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unlock?

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sedstar

Newbie
Now I have a cool GPS app on a 30 dollar phone... I found a 20 dollar android phone with same/similar specs...lol...

While I like my GPS phone? This one is for "playing". Heh heh...

Found a decent smart Wi-Fi finder I like... Got to thinking I might want to unlock one of these phones to use on my sprint "actual phone" account by the sim swapping maybe? Does this need to cost me money, or, am I in the "happy boys club" now and you guys would laugh at me if "the noob didn't know"... LOL...


And also... A lot of "cool looking" utility apps seem to need root-ing first, lol, I wanna try that on the 20 dollar phone first... So I can play with the cool ROM program app...

So when I get a 'real phone" I'll know what I am doing.
 
Wow may I ask what kind of phone you have sprint wont allow every phone to work on their side. And nothing is free you will be charged but also pro rated on a month time .
 
Oh... I thought if I unlocked a phone I could stick my legit sim card into it and sprint didn't know...

How hard is it to root my 20 dollar phone to "play" with my cheapie phone as a guinea pig for this? Just download a app? CHEEPIE is a zte whirl 4.1
 
CDMA phones are different then GSM phones (or LTE for that matter). You don't "unlock" CDMA phones and bring the to other carriers as they aren't compatible with the antennas. Conversely, phones unlocked from GSM carriers can't be used on a CDMA network (Sprint / VZW, etc.).
 
sedstar said:
Oh... I thought if I unlocked a phone I could stick my legit sim card into it and sprint didn't know...

How hard is it to root my 20 dollar phone to "play" with my cheapie phone as a guinea pig for this? Just download a app? CHEEPIE is a zte whirl 4.1
Click to expand...

While I can understand what you are trying to do I can say that getting a cheap phone to "Play" with is not going to be worth it. First you need to make sure there is a root exploit to the phone and what kind of development the phone is getting If its not getting any development it will be a waste of 20 dollars.

I bought a cheapy tablet once to pretty much do the same thing and well I tell ya it was a waste of money. Oh I got it rooted but really couldn't do much with it as it had no development teams working on it.
 
Oh, okay....

I thought rooting a phone was no big deal.

I REALLY don't want to buy couple hundred dollar phone THEN start playing around and turn a phone more expensive than my new tablet into an expensive paperweight. (Hashtag sarcasm)

Okay... I can see I am gonna have to buy a couple hundred dollar phone eventually. I really REALLY don't wanna screw around with my new tablet and risk screwing that up...

I just saw that all the really cool utilities all require rooting to use them...

Thanks though... You guys can understand though, you get on here... And everyone has rooted devices and unlocks phones and swaps sim cards like I change socks, lol
 
Rooting has zero to do with changing sim cards.

Being rooted is the same exact thing as having admin access on your pc.

I've been rooted for 4+ years - and I've never unlocked my phone to change carriers.

I can't.

I'm on the Sprint network and cdma technology does not use sim cards of any kind.
 
Okay... I knew rooting and unlocking were separate operations for different things.... They were both just "things" I want to learn to do.

For instance, the one utility allows control of CPU speed... I might wanna under clock a device so it runs cooler or the battery lasts more runtime.

But I do thank you guys for answering questions, this is all kinda fun. I can see where this is a sort of hobby.
 
sedstar said:
Okay... I knew rooting and unlocking were separate operations for different things.... They were both just "things" I want to learn to do.

For instance, the one utility allows control of CPU speed... I might wanna under clock a device so it runs cooler or the battery lasts more runtime.

But I do thank you guys for answering questions, this is all kinda fun. I can see where this is a sort of hobby.
Click to expand...

Cpu master
 
If it helps anyone understand me? I am ignorant of Linux and android... I'm not stupid, though. In a previous life I was a software engineer, lol... I have 2 degrees in mathematics and computer science. I was a programmer though, I'm like any normal person concerning the internet and networking... Meaning... I have to go ask a 15 year old what good, LMAO

To me? Rooting is simply "being able to see the c: drive, sitting at a does prompt" except on my phone or tablet.

Unlocking a phone sounds like I am stealing my own phone I bought at the store, LMAO.

But... Programming in assembler or even hex code? I would find preferable to Linux. I have zero experience with it.

*shrugs*

I figured I would fix the ignorance problem playing around... Coming from DOS though? Descriptions of Linux make no coherent sense.
 
sedstar said:
If it helps anyone understand me? I am ignorant of Linux and android... I'm not stupid, though. In a previous life I was a software engineer, lol... I have 2 degrees in mathematics and computer science. I was a programmer though, I'm like any normal person concerning the internet and networking... Meaning... I have to go ask a 15 year old what good, LMAO

To me? Rooting is simply "being able to see the c: drive, sitting at a does prompt" except on my phone or tablet.

Unlocking a phone sounds like I am stealing my own phone I bought at the store, LMAO.

But... Programming in assembler or even hex code? I would find preferable to Linux. I have zero experience with it.

*shrugs*

I figured I would fix the ignorance problem playing around... Coming from DOS though? Descriptions of Linux make no coherent sense.
Click to expand...

Rooting is much more than being able to see something its being able to USE it. Rooting gives you ultimate control over the OS Unlike other Systems where the OS has the Ultimate control.

I only run Linux I prefer it over other OS's
 
sedstar said:
If it helps anyone understand me? I am ignorant of Linux and android... I'm not stupid, though. In a previous life I was a software engineer, lol... I have 2 degrees in mathematics and computer science. I was a programmer though, I'm like any normal person concerning the internet and networking... Meaning... I have to go ask a 15 year old what good, LMAO

To me? Rooting is simply "being able to see the c: drive, sitting at a does prompt" except on my phone or tablet.
Click to expand...

Rooting is much more akin to having the Administrator account on your own PC instead of just a limited User account. As you have a degree in computer science, sure you can appreciate that. :) On a phone being rooted means you can uninstall for example that NFL or NASCAR crap that the carrier insists you have, but you never use.



sedstar said:
Unlocking a phone sounds like I am stealing my own phone I bought at the store, LMAO.
Click to expand...

Unlocked means you are free to take your phone from one carrier to another, just by inserting their SIM. I've not had a locked phone in a long time, and it would be unworkable for me, plus they don't lock phones in China anyway.
 
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