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Root Even More Newbie Questions

HotDawg

HotDawg

Android Enthusiast
Is a frozen app the same as a deleted app? Does it free up room on the phone?

I've read reference to rooted notifications. What would they be?

Now that I am rooted (via Pete's and only for the screenshot application) (thanks thatguy)- could I just continue on my merry way using my phone exactly as before, or is there something I'm missing? Seems to work the same - I was expecting something "to happen" (Glad it hasn't.) I think everyone's first thought is "now what?" That's where I am. I like the Blur well enough I'm not holding my breath for custom ROMS.

Yeah, I know I should have done more research, but I did quite a lot. Will appreciate all your help!
 
A frozen app is still on the phone but "taken out of service". If the phone starts to act up after you freeze an app you can unfreeeze the app and everything is back to normal. If you delete it and the phone acts up, you can screw up your phone up and will be stuck restoring it.

All the rooting did was give you "administrator privileges" like windows (super user). Nothing else changed yet... Now that you are rooted check out this link and freeze some of the apps you don't wan't to see anymore.

http://androidforums.com/bionic-all-things-root/410336-safe-bloat-remove.html

You can also install the bootstrap.apk and create a back up if anything goes wrong.

http://androidforums.com/bionic-all...-all-things-root-guide-updated-9-16-11-a.html
 
No, it is not the same as deleted. With 4 GB of storage space available to us, however, most apps can be easily frozen and not affect anything - very rare is it that an app is going to take up a critical amount of storage space.

Frozen apps, however, will not run, so your RAM will go up if the app runs automatically and usually takes up RAM. If the app does not run automatically / have services that run automatically, then your free RAM will not be affected either.

The advantage of freezing over deleting, though, is that you can unfreeze if you need to just in case Motorola / VZW ends out an update that will not install if it detects missing items. If you've deleted apps, then you may not be able to install the update until you restore the deleted apps.
 
Hey there, HotDawg :).

Yeah, rooting in and of itself only installs the su program and the Superuser.apk whitelist app. If you never attempt any root-related operations, you'll never know that your phone was rooted unless you look for or try to access the aforementioned programs.

Freezing an app basically simply disables it from being run. Its still "there", just like it normally is, but its off the radar for you to be able to start via your app drawer (your alternate launcher might still show it as present until you restart your launcher). You'll still be able to see it in the Settings -> Applications -> Manage applications, but it will be greyed-out (you'll still be able to uninstall it, though).

Still takes up the same "room" on your phone as a regular app, except that it won't impose any penalty as a running app (since it can't be run while its frozen).

Freezing is a much-preferred alternative to deleting or renaming since its much less invasive (and you'll be able to easily identify what's been frozen by the app that you used to freeze things).

Not sure what a rooted notification is, though.

Hope this helps.

Cheers!

edit: LOL, beat to the punch by the other guys ;) :).
 
to give you a heads up on just how much this place rocks:

I joined here about 8 days before the Motorola DROID first dropped back in 2009. I'd never had an Android phone before that. 99% of what I have learned about Android I learned right in here.
 
Same with me. I started at another forum back when the og droid came out and every time I need an answer a link brought me to a thread at Android forums from the forum I was at. Why deal with the middle man when you can get it from the source. I also had no knowledge of how android works. I could build you a power line from new york to cali but I didn't now the the difference between a rom and an apk.
 
Hey, John - check my join date!
<--------- :D


johnlgalt said:
to give you a heads up on just how much this place rocks:

I joined here about 8 days before the Motorola DROID first dropped back in 2009. I'd never had an Android phone before that. 99% of what I have learned about Android I learned right in here.
Click to expand...

I just don't spend as much time on here as some of ya, and I was much too nervous to root my OGD.
 
HotDawg said:
Hey, John - check my join date!
<--------- :D

I just don't spend as much time on here as some of ya, and I was much too nervous to root my OGD.
Click to expand...

LOL, I started lurking here in November of '09 when I got my HTC Droid Eris, but didn't join or post anything until much later (the wait for 2.1 was interminable :p).

BTW, HotDawg, I just now realized what / who your avatar was...very clever and nicely done! :) ;) [she looked familiar, but I didn't make the connection until now :)]
 
I had a Droid X and was rooted, but before I do it on my Bionic, I want to make sure I still know what I'm doing! lol

I'm thinking there could possibly be an OTA update sometime soon to address some of the early issues with the phone. With that said,

1) If I root my phone, can I still get the OTA update. On the Droid X, I believe you could still get the OTA update, but you would lose root. So you could either avoid the update, or update and then wait for a new root method for the new version. Is that the same on the Bionic?

2) On the Droid X, I believe if you installed the Bootstrap app, then you could not do an OTA update without first restoring your phone back to its original state (because the bootstrap recovery would prevent the phone from updating). So if you used Bootstrap, you would have to wait until a custom ROM was available with the new version in it. Will that be the same on the Bionic? Specifically, if you install Bootstrap now, will you be able to do the OTA update without having to erase and restore first?

Thanks!
 
Pretty much. If the update does not involve formatting and replacing /system, then you won't lose root. however, the chances of it not formatting /system are about as slim as you can get without actually being nil.

So, if you're rooted, you may or may not be able to get the update - it depends on how Motorola writes the update script and what it looks for. If you go and start doing things after being rooted, you lessen your chance for getting the update successfully - things like removing files, replacing fonts / battery, etc. may make it harder to get the update. But right now, with the phone being so new and no updates having been released yet, we really cannot say one way or another. We also cannot say if the update will plug vulnerabilities currently used to root, so that another method will be needed to root the phone if the update is applied.

Again, we simply do not know - we don't know if the update will be the same or not, if the process will be the same or not, if the bootstrap is the same or not, etc.

The big variable here is how Motorola writes the update - until we have that in our hands, we will not know.
 
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