JB vs Rooting?

[shermenz]

So, I'm new to the Android world, and there are a few things I need help with concerning rooting.

First off, what's the benefits of rooting vs JB?
For me, JB let me do what ever I wanted to do with my iPhone, the downside was that the more tweaks I owned the slower the iPhone became.
Is that the case with Android as well?

Secondly, I know that when I JB an iPhone I can always restore it to factory settings and have a new iPhone, including warranty and all.

Is that the case with Android as well? Because a lot of the threads I red, people mention that when you root you lose the warranty but no one ever said "Well you can just restore it."
Is that not possible when you root?

And now, some threads pop into memory, where people said that rooting may brick the phone.

I'm waiting to move from my iPhone to an Android device for many months now. One of the major attractions for me with Android was the rooting, but I thought that if I mess something up I can always go back.

I apologize for any typos.

 

[matttye]

It's impossible to say whether certain tweaks will slow down your phone unless we're talking about specific ones. It can depend on how well they're made, what phone they're running on, whether or not you overclock, etc.

You can reinstall the stock software that came with your phone and unroot, but it's more complicated than it is for iOS. You will also have a yellow warning triangle at boot that indicates that you've flashed an insecure kernel (at least I think that's what it means). If you want to return your phone for warranty purposes you'll need to get rid of that triangle before you return it. There's an app called "Triangle away" in the Google Play store that should be able to do this, but it displays a disclaimer at startup that says it can brick your phone.

Before you delve into rooting I would have a good look at what you can do with Android at stock settings; a lot of the things you can only accomplish by jailbreaking on the iPhone can be done on stock Android.

 

[shermenz]

a lot of the things you can only accomplish by jailbreaking on the iPhone can be done on stock Android.

That's great news!
But it raise the question, why would I want to root then?

 

[matttye]

That's great news!
But it raise the question, why would I want to root then?

Rooting gives you yet more freedom, for example: -

1. You can overclock, underclock and undervolt the processor, and use different kernels and CPU "governors", some of which are built for performance and others for better battery life.

2. You can access the entire file system and can have read/write access to any file/directory on the OS. This allows you install applications that weren't designed for your phone by copy/pasting them into the app folder. You can also edit files like the build.prop file which lets you spoof your version of Android so that software thinks it's a different version.

3. Not actually rooting, but related; you can install custom ROMs, so, for example, if you don't like TouchWiz on Samsung phones, you can install an AOSP ROM and that will give you the normal Android experience.

There's a lot more but that's just some of the things you can do.

 

[akamad]

Rooting gives you yet more freedom, for example: -

3. Not actually rooting, but related; you can install custom ROMs, so, for example, if you don't like TouchWiz on Samsung phones, you can install an AOSP ROM and that will give you the normal Android experience.

For me, this is the main reason I have rooted my devices. I run AOKP on my Galaxy Nexus because it gives me many more customisation options than the default version that came with the phone.

But as was mentioned earlier, it's definitely important to remember that a lot of the extra functionality you get with a jailbroken iOS device is already available out of the box for an Android device.

 

[Claghorn]

For me, the Gemini App Manager is a good enough reason to root. Far superior to a task killer, it can prevent the annoying useless background bloat from starting in the first place.

 

[shermenz]

3. Not actually rooting, but related; you can install custom ROMs, so, for example, if you don't like TouchWiz on Samsung phones, you can install an AOSP ROM and that will give you the normal Android experience.

I just thought about that the other day. Let's say that I don't like the touchwiz, and I want the stock android for example, correct me if I'm wrong, but that rom comes with three touch buttons, right?

I mean it's part of the OS? So what happens with the physical buttons do they render useless? (Let's take the GS3 for example)

 

[matttye]

I just thought about that the other day. Let's say that I don't like the touchwiz, and I want the stock android for example, correct me if I'm wrong, but that rom comes with three touch buttons, right?

I mean it's part of the OS? So what happens with the physical buttons do they render useless? (Let's take the GS3 for example)

Most ROMs will allow you to choose whether or not you want the onscreen buttons. Whether you choose to have them or not, the physical buttons will still work.

 

[shermenz]

Whether you choose to have them or not, the physical buttons will still work.

Awesome, thanks a lot!

The reason I'm asking is because all of this fragmentation issue. I don't want to buy the GS3 and have to wait months, scratching my head wondering if I'll get the next OS update or not.

Now I know that I will always have the latest and greatest OS, rather or not my carrier decides I'm eligible.
...
Right?

My worries about moving from apple to google diminish by the day! :thrasher:

Really the only fear I have left is that Samsung decides I don't get Google now because they have S-Voice. But now I know I can always get the stock Android rom, if they for some reason decide that.

Cheers!

 

[matttye]

Awesome, thanks a lot!

The reason I'm asking is because all of this fragmentation issue. I don't want to buy the GS3 and have to wait months, scratching my head wondering if I'll get the next OS update or not.

Now I know that I will always have the latest and greatest OS, rather or not my carrier decides I'm eligible.
...
Right?

My worries about moving from apple to google diminish by the day! :thrasher:

Really the only fear I have left is that Samsung decides I don't get Google now because they have S-Voice. But now I know I can always get the stock Android rom, if they for some reason decide that.

Cheers!

You should be able to stay up to date yeah... there are already jelly bean ROMs out for the Galaxy S3 for example, and it's only been released for the Nexus for about two weeks.

One thing I will say is that you need to read everything CAREFULLY before you try to flash a new ROM to your phone. Make sure it's a ROM designed for your exact phone and not a different version of the phone. Again using the S3 as an example, the international version is the Galaxy S3 GT-I9300, whereas American variants will have different model names. It's important you make sure you know the model of your phone and the model the ROM is made for are compatible before you flash anything.

If you're not sure, ask somebody first.

 

[shermenz]

Of course.

I don't own the S3 yet, and I'm still wondering if I should get it, or wait for the next Nexus phone (4 is it?) but when I'll get one of them, I'm sure my affair with this community is far from over, be ready for a countless amount of questions in the near future.