Back in the day - rooting Android phones and installing custom ROMs were such a big part of Android. I remember so well using titanium backup and Greenify and Cyanogenmod and the list goes on.
Is it still necessary to root in 2023 though?
I have been on vanilla Android without root access for the past couple of years and at this point most root features have made it into the vanilla Android OS. What are your thoughts?
I root because my favorite adblocker is by a guy named kNinja, and I like having 3rd party Material You icons on my default launcher. Also prefer amoled black as a system theme through Repainter.
Necessary is a matter of perspective, and what it is you need your device to do. Mine is that if you don’t have root (or equivalent) on a computer, you don’t really own it. That’s a philosophical point more than a practical one - I’d want root even if I didn’t currently have a use for it.
Practically, here are some things I use root for in 2023:
Advanced charge controller - limit battery charge to extend service life. Some devices have a built-in option now, but it’s usually only a single switch for 85%. I usually set it to 60%.
Backup of apps with their data (Neo Backup), to install onto another device or after a factory reset - I don’t think there’s a way to do anything like this without root.
Mounting remote devices for access by arbitrary apps using EasySSHFS - I don’t think there’s a good equivalent.
Accessing exfat format external drives, like the SD cards in my camera using MiXPlorer’s built-in filesystem drivers. Android is an asshole for not supporting more filesystems. It’s Linux; the support already exists.
Hosts file ad blocking - DNS ad blocking is a viable alternative now.
If something blocks me from using it with root, I’ll give it a 1-star review on Google Play and probably not use it even if I can get around the blocking. If my bank starts using more effective blocking, I will probably change banks.
I buy my phones outright, so that’s MY equipment. I root it because I own it, full stop.
If a ROM or App tells me I can’t be rooted then, like you, I won’t use it. I have options.
Also, I’m the one paying for my data plan and I refuse to have ads leech on my rates. I will go WAY out of my way to suppress advertisers intruding on my browsing. That’s pretty much the extent of my cyber-activism, but it’s a hard line.
Don’t use root but I do use custom rom safety net and play API work no banking app problems no Google play problems and advanced charge controller is built into my rom it even has that Google photo spoof built in it’s not feature rich but it’s clean, fast and I have removed most of the Google bullshit I am satisfied
I’m using the BCR magisk module for recording on a Pixel 7. BCR seems to be pretty universal, but some dialers (OnePlus dialer is one) have recording disabled via config and can be reenabled with adb.
I use Lineage faithfully so my phone stays rooted. Also, I live in the US where carriers aggressively lock down their phones so they can upcharge everything. the whole "your hotspot will work at 3g speeds" is one reason to root. Adaway is another reason to root as well. I'm too cheap for home internet so I tether to get online. US carriers (and cable companies) hate that and try to prevent it. root and VPN gets around that. unlimited 5g hotspot.
I’d love to root my pixel (grapheneos) because the tiles are just crap but I don’t want to mess with grapheneos’ security. If I’d do that, I could judt go with another brand and have awesome tiles by default.
I keep my Android phone rooted because there’s specific functionality that I use daily that’s a pain to do without root.
It’s not my primary phone so the fact that it’s 3 years out of date in order to preserve my root doesn’t bother me. But if it was my primary phone I’d probably look into workarounds to avoid needing root.
I used to on my Motorola RAZR for custom themes and the ability to double tap volume keys for track skipping or rewind. Now I have an app to to do that and some watered down system themes. Now I just don’t cause I don’t see the reason for rooting anymore. And random apps like McDonald’s have started checking for root or unlocked bootloader’s for some reason.
Rooting is more security compromising than it’s worth. There are a small set of use cases I could see but for the most part do either or below.
If you have a Pixel you would want to run GrapheneOS for maximum security and privacy.
All other phones you would ADB remove bloatware, run PrivateDNS with NextDNS or an alternative, and turn off as much analytics/permission/features as possible for a functional phone.
I haven't felt a need to root a phone in years. These days you will get a usable UI and UX with basically all major brands and adblock can be done without root, so it's just not worth the hassle trying to hide the fact that you're rooted from banking apps etc. At least as far as I'm concerned, I'm sure that some people still see a benefit in rooting.
Edit: I actually just thought of a reason: updates once the phone is past its official support window but otherwise still functional (though you don't technically need root for that, just an unlocked bootloader, the new ROM doesn't need to be rooted either strictly speaking). I'd just buy a new phone, but that really just means I'm a part of the e-waste problem.
I did with my old samsung, motorola, asus, nokia. But my last phone, PoCo F3, no, especially because it’s difficult to have a working Google Wallet with unlocked bootloader/root. I did it with my asus zenphone and nokia, but damn it broke every few weeks with a google update, and you needed to patch after patch after faking stuff and magisk addons etc for it to run a couple of weeks and BAM! Google Pay was disabled again… very annoying.
On my F3 I disabled/uninstalled unwanted apps with a debloater and I’m using Firefox for browsing. No need to root yet. When I’ll change phone I’ll root the old one.
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