Hi,
I am looking to switch from my iphone to the mytouch 4g. I have been doing a bunch of research about rooting, stock, and various other android topics. Here are a few questions I have. Is it true that stock android is "best" to use w/an android phone. Can you get stock on a MT4G? Is it possible to permaroot w/out connecting to my computer and if not how can I root using my mac? Is theMT4G worth rooting? Would it just be better to get the g2? Will the genius button capabilities be lost w/a root? I realize that there are a bunch of questions here so thanks for any and all help. I am a soon to be new android user and would appreciate any guidance through what seems like an insurmountable amount of information in this community.
whether stock android is 'best' is, obviously, a matter of opinion...but I personally like Sense UI and prefer it over stock/vanilla android. I think stock is boring. but that's just my take..
i believe you can root and flash a ROM onto the phone that is basically 'stock' but not 100% sure ... i haven't gotten into that world yet. since the phone is still so new - it seems the ROMs that are currently out are still in their infancy and since this is my first android phone (Iphone convert also) - I think I'll wait until there are more choices and things are a bit more stable before I go thru the trouble.
not sure about permaroot without connection to a computer - however the only step I believe you need is the initial step of downloading the .zip file with visionARY and then all you have to do is connect it via USB and drop the .apk file into your SD card .. yes it works on a mac - I'm on a macbook running snow leopard. it's super simple. after the .apk file is your phone - everything else is done natively on the phone as far as i know (i've only temp-rooted .. i haven't permarooted yet..still on the fence)
the 'is it worth rooting' is a hard one to answer also..depends on your needs/etc. coming from an iphone myself - i've been more than happy with all the options/customization that the non-rooted mytouch4g has ... now that said - i just yesterday temp-rooted and installed Titanium so that I could 'freeze' all the bloatware that comes on the phone (freezing basically takes the app out of the app drawer and keeps it from running/being accessed by the system...so no CPU/RAM being used anymore...i froze all the game demos, the amazon music app, the yahoo crap, the tmobile app-pack, etc) .. the phone is running even snappier now (it was lightning fast before) and i'm expecting some improved battery life also now...though i wasn't having that much of an issue before since i keep the phone in 2G/edge while i'm at home with wifi on to save battery.
i think the mytouch is a lot better than the g2 .. at least for me personally. i don't like physical keyboards - i can type a lot faster with the virtual keyboards. swype is great. plus the mt4g has more RAM and a 2nd general snapdragon processor. there have been a lot of complains about the hinge on the physical keyboards on the g2's also. plus again, I prefer Sense UI/Espresso over the stock/vanilla android. Also the g2 doesn't have a front facing camera.
genius button capabilities are not lost with root ... however a lot of people, including me, prefer the google voice search vs genius and rooting allows you to 'remap' the genius button to activate whatever app you want.
bottom line - this phone is a BEAST. i came from an iPhone and couldn't be happier. the phone is lightning fast. they just came out with some benchmarks the other day and this phone smoked the Nexus S in several categories ... considering the S is running a stock android OS and has 2.3/gingerbread - it's pretty remarkable.
grab one - i doubt you'll regret it.
