Rooting! (Relevant Because In-Car Bluetooth?)

"Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again." (sir-stig)
10/20/2014 at 16:00 • Filed to: Android, rooting

Has anyone on here rooted their phones? What are the real benefits?

Picture I found while searching for HTC M8 car. Holy mother of god that looks dangerous.

DISCUSSION (23)

ACESandEIGHTS > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again.
10/20/2014 at 16:03

Almost nothing. IMO. Well, you can really fine tune what your bootup and running processes/programs are. If you're into that.

I guess if you want to have a super-fancy launcher and lockscreen.

But otherwise you can install apks and all kinds of other things you'd think you'd have to root it for.

It's for people with too much time on their hands.

Zipppy, Mazdurp builder, Probeski owner and former ricerboy > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again.
10/20/2014 at 16:05

I rooted my old phone. it allows for custom ROMS, and other privileges a vanilla phone can't have.

ShelbyRacer78-Fusion Modifier > ACESandEIGHTS
10/20/2014 at 16:05

Hey, your right.....

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > ACESandEIGHTS
10/20/2014 at 16:12

yeah this about covers it.

qbeezy > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again.
10/20/2014 at 16:13

Pros: custom roms, remove carrier bloatware, get some features only available with a custom roms such a android revolution and parandroid wheel ui. Get the latest software without having to wait months years or even at al . Bring new life out of old devices. More control.

Cons- possibility of expensive paperweight, devs could just stop supporting, and the worst voiding your warranty.

Edit: XDA will be your greatest friend.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again.
10/20/2014 at 16:13

1. I'd never mount a fun like that its crazy.

2. what are you trying to do on an M8 that you need to root it for?

ACESandEIGHTS > ShelbyRacer78-Fusion Modifier
10/20/2014 at 16:25

But then... I spend time daily on a freaking automotive blog.

jariten1781 > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again.
10/20/2014 at 16:29

I've rooted every phone I've had until my current one (which I would have rooted except the work's enterprise policy won't let me get email on a rooted phone...may still find a way around that at some point.) It was really necessary in the beginning years of android when the hardware was RAM limited so being able to control processes/remove bloatware could realize huge performance gains. Also, the manufacturer layers like old Sense were horrific, getting a custom or even vanilla ROM made everything so much better. New Sense/TouchWiz/whatever LG is using are all pretty innocuous.

Now? meh, I only do it out of habit and comfort...there's not really any big gains. I wouldn't recommend it for functionality, but if you're a tinkerer it can be quite fun.

Are you wanting to root for some particular reason or just to screw around? If it's the latter I'd recommend picking up a used EVO 4g LTE or something of that generation. They old enough to be throwaway cheap, hardware is good enough to run anything still, and the available ROMs are very mature.

Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner
10/20/2014 at 16:30

Nothing really, I just like to delete stuff and it annoys me when I can't.

I could not believe there is a market for mounts like that.

fink stinger > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again.
10/20/2014 at 16:30

I typically only own Nexus phones, so haven't had a need to root.

Recently got my mom an LG Optimus G (AT&T version) and she occasionally needs to tether to it, which refuses to work without being rooted.

My kid has the same phone (Sprint version) and we haven't seen any good reason to root it.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again.
10/20/2014 at 16:31

oh ok, yeah you'd definitely be able to delete stuff finally.

And yea that mount is just nutty.

Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. > jariten1781
10/20/2014 at 16:32

Well mostly I'm curious what the google play edition software would be like, and to enable better lock screen notifications.

jariten1781 > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again.
10/20/2014 at 16:38

You can just grab the Google Now Launcher from the play store. That's the only software difference I think so you shouldn't have to root for that. Haven't tried it personally.

Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. > jariten1781
10/20/2014 at 16:42

I had it installed, but for some reason my camera app was loading a neutered version when launched from the GN launcher as opposed to the volume hot key. It would also change a lot of settings layouts, no?

jariten1781 > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again.
10/20/2014 at 16:53

You get the standard camera app (the vanilla one, not the HTC one) anyway on the play edition. Only way to access the post processing focusing and stuff if via some add on HTC Photo Edit app (which is apparently limited in functionality) since you'd lose the Sense gallery.

Yeah, the menus and stuff will change fonts and locations (and sometimes will scroll differently) but there's usually no change in functionality or options...you just have to find the stuff all over again.

I may try it just to check it out...I'm running the InsertCoin ROM on my M8 right now and previously ran Viper so it's time to try something else out...though I kind of like new Sense so I'm not sure going vanilla would work for me. Oh, play edition also apparently gimps DotView if you have one of those (just shows time/weather but no other notifications).

treesmakewater > qbeezy
10/20/2014 at 16:59

Manufacturers rarely check if a phone has been rooted (just reflash to the stock before sending it back, if its a brick most companies wont even turn it on) service providers tend to care even less.

I do not condone doing this, as it may backfire on you (the warranty thing, i do condone rooting if done properly).

treesmakewater > fink stinger
10/20/2014 at 16:59

Foxfi, try it it works on most non-rooted phones (tethering app)

Textured Soy Protein > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again.
10/20/2014 at 17:35

I have a Verizon LG G2, which I am planning to root one of these days, mostly to get rid of some minor annoyances. I don't plan to flash custom ROMs or anything on it, just make a couple things work how I prefer.

1. On my old Galaxy Nexus, I used FoxFi for wifi tethering, but this doesn't work on the G2 unless it's rooted. There's a workaround for this that requires rooting.

2. G2 Xposed app to fix some UI quirks. The G2 replaces the standard Android multitasking soft key with a menu one, even though you have menu buttons in every app. G2 Xposed lets you get the multitasking button. Verizon also got rid of the setting option to turn off "Wireless Networks Available" notifications. So I've constantly got those coming up because wifi is everywhere. G2 Xposed also lets you remove those.

fink stinger > treesmakewater
10/20/2014 at 17:36

Not sure whether or not I tried foxfi, but it does sound familiar. I know I tried probably 4-5 different apps before I starting trying to find a solution, only to discover that that particular phone (E970) required rooting and a parameter change. Worked immediately with all of the apps I had installed at the time. It was irritating to say the least since my Nexus 5 tethers out of the box.

MonkeePuzzle > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again.
10/20/2014 at 17:54

yes, stopped it from making a shutter sound when I took pics, good pictures of my kids have increased a million fold

Denver Is Stuck In The 90s > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again.
10/20/2014 at 23:29

Kinja'd!!!

Thats a cell phone attachment for bicycle handlebars

Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. > Denver Is Stuck In The 90s
10/21/2014 at 21:43

That doesn't make it better.

Denver Is Stuck In The 90s > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again.
10/21/2014 at 21:44

It actually makes it worse