Droid for my Dad - Concerns

[Kuonji]

Hey all,

My dad is deciding between a DroidX and an Incredible. Whichever he chooses I'd want to customize it and potentially root it for him to make it run nice and smooth without bloat, etc. I'm worried, though, that an OTA update would ruin his day unexpectedly.

Is it possible to configure the phone that is running a custom rom and rooted to never accept or even attempt to search for OTA updates? Or do you not even get prompted for one unless you go to the menu and check for the update?

 

[gunz.jones]

If modded it won't update. It's built into the os.

Sent from my DROID2 using DroidForums App

 

[Kuonji]

So it will say the update failed, but it won't 'break' the phone other than that? I was not sure if it would attempt to update and boot-loop the phone or something.

If the update fails because it is on a custom rom or whatever, will it keep trying to update constantly or not try again for a long time?

 

[eriscrazy]

when u install a custom rom it disables OTA updates so that it does not even scan for a update. Most of the devs disable OTA period lol

Sent from my FroyoEris using DroidForums App

 

[hookbill]

So it will say the update failed, but it won't 'break' the phone other than that? I was not sure if it would attempt to update and boot-loop the phone or something.

If the update fails because it is on a custom rom or whatever, will it keep trying to update constantly or not try again for a long time?

Does your dad want the phone rooted? Have you discussed with him the fact that rooting voids the phones warranty?

I understand wanting the benefits of rooting, but you sound like getting an update is a bad thing. It isn't, I've had a D1 and now a D2. My D2 has the latest update and is rooted, my D1 is not rooted and it has the latest update. I've never had any issues with any updates.

Some updates are mandatory and that means that you will continually be asked to update unless the ROM you have installed has something that will stop it. In some cases accepting the update and having it fail is the solution.

 

[Kuonji]

So it will say the update failed, but it won't 'break' the phone other than that? I was not sure if it would attempt to update and boot-loop the phone or something.

If the update fails because it is on a custom rom or whatever, will it keep trying to update constantly or not try again for a long time?

Does your dad want the phone rooted? Have you discussed with him the fact that rooting voids the phones warranty?

I understand wanting the benefits of rooting, but you sound like getting an update is a bad thing. It isn't, I've had a D1 and now a D2. My D2 has the latest update and is rooted, my D1 is not rooted and it has the latest update. I've never had any issues with any updates.

Some updates are mandatory and that means that you will continually be asked to update unless the ROM you have installed has something that will stop it. In some cases accepting the update and having it fail is the solution.

The decision will ultimately be his. There are pros and cons to it, and I'm making sure he understands them. But the OTA updates, and how they are handled is an area I was not sure about, which is why I posed the question.

Getting updates isn't a bad thing, inherently. But it can be an issue to some degree if your phone is missing applications (bloat) that the update needs in place in order to be applied.

As a side note, which will help him decide what is best, are there any Wireless Tethering applications available that are not the $20 per month version or a version that requires root?

Thank you for everyone who has helped so far.

 

[Brandonovich]

IMHO it is a bad idea to have a rooted phone with a custom ROM if the person who is using it all the time is not able to do these things by themselves. You are going to end up out of town or something and his phone will get stuck in a boot loop or be unable to update Google Maps (eternally and with no solution like my phone) and there will be no one to help him out. After I got my Droid, everyone I work with got one too, but I rooted my and not theirs for exactly this reason. Theirs run smoothly for what they do with stock software, and they can take it in to a Verizon store if they have a problem and I am not around. Someone without the tech knowledge to root a phone will probably not even notice the difference between a rooted and non rooted phone. My two cents.

 

[Card]

I'm of the opinion that you should really think twice about rooting his phone if he isn't fully aware of what rooting is and how it affects everything.

For example, are you going to be around all the time in case something goes wrong? Suppose you (or your dad) is out of town for a week, and the phone bricks somehow. Will he know how to fix it, or will he unknowingly just take it to a VZW store? My first D1 died all of a sudden when I was out of town for the Christmas holiday last year. If I had someone else root or modify it, I would have been at a complete loss if I didn't know what someone did to my phone.