phone for it. Pretty much no matter what you do, you can get it back to stock. I for one love the little things that devs put in to roms that make it stock + better! Hold the power button down for the "reboot" option. Being able to set up several targets to go to right from the lock screen. Pull down menu toggles. Great stuff and very worth the time to learn how to do it imo!
 

pool_shark

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Rooting shouldn't be scary, rooting doesn't change much. It can get scary when you start flashing ROMs.

I have rooted every Android phone I've owned, not once did I have even the smallest issue.
The Nexus is the first one one I've used to install a custom ROM, and it was a breeze.

As to the warranty issue, I have read countless times that someone has returned their rooted device or sent it in for repairs and Verizon didn't even check it. Of course that doesn't mean they never do.
 

drew96dawg

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I didn't want to root at first for fear of bricking but once I did it I saw what an amazing thing it is to have root access. You can change nearly anything you don't like. For example I wasn't a huge fan of the blue signal bars so using rom toolbox I changed them to orange to help my phone better reflect my personal tastes.:)

Sent from my DROID2 using Xparent Blue Tapatalk 2
 

pilot25

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Rooting is no biggie on the Nexus. Very difficult to brick it. That being said, using a mac to do it is challenging. Yes I know, Apple blah blah blah....

Custom ROMs really make it like you have a new phone every time they update their builds. There are pains though as many of the ROMs are un-polished constant revolving works that don't get tested like Google will do with it's updates.

Go ahead and root.
 
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