Do You Still Root Your Android Device?

[Narsil]

I root because I paid for the phone; it's mine. If I'm rooted, I'm the admin on the system and have admin rights. If you don't have root access, you're just a user. I find that unsatisfactory.

I'm currently not using my root access for anything because Xposed isn't running on Nougat yet and I updated in an attempt to fix this 6P bug of shutting down with 30% of my battery left.

 

[Wadman]

Ahh...the days of Liberty Rom, Gummy, MIUI, and many others are far gone. I remember coming to this site excited every day to see what new ROMs had been created. It started with my OG Droid, then my Droid X, then moved on to the Note series and rooted each one of those all the way up to my Note 3. I now have the Droid Turbo 2 and other than bloat, I have no reason to root. I still run a rooted and ROMd OG samsung galaxy tab. I miss those development days.

 

[xeene]

Haven't rooted since....galaxy nexus on Verizon. I see no need for it on new devices.

 

[akhenax]

If I can root, then I will root. Android Pay can eat my grits. PayPal does the same thing with root, BTW.

 

[Vepaot]

If I can root, then I will root.

Same, there are certain things that are just more useful if you're rooted. Backing up games that don't have cloud save support being a big one for me. Also having access to Xposed or some kind of theming tool to make everything dark instead of the god awful material white design that's so popular now.

I'd also like the ability to hack my Bluetooth stacks so I can use my PS3 controllers on my phone and MHL it out to the TV, or the head unit in my car if we're road tripping.

 

[Jonny Kansas]

I'm pretty sure the Galaxy Nexus was the last phone I rooted, but it might actually be the Droid X.

As others have stated, Android has come a long way from where it began. All of the reasons that I used to root a phone are stock options or available via third party apps (or I don't really care about them anymore).

 

[badtoy1986]

Ahh...the days of Liberty Rom, Gummy, MIUI, and many others are far gone. I remember coming to this site excited every day to see what new ROMs had been created. It started with my OG Droid, then my Droid X, then moved on to the Note series and rooted each one of those all the way up to my Note 3. I now have the Droid Turbo 2 and other than bloat, I have no reason to root. I still run a rooted and ROMd OG samsung galaxy tab. I miss those development days.

Ahhh... The good ol days with the OG Droid. How I loved you so.

I have my Nexus 7 and 6P rooted just for a few tweaks and mods that I like to make my system my own. I do remember the days of rooting, and installing custom roms because they performed better and were more stable. Now, I don't think I can say that about any rom other than stock android... well maybe a performance/battery boost, but none as stable as stock.

 

[swc2001]

Wow I haven't been on this forum in probably years. I just took a peak for old times sake.
This thread caught my eye. At first I was Shocked at how many were saying they don't need or want root anymore. However I guess it makes sense. Unless your one of the 1%ers that still have Verizons Legacy Unlimited Data plan from 2010 most people wouldn't need Root. Personally I am still one of those old Dinosaurs. The absolute Main reason these days that I still carry a rooted phone that I use Daily is for the feature of Backing up an entire phone onto your SD card. I of course then copy this to my computer. This allows me the safety net of not losing a single thing in the event of the phone being lost, stolen, or damaged. I also like the ability to play Game Roms with my Playstation 3 controller. I also of course Love the freedom of the Xposed package. Ad Blocking in apps that normally you could not do. Having the freedom to get rid of bloatware. Not constantly having an update pushed on you. Etc.
Now all that being said, I am still rocking the S4. It just does everything I need. Its set up the way I like in every way. I just dont see any need to upgrade and yes Go through the Hassle of figuring out how to Root, how to get TWRP back up or equivalent, and yes get that Free Hotspot that allows full use of my Legacy Unlimited Data plan. (yes I know of the 200Gb Ceiling) That REALLY Urks me btw, but since I havent gone over that for a long time.... I will ride this Pony till she Drops. I have seen the new Unlimited plan but am getting conflicting reports on it. Some say After 22 Gb it only slows down to 5Mbs others say it is less than 1Mbs.
I just cant take the chance.
Now back to the Hassle part of Rooting. It IS SUCH A PAIN to keep fighting with the companies that keep trying to stop you. Its ridiculous. Also many of these kids that are the devs these days have NO patience in teaching and showing like they did in the days of old. I can see why Many would give it up especially if they weren't doing the things that I mentioned above. I am sure there will come a day that for some reason or another I will stop, However until then
PARTY on GARTH!

 

[TisMyDroid]

I haven't rooted since my RAZR Maxx & RAZR M. I tried every phone prior to that starting with the og droid. It was wanting to root my og droid that brought me to Droid Forums. I first started rooting bc I wanted to try the different roms. Then it became necessary to root to tweak performance. Then when I bought the Samsung Charge, I rooted because I hated touch wiz. Man that orange was ugly! With the Razr's, I rooted only for the hotspot on my unlimited plan. With my N5, I no longer have any reason to root.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

 

[bigmatt503]

Nexus 6p rooted on nitrogen rom. Mostly for adaway, twrp and themes

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

[jackiescivic]

I do not root my phone. My S7, S6 Edge, and Note 4 were all bone stock. My S5 was rooted, but I never did any ROM's I just rooted for Titanium Backup and the ability to freeze bloat. The first Android device I rooted was the original Droid Incredible, which is how I actually got started on this site. I had modified both the Blackberry Curve and Tour that I had back in the day.

I have no interest in root any longer, part of that may be because I now use my phone daily to show customers how to do things on their phone, and I have the ability to disable most of the apps I don't like.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[mountainbikermark]

Back in the day when you needed to root to get a faster phone I just bought a faster phone (Inc1). When you needed to root to take a screen shot I bought a screen shot app. When you needed to root to tether I bought a tether app. Back in the day in order to remove bloatware you needed to root I liked and used much of the bloatware or just ignored what I didn't. Back in the day when you needed to root to make your own theme I bought a launcher and an app to make my own icons to fit the launcher how I wanted.
Android, by nature and with its marketplace for adding individualizion has been good enough for me. Since phablets have arrived I've also lost most need/desire for my desktop and even my tablets.

Support Our Troops!!!
Beast Mode 4

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[donzz]

I haven't rooted a phone since my Droid Bionic.

 

[Smith 001]

Once I rooted my S4 for the limited storage, I need to delete the stock app to release the space. But now I have enough storage for any apps, so I won't root my phone any more.. When is the next update on S7 edge? That's the main reason why I don't root my phone.

 

[akhenax]

My job consists mostly of creating system images for new and legacy hardware for a very large city organization. Before updating a system with a new image, many times a user would want software backed up, and restored once the new image is complete. I see my Android phone much like a mini computer. Whenever I do full system wipes, I rely on a few software perks, such as TWRP, that allows me to create a full system image backup, just in case I screw something up, I also do a backup of my applications using Titanium Backup. I keep these "backups" on a computer, and free up the space on my phone. I have regular images of the software that I have had on my phone, and if I ever wanted to go back, or restore some application with it's data, I can do so.

The only way any of this is possible
IS WITH ROOT.