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To root or not to root?

CrimsonToker

CrimsonToker

Android Expert
So this is something I've looked into a few times with different phones, but have so far not yet done. I like the idea of full customization, but I am still learning tech, so I still don't fully understand the pros and cons of rooting. The reason I am considering it again is because I would love to play with Google Now. Can I get some thoughts from the community? Pros cons?:rolleyes:
 
Well, right now or options are limited. No custom ROMs and no recovery. Rooting is perfectly safe, but you have to be careful what you do once rooted since there is no safety net right now.

That being said, rooting will allow you to use Xposed, Greenify, and many other tweaking and customization apps.
 
i dont see the point lol, LG locked down this bootloader so no recoveries or custom kernels. And god knows when/if there will ever be another exploit to bypass the bootloader.
 
chevanlol360 said:
i dont see the point lol, LG locked down this bootloader so no recoveries or custom kernels. And god knows when/if there will ever be another exploit to bypass the bootloader.
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Greenify benefits from root. You need root to make backups and remove bloat. Cleaning apps can't clean system areas without root. Tweaking and customizing is out of the question without root. Free tethering requires root. Yeah, there's no point at all. :p
 
So basically, what I'm gathering here is that I still have the latest and greatest and it's too new to mod? That's still a win for me. What if I wanted to overclock it a little, increase my non-high speed data speeds? Would that be ill advised since I probably can't do the backup?
 
bg4m3r said:
Greenify benefits from root. You need root to make backups and remove bloat. Cleaning apps can't clean system areas without root. Tweaking and customizing is out of the question without root. Free tethering requires root. Yeah, there's no point at all. :p
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Rooting certainly has its perks when it comes to stuff other than Roms and kernels but be careful of what you do. Too much tweaking/bloatware removal and you might end up with a worthless phone:rolleyes:
 
CrimsonToker said:
So this is something I've looked into a few times with different phones, but have so far not yet done. I like the idea of full customization, but I am still learning tech, so I still don't fully understand the pros and cons of rooting. The reason I am considering it again is because I would love to play with Google Now. Can I get some thoughts from the community? Pros cons?:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Google Now? I'm pretty sure we have that from the get go. Just swipe up from the bottom of your screen (on your homescreen) or open the Google search app from your app drawer.

Also, I feel like your question hasn't been answered very well. Rooting simply allows certain apps to do more than they're normally allowed to, by giving them access to the deeper parts of the Android system. Rooting our phone, using the Towelroot tool, is perfectly safe. It's the apps that use the root access that you should be careful with. Because they have root access (assuming your phone is rooted), they can change certain files in your system that weren't meant to be messed with, so read up on the root apps you're downloading.

I don't mess with overclocking, but this looks like what you're looking for.
 
Thank you for your reply! It sounds like that's what I'm after, but I need to read up some more on it. Pretty much, what I want to do is just increase my speeds a little so that, after using my 2.5 gigs of "high speed" data, stuff like YouTube doesn't slow down to a crawl. I can't even watch a video unless it buffers for twice as long as the actual video itself is. I don't like the restrictions every service now puts on "unlimited data." 2.5 gigs? That's four days of my service, then I get dial up. Aren't we past those days now..?
 
what i feel is you have to root because in 4.4 google locked down the sd card so apps cant write to it.... if you try to edit music tags it gets denied.... easy fix if you have root, just have to add a permission
 
MCF3778 said:
what i feel is you have to root because in 4.4 google locked down the sd card so apps cant write to it.... if you try to edit music tags it gets denied.... easy fix if you have root, just have to add a permission
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I was wondering why I suddenly can't delete music from my sd card, or update the tags. That's freaking annoying! I'm so ocd about my music organization..
 
Hai,if you want to wonder into the android then rooting will be your first step towards this as everything like custom roms,customize your android look etc need Super user access which you will get by rooting and rooting has some sideeffects too.You can visit following link to understand what is rooting and positive and negative effects of rooting.

Regards.
 
Mohit Raj said:
Hai,if you want to wonder into the android then rooting will be your first step towards this as everything like custom roms,customize your android look etc need Super user access which you will get by rooting and rooting has some sideeffects too.You can visit following link to understand what is rooting and positive and negative effects of rooting.

Regards.
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Someone previously said there is no custom Rom yet for the volt, right? So does that mean I cannot customize the layout/appearance, or is that different?
 
CrimsonToker said:
Someone previously said there is no custom Rom yet for the volt, right? So does that mean I cannot customize the layout/appearance, or is that different?
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There are plenty of apps for customization. All a custom ROM is is a ROM with these apps already included and setup. Xposed framework is one example. You seem to be a bit inexperienced with android. I would advise that you proceed carefully and do research before meeting with stuff, especially since our recovery options are minimal and relatively untested.
 
bg4m3r said:
There are plenty of apps for customization. All a custom ROM is is a ROM with these apps already included and setup. Xposed framework is one example. You seem to be a bit inexperienced with android. I would advise that you proceed carefully and do research before meeting with stuff, especially since our recovery options are minimal and relatively untested.
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Haha this is why I've never rooted a phone. I'm still learning the pros and cons, and having bricked a psp once or twice, I'm not confident enough to try with my new phone yet.
 
bg4m3r said:
There are plenty of apps for customization. All a custom ROM is is a ROM with these apps already included and setup. Xposed framework is one example. You seem to be a bit inexperienced with android. I would advise that you proceed carefully and do research before meeting with stuff, especially since our recovery options are minimal and relatively untested.
Click to expand...

I agree here as android is most user friendly OS for smartphones.So there are a tons of apps that can change looks and style of your phone.I am currrently writing an article on this.You can check it out after 3-4days on my blog(www.phonua.com).So:)
 
CrimsonToker said:
... I still don't fully understand the pros and cons of rooting ...
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Then DON"T DO IT!

Never ever root until you understand all of the dangers associated with rooting. Of course asking is a good start, the next move is to read *everything* you can get your hands on about rooting and the tradeoffs.

Rooting is the equivalent of giving an 8-year-old a sharp knife. Some can handle it safely and understand how to avoid injuries. But most can't. The reason Androids aren't rooted (and Linux in general) is to protect the user. Rooting removes that critical level of protection.

That having been said, rooting is like the Dark Side of the Force. (/geek on). It's extremely powerful and you can do these incredible things that those wimpy Rebels can't even comprehend. But it's also incredibly dangerous and easy to get corrupted. (and by corrupted I mean messing up your phone's memory - not morally corrupted). Remember - with great power comes great responsibilities.(/geek off).
 
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