Below is a compilation of several of my posts regarding root questions. Just thought I'd put them all in one place and what better place than here.
Should I root?
Don't root because it is the thing to do, root because you need to or want to. You don't have to root to be cool.
As you get comfortable with your phone, you may find that the one thing that would make it perfect is only possible if you are rooted. You may then decide to go down the rabbit hole. I would recommend checking out the All Things Root subforum for your phone and see what others are doing. See if what they are accomplishing with root would make your phone better for you.
Why did I root the first time?
I had an OG Droid (circa 2010) and it was awesome. I thought I had everything needed and wanted. The thing is, I got it right around the time Froyo came out and was waiting patiently for the update, and waiting, and waiting, and waiting
. This was before carrier updates became a joke, we just expected them.
So, I started poking around different android sites (mostly here and droid-life). Looking (studying) at the all things root forum (I was scared poopless to brick my phone
). I saw that people had been running Froyo for months. Then I started seeing themes for the roms and that pushed me over the edge. I jumped down the rabbit hole and haven't looked back.
I constantly had the latest and greatest on that device. My phone was customized for me (icons/colors/dialers) and when I got bored with the look and feel, I changed it. It was like being able to have a whole new phone every few months (OK, few days when I first started) without the hassle of, you know, a new phone.
OK, I decided I want to root, now what?
As far as rooting an Android phone, I would recommend reading about many different ways here and on other forums(and I don't like recommending other forums, but in this case I do). Sometimes other folks explain the process in a way that is easier for you to understand. Make sure you follow every instruction to a tee.
Get familiar with ways to restore your phone. Bricking one's phone during the root process is usually caused by getting to a point where somehow what is happening is different than the instructions, and you push forward anyway. If you see something during the process you aren't comfortable with, stop, come back here and ask questions or check the threads to see if someone else has seen the problem. For example, when I rooted my GNex it was a batch file I ran through ADB. I had read the threads extensively and saw that occasionally it would hang and that if it did, do a battery pull and reboot and I would be fine. I was prepared for that and when it happened, I knew what to do. If you get stuck, have a question that you can't find a thread for, or aren't finding an answer that you understand, fire up a new thread and you'll get help. I know myself, and I may be speaking for many others, are enthusiasts and enjoy talking about Android and helping out new adopters.
What about my warranty?
Rooting voids your warranty. Make no mistake about it. I have rooted 4 of the 7 android devices I own knowing full well that the ones I rooted would not be covered under warranty. I carry insurance on all of my devices as that covers any problem regardless if I root (like when my wife dropped her phone in the toilet). This comes at a monthly cost and a per incedent deductable, but does protect me if I go too far with something. I would rather pay $80 to replace a $600-$700 phone instead of committing fraud. My ethics and my own personal paranoia don't allow me to do that.
(SGSII)
) X2 ATR area. Unrooted and went back to stock after a few weeks.. never did flash a ROM.