Root Rooting: Pros and Cons

[phnord]

I'm brand new to Android, and I'm thinking of rooting my device. I want to do so in order to sideload, in order to explore custom ROMs and such.

However, I have been looking into it and I have seen hints that once I root, I may not be able to receive official updates anymore. This worries me.

So I was wondering - what are the pros and cons of rooting? Most of the posts here focus on the former without really mentioning the latter at all.

- Andy

 

[ultradroid]

I'm brand new to Android, and I'm thinking of rooting my device. I want to do so in order to sideload, in order to explore custom ROMs and such.

However, I have been looking into it and I have seen hints that once I root, I may not be able to receive official updates anymore. This worries me.

So I was wondering - what are the pros and cons of rooting? Most of the posts here focus on the former without really mentioning the latter at all.

- Andy

The pros and cons of rooting can best be understood if you go here - Fundamentals of Rooting and Terms Explained - and read the various sub threads. To answer one of the later points you raise, yes rooting and installing a custom rom or removing some of the bloatware WILL prevent a future Over The Air (OTA) update from installing. That's not necessarily a bad thing though - I have four android phones, and three of them have had Gingerbread for months, because I have custom roms installed. One of the benefits of custom roms (which you have to be rooted to install) is that you get all of the cool features of the upcoming OTA updates *months* in advance of the other people.

-Mike

 

[log1c]

I'm brand new to Android, and I'm thinking of rooting my device. I want to do so in order to sideload, in order to explore custom ROMs and such.

However, I have been looking into it and I have seen hints that once I root, I may not be able to receive official updates anymore. This worries me.

So I was wondering - what are the pros and cons of rooting? Most of the posts here focus on the former without really mentioning the latter at all.

- Andy

you can still get updates if you root your phone. The only thing I find as a con is if you absolutely do something completely wrong in sideloading in which causes your phone to brick entirely, which isn't likely in most cases, but the main con I guess is that it may void the warranty on the phone.