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Root [Verizon] Brand new Note 3 owner - root it?

krunchyfrogg

krunchyfrogg

Lurker
As in, it's being shipped. Not even in my hands yet.

I have a question about rooting the device. I've never rooted any device before. Can somebody break down the pros and cons? Any dangers to doing this? Other than the actual phone, do I need anything on hand (I don't even have a home PC to hook it up to).

Thanks!!
 
krunchyfrogg said:
As in, it's being shipped. Not even in my hands yet.

I have a question about rooting the device. I've never rooted any device before. Can somebody break down the pros and cons? Any dangers to doing this? Other than the actual phone, do I need anything on hand (I don't even have a home PC to hook it up to).

Thanks!!
Click to expand...

One benefit you have with rooting your phone is making sure you have long continuity with the applications that you use regularly on your phone by backing them up. Unfortunately some changes that developers make in applications can cause them to act strangely change the user interface to something which you didn't desire, or remove options that were there before without explanation.

Titanium Backup is an application in the Google Play store which allows you to backup any applications you have installed in the exact state that they are in at the time you back them up, so when or if you update them in the Google Play store and don't like any changes which have been made to the application then you can use Titanium Backup to restore the application to the time before you updated it, the time when you backed it up.

For example if you backed up an old version of Google Maps and were still using it without updating it then you would still be able to use a feature in Google Maps which is available on the desktop PC website version of Google Maps called "My Maps", which is a list of named places which you have added under a larger label such as "Tourist sites" or "Gyms I'm a member of" etc. Without My Maps in the new update you would have to search for your gym name every time you felt like going to the gym and you might not even be a member of that particular gym so it would be an effort, instead of just opening My Maps and then going to the nearest Gym that you know you're a member of nearest to you, as all of the places inside any label in My Maps automatically appear once you open the label of My Maps in the old version of Google Maps.

Things like this are one reason why I use root to ensure you can use the applications when needed and without fail. You'll see people raging over some applications when features are missing after they've updated so it might be a good idea to read the list of changes in the application description before you update any application as you might not want to update, and turning off the "auto update" feature in the Google Play store is a good idea too.

There are other reasons to root too but I think the main reason is long continuity of applications.
 
Hi Frogg and welcome to Android Forums!

I rooted and haven't looked back. Installed the Hyperdrive ROM and love it.

READ READ READ and ask lots of questions! The Note 3 has a locked bootloader, so you'll need Safestrap and Busybox to isolate it. And watch that Knox counter. But once you're rooted and ROMmed successfully, I think you'll love it!

It's great to have you here :)
 
Thanks guys.

For somebody who isn't the most tech/computer savvy guy out there, is it really worth it?

I think my goal will be to initially just try the phone as it is, and I'll root it if it starts getting slow on me.
 
Well, it isn't so much SLOW, but rooting allows you to run custom ROMs. For example: Hyperdrive 8 has all the great stuff that makes the Note 3 so wonderful... but eliminates all the bloat. Plus you can make nandroid backups. Call me a lifetime modder, but I just think that rooting and ROMming is the way to go.
 
Hyper drive also has the new TouchWiz seen in the Galaxy S5 along with the same apps. For those disappointed in the visual throwback to the Galaxy S3 that the kit Kat update did, it's worth it. I love the new flatter UI.

It's also the easiest phone to root. No PC needed, just install Towel Root and hit the button. You're rooted.
 
I have rooted all my smartphones, but I waited the longest to do so with my Note 3 because I simply loved the phone straight out of the box. The thing was fast and the root methods to begin with were a little iffy at best, so I just didn't root for a long time. But now that the real easy root methods are out there...I can't see any reason not to root. The biggest reason I like mine rooted is you are able to run apps like in your custom recovery and completely make an image backup of your phone. Titanium Backup allows you to backup all of your apps with data...i.e. I have numerous apps I run with usernames and passwords and special settings. I never have to go through and individually install those and then enter all the information again. I get them all installed and then back them up in Titanium and problem solved. Hyperdrive is probably the only ROM I have run on the Note 3. To be honest, it has thousands of more things in it than I will ever need or use and I cannot see another ROM having more tweaks and settings and running smoother...so I have just stuck with Hyperdrive 8.
 
I'm not quite down with rom'ing the device yet - but I'm getting there. I've had mine all of 2 months now myself.


root does help declutter some crap you either don't like or don't use. so that's good.

I won't say it speed up much if at all - but I have less crap on it. so there is that.
 
I left my Note 3 stock just long enough to make sure that it was physically sound: if it doesn't break in the first few weeks, chances are good that it's not GONNA break. By the time the first ROM was released for it, I was pretty much done with any warranty.

Good news is that you can UNROOT and return to stock if something does go wrong that requires warranty work: just make sure your root method doesn't trip KNOX.

So if the Note 4 comes out by the end of this month, by the end of October it will be rooted and ROMmed :D
 
My Note 3 didn't need root but there have always been very annoying things about Android (to me, coming from the land of Apple) and required root to fix, and the rest just being nitpicky things.

My Note 3 when it got KitKat got a visual downgrade to the Galaxy S3 UI, and looked dated and lost the 'light effect' lockscreen effect, and was doing the S3's ripple water effect. i had also updated my Note 10.1 tablet to 4.4.2 and it got the new TouchWiz seen in the S5, which started to grow on me. i wanted that on the Note 3 but instead got a visual downgrade.

HyperDrive 8 gives me the S5 UI, most of the apps, even the weather widget and the nicer looking toggles.

The annoyance has been one since the early days of Android, the always-cluttered status bar up top. i never could stand how it looked filled with Facebook, email, various other icons, especially given the launcher i use having badge number support, they just came off messy and redundant. i preferred iOS's status bar where it was clean, with only the battery, signal, and wifi status showing at most, and the notification details showing only when you swiped down, and badge numbers on icons. thanks to Xposed, which requires root, i got that cleaner status bar. sadly, that Xposed module didn't seem to work on the stock ROM with just root which inspired me to try the above ROM.

Towel Root doesn't trip KNOX, mine is still at 0x0, but it does add in a 'custom' padlock icon on the boot screen which would invalidate any warranty just as KNOX tripping would. i haven't found any way to remove that yet.
 
To remove the "custom" padlock, use Wanam Xposed. Under "Security hacks", check "fake system status". Then UNCHECK it. Then check it again, back out of the app and reboot.

:)
 
I bought a Note 3 off a co-worker last Thursday. I had a S4 previously. Loving the size of the Note 3. I rooted the Note on Friday using TowelRoot. Had no issues. I just installed Wanam this morning and love the customization. With it and freezing a bunch of bloat, I don't think I'll need to do a custom ROM on the Note 3.
 
RubberDucker said:
I bought a Note 3 off a co-worker last Thursday. I had a S4 previously. Loving the size of the Note 3. I rooted the Note on Friday using TowelRoot. Had no issues. I just installed Wanam this morning and love the customization. With it and freezing a bunch of bloat, I don't think I'll need to do a custom ROM on the Note 3.
Click to expand...

A lot of times that's all the base ROM needs. The ability to remove the crap and customize a few things. Enjoy!
 
Thinking about rooting my note 3 but should i wait till the new kitkat update comes through so i dont get all the system update notifications. Speaking of notifications, mine are going off almost every 15 mins or so and i get no where or what app they are coming from. Anyone have a clue how to stop this?
 
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