To root or not too root, that is the question

K

Kunmui

New member
While the majority of android owners will probably not root their phones, I think a high number of folks who bought the Nexus will only because its so much easier then other phones.

I'm getting close to rooting mine, I've held off mostly because I wanted to ensure that the phone is defect free and it appears to be. I'm coming to the end of my two week grace/return period.

As I am, the question of why came to mind. I'll be voiding my warranty, not a huge deal but a risk nonetheless and with rooting I get the ability to overly the stock android OS with a customized one that may give me better performance or better battery life or better user experience with an updated UI.

Does that about some up the reasons for(and against) rooting.

Anyone NOT root their phone here? If so, what was the reasoning.

Mike
 
Is that even a question?!

Root root root! No questions asked...


[as a caveat, I will back up my statements by saying that rooting requires a certain motivation and mentality. If you are a technical person who likes living on the bleeding edge and trying new things... then rooting is for you. If you would rather run the stock OS comfortable and not worry about updating and fiddling with your device, then do not root]


As for reasons for rooting... there are too many to list. I will start with custom ROMs, kernels, recovery images, etc. These all add additional functionality and features above and beyond stock Android. Then there are applications that require root (torch, titanium backup, adfree, trackball notify, LEDs Hack, etc etc).
 
I'm technical and a geek,

I'm really wondering if there's any other reason NOT to root other then warranty. I cannot think of any.

Edit: I'm having a hard time not rooting it now. I have my ducks in a row to root the phone and then install the latest CyanogenMod
 
Previously, I would agree with bmcclure937, but with the Nexus One, I see far less benefit of rooting than I did with the G1.

Other than having the ability to run some root specific apps; torch is one that I'd love to have; and customizing the notification bar, I do not feel compelled to root the N1. For most UI customization there is a slew of home replacements that can fit the bill; sweeterhome is awesome. Otherwise, especially compared to the G1, the N1 works extremely well out of the box. And, with the Froyo update, this thing just keeps getting better and better.

Bottom line for me is, I still have my G1 to provide my rooting and custom ROM fix; I'm running 2.1 on my G1 ATM . So, the G1 is my customized toy and the N1 is my stock daily driver smartphone.
 
I'm not sure this is correct. Do any custom ROMs come with changed UIs other than what is coming with current or later versions of Android anyway? I mean it's not like they come with SenseUI or whatever is it?

Better performance? Yes.

Battery life? Not that I've heard of, and certainly not that I've ever seen proved.

Better user experience? Yes. But not with a better UI, it'll be the same.

There are very few reasons to root that make sense in my personal opinion. But the main reasons seem to be:

You can run later versions Android that have not yet been officially released (like Android 2.2). Great, but that also means they're untested, unsupported, and may change at any time. This does mean you'll get some cool features a couple of months or so before some other people. Some of these features (like JIT in Android 2.2) are very cool.

You can install versions of Android that your phone can't install normally. For example, that highest official version of Android on a G1 is 1.6, but you can put 2.1 on it if you root it.

The above two reasons are probably the best reasons.

You can overclock your phone, at the expense of reducing its MTBF (how long it lasts before it burns out) down to months rather than years. Remember, you can't add additional heatsinks and fans to a phone like you can when you overclock a PC. Nor can you upgrade the micro power tracks on the motherboard and daughterboard to handle the extra current. The battery lifespan (typically about 2 to 3 years) will be reduced exponentially due to damage from high power drains and high temperatures. Consider this... overclocking on Android is as easy as editing a text file that says what speed the CPU should run at. It's that easy. So why did Google and the handset manufacturers (they're the people who know what they're doing) underclock the CPU in the first place?

There are a few apps that require root. Nearly all of which have free non-root equivalents, such tethering apps for example. My Backup Pro backs up everything other than paid apps without root.

You can install Apps on your SD card instead of internal memory, at the cost of exponentially reducing the life of your SD card, in some cases down to days, rather than years, due to the massive increase in write cycles. When your SD card fails, you lose all your apps, saved data, high scores, app settings, etc.
 
I was under the impression one (or more) of the custom ROMs come SenseUI, so for the N1 where I didn't have that UI, I can now do that.


I thought one of the kernels provided undervolts the CPU a bit to prolong batteryl life - am I incorrect on that?


Thanks for this indepth and well thought out reason on why it makes sense for rooting and why it doesn't.

I still may but as I mentioned, I'm waiting for the end of the two weeks before undertaking that.
 
if you are the kind of person that just has to tinker with suff, and is never happy with stock anything, than rooting is for you. its like having a supped up car, you always have to tinker with it to keep it updated and performing well... if you dont have that kind of time, than rooting isnt for you.
btw... in froyo(android 2.2) you dont need root to use your cameras led flash as a flashlight. theres plenty of free flashlight apps, for the nexus one on 2.2, in the market now that use the led
 
I've never seen a custom UI that comes bundled with a ROM for a phone other than what it would have had originally. For example, the custom ROMs for the HTC Desire come with or without SenseUI, but the phone comes originally with SenseUI. I'm not saying you can't get custom ROMs for phones with custom UIs that they don't normally have, I'm just saying I've never seen nor heard of them. I'd check on Google or somewhere first to be sure.

Volts = Amps multiplied by resistance in Ohms. The resistance is constant as the electronic components aren't being changed or altered, so if you undervolt you require greater current (Amps) to compensate. So at this level the power usage is the same.

But, greater current means greater energy lost to heat. This is why overhead pylons have a very high voltage to reduce the current and hence energy lost through heat. So it's a puzzle to me how undervolting a CPU can increase battery life, it would surely decrease it?

Undervolting burns desktop PCs out due to overheating.

Overvolting burns desktop PCs out due to cross-track arcing inside the CPU.

Do you really want to do either of those to your phone?

In terms of waiting for your two weeks to be up... I believe you only void the warranty on the Nexus One if you flash the radio. I also understand (although you might want to double check this with someone who actually has a rooted N1) that you don't have to flash the radio. So if you are going to root you may want to consider doing it sooner rather than later, that way you can return it if you don't like it after rooting.
 
extorian, there are a handful of SenseUI ROMs available for rooted devices

Many people ran "Desire" ROMs on their N1s... which were just SenseUI ROMs. This is a common reason people root, so they can try new UIs or switch to the UI they prefer. Personally, I prefer stock Android UI... so if I ever got a device with Sense I would root and load CM ROM. Some people prefer Sense so they load custom ROMs with Sense. MoDaCo has come out with a handful of these ROMs.
 
Honestly what warranty are you concerned about? Even if you brick your phone, its still covered. They can't prove your phone was bricked. Just play dumb and say it stopped working. You'll prob be charged a deductible but thats it. Don't expect them to support you via phone, but honestly if your rooting, your probably tech savvy enough to fix it yourself.

I pay the $5.99 a month for the hardware warranty. That's all the matters.
 
The main reason why I opted for the Nexus over the incredible was the ability to root, so like I said once my two week grace period is over (monday) I'll be rooting this bad boy.
 
Tell me about it! I'm like a zombie already. I'm still stuck on a G1, on an 18 month contract, which comes to an end at the end of August. Luckily the networks over here always allow you to upgrade a month early, so only 2 more months to wait. But still, I've been crawling up the walls to get a new phone since the Droid/Milestone, and then even more so when the Nexus One and HTC Desire were released.

Nearly all contracts here are 2 or 3 fraking years long. If you pay a lot more you can get 18 months, and if you sell your soul and spend your life savings you can get 1 year contracts.

They have some very low cost plans over here on 30 day contracts if you get a SIM only (i.e. don't upgrade and get a new phone). Like ?5 (about $7) a month for unlimited internet and reasonable call/text rates. That's all I need. Sure, you have to spend like ?400 on a new phone, but in the long run it actually works out cheaper than spending like ?30 every month for 18 months.
 
What's so bad about CDMA?

I was leaning towards the incredible on verizon, but only with a one year contract. I'd pay a bit more (70 bucks more) for the phone, but I'd not be locked into a long contract. As it is, I only have 1 year left on my AT&T contract.
 
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