Root Should I root?

[Kevo9513]

Hi, I'm Kevin and I'm new to the Android phones. I own a Samsung Galaxy Ace and the memory capacity isn't so good. None of my applications get stored on my External memory (SD-Card) but instead gets stored in my internal memory. After browsing the forums, I saw that if you root your phone you'll be-able to move most of the applications to your SD-Card and that would be a plus to me.

If so, 1.) Should I root my device?
2.)What are the Benefits > Risks of doing this?
3.)And how do I root it? Haha.

Thank you,
~Kevo.

 

[Crashdamage]

You can move some apps from 'Settings > Manage apps' or there are apps in the Play store - Apps 2 SD for example - that will move apps without rooting the phone. If you do root, you might be able to put more on the SD, depending on the apps moved. However, that is a more complicated process involving partitioning and formatting the SD.

Be aware that some apps cannot be moved at all. And among those that can that not everything can be moved to SD. No matter how you do it, with or without rooting, some app system files still must be installed to internal memory for the app to function. Entire apps cannot be moved.

For regular users there's just not many reasons to root anymore. Android and hardware have come a long way. I haven't bothered to root my daily driver in a long time and usually recommend against it. Ask yourself what you need to do that actually requires root or if you just want to play with the phone. For most users it's probably the latter.

If you decide you really do need/want to root, look in the 'All Things Root' section of your phone's subforum. Plenty of info is available. Also, Google search is your friend. Do a LOT of reading. Make sure you understand why you're doing it, the exact steps required and all the terminology, and have a recovery plan and backups in case things go bad. Nobody likes to bail out a n00b just because he simply failed to do his homework first.

Bottom line...if space is a problem and Apps 2 SD or similar doesn't help enough rooting probably won't either. Sometimes a phone with more internal storage is the best fix.

 

[CDPlant]

Hi, thanks for joining Android Forums

There are many benefits to rooting your device, such as having root only apps like Titanium Backup and ROM Manager[Edit: Apparently ROM Manager isn't good for this phone], so you can backup all your apps, flash new ROMs etc. You can also get ad blocker apps such as Adaway. You can change basically anything in the OS (for example a Galaxy Ace will have Touchwiz as the main look of the phone, you can change this to 'Vanilla' android such as Cyanogenmod.)

There also can be risks involved in doing this; you can brick (permanently render your phone unusable) if you were to install the wrong firmware/radio to your phone. You get access to parts of the phone that you sometimes should not play around with, and deleting certain files will cause some strange behaviour or mess the phone up badly. These risks however are usually very low, and it is extremely unlikely that you would actually brick your phone (there are many tools nowadays that will fix it for you, such as 'Odin')

As Crashdamage has said, reading is key. Read every possible thing you can about rooting your phone, and then read it again. Don't be afraid to ask questions here - the more the better! It will help you understand the whole process better. People here are very helpful and if you decide it's something you want to do then i'm sure there are lots of people who can help you go through it

In the meantime, I will move this thread to the Galaxy Ace All Things Root section, where someone can help you a bit better than I can. There also may be a solution to your problem without having to root.

 

[ayush29k]

In my opinion if you have a space problem, then without rooting there is nothing much you can do, that apps2sd app is useless without root access. Even that app cannot move apps which you can't move from settings menu.
The system apps are not an issue, they are stored on their own rom partition, only their data is stored on internal memory.

There are both risks and advantages to rooting, just like anything else you do. Advantages are that it opens you up to a whole lot of possibilities, you can modify each and every thing about your android experience, remove restrictions which take for granted now, like sms to mms conversion limit, ads, memory, themes, remove useless samsung apps, backup an app in any setting and restore it back to exact setting etc. I use a custom rom, and its way faster, smoother and awesome looking than stock. I have never had any problems while rooted.
The risks on the other hand are basically at extreme you destroying your phone, but that is only possible when you use things that are not meant for this phone, rest all mistakes are easily recoverable through Odin. We keep backups for almost everything, you can have a backup of the entire software to restore to in case of mishaps.

As the two guys above as already said, reading is the most important of all, you ignore something simple and that can lead to a whole case of panic, so read everything thoroughly, all guides and tutorials, ask questions, confirm every procedure twice from different people before attempting and you'll be quite happy with the phone.

I am using CM based custom rock with internal memory extended to 1gb, 160 apps all on internal storage and i have never loved my phone more. Can't even imagine going back to that horrible software samsung gives with this phone.

There is also a 'force apps 2 sd without root' procedure given in sticky threads, you should check that if memory is your only reason to root.

P.S. that ROM MANAGER app mentioned above is a serious NO, it is fatal for the ace, corrupts the bootloader, several people have already lost their phones to that app. We use CWM instead.

 

[Kevo9513]

Thank you, I'll keep reading. Also, you're making me very afraid haha. I've had the phone for almost a month now and If I download more than 5 apps, the memory will be almost full and I'll have to delete some applications I use everyday while only about 272GB of memory is stored on the SD card. The internal memory is 170/190 and I want more out of my phone. I've downloaded the app 2 Sd application and it is totally bull-shit. The apps it was able to move, I moved it manually on my own. Is rooting my last option?

 

[ayush29k]

App2sd works wonders if you are rooted and use the darktremmor's script with it, moves all the apps to sd, completely without any fragment left behind.
Check out the sticky thread i mentioned earlier, that's your last option before root, that is if you want to use it, personally rooting is easier than that procedure

 

[Kevo9513]

I've done the App2SD hack with the developer tools and command prompt. It freed up 20MB and I have 40MB free even if I download any more apps it only takes away 1MB or a couple KB from the internal memory, and all my applications go to my SD card.

Thanks Android community, I hope this thread will help others as well.
I'll look into further rooting it for more control probably later down.