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Advantages of rooting android?

Discussion in 'Entertainment and Technology' started by grizzleybear33, Nov 9, 2012.

  1. grizzleybear33

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    I have a Galaxy S3 and is I am wondering if it's worth rooting. I know it voids the warranty but if something goes wrong I can always just restore it before sending it in. What do you gain from rooting and how does it effect speed and other misc. stuff. Thanks :slight_smile:
     
  2. Ridiculous

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    The only benefits I've seen is that I can install applications that require root access (like the proxy app I was using to configure my phone to the University network properly).
     
  3. Zontar

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    Rooting is a procedure that, as its name would suggest, provides you with root access to your phone. To explain what it does or why you'd want it requires a bit of technical background.

    Android is based on the Linux OS, which allows system operators/developers to segment permissions to various parts of the hardware depending on who you are. What permissions you have depends on what "user" you are; for example, user "A" might have permission to read a file on disk, but user "B" may not. Android creates a new "user" for every app you run, and each of those users only has permission to work with its own segment of the system. This is called "sandboxing" and helps to keep your phone secure from malware.

    Every installation of Linux also has a master user, called "root". The "root" user can be thought of as the absolute monarch of the system; it has permission over everything, to read/write any file it wants, and access any hardware that exists. When you run an operation as "root", the operation is guaranteed to complete regardless of any permission set on that part of the system. By default, Android does not provide access to the "root" user. This is an obvious security consideration; if malware had access to root, it can do absolutely anything it wanted to.

    There are several things you can't do without access to "root", mostly privileged access to hardware devices. For example, free Wi-Fi tethering requires direct read/write access to a hardware block device (an interface to hardware that you read/write to like a file). For security considerations, only "root" is allowed to do anything with block devices...but it also stops developers from using them for beneficial means!

    This is where rooting comes in. When you root your S3, you allow applications to perform operations as "root", i.e. giving applications that require direct access to hardware or system hooks the privileges they need to work properly. This allows you to do virtually anything you want to do with your phone, but it also carries a minimal risk of security compromise. There are a number of Android viruses going around right now, and theoretically, any of them can take advantage of root access to create what is called a "rootkit": an undetectable software package that runs at the highest level of system privilege to steal things like usernames, passwords, or send premium rate text messages at your expense.

    For the record, the security risk that comes with rooting is minimal, but you need to be aware of it. I have three Android devices that run with full root access enabled, however, I also take proper precautions to make sure no questionable software is installed on them. This means never installing sketchy Android Market applications or APKs from websites not listed in the Market.

    So enough of that, what can you actually do with rooting? Unless you're a tinkerer like me, not much. Rooting is a gimmick for developers and computer nerds like me. This is a list of things I do that require a rooted phone:
    • Overclocking/underclocking
    • Selecting an IO scheduler
    • Selecting a kernel governor
    • Mounting SSHFS volumes from my server
    • Mounting phone as an SSHFS volume
    • Mounting loopback devices/disk images via FUSE (to run Ubuntu right on the phone!)
    • NVRAM backup and restore
    • Wi-Fi Tethering (for free)
    • System Theming
    • DSP Tweaking
    • Network statistics (to diagnose battery drain)

    If you don't know what half of that stuff is, you probably shouldn't root the phone. If you do, however...root access makes the phone eleven times more useful than you could've ever imagined.
     
  4. Tim

    Tim
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    Just to note, rooting an android voids the warranty. At least with Sprint. :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:
     
  5. Zontar

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    This is a common concern, but restoring to full stock "reinstates" the warranty (since it leaves no trace of what you did), so it's a non-issue provided you didn't overwrite the radio or bootloader by mistake (and thus can't restore).
     
  6. Ridiculous

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    Oh, I suppose I also did those too.
     
  7. SimplyJay

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    Any device that's locked down should be hacked/rooted LOL

    I have a kindle fire that I might attempt to root at some point
     
  8. Tim

    Tim
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    Oh, I know that. But a lot of the time, if you need to actually use the warranty, you don't have access to the phone to do a restore, and sprint has a habit of fixing phones just to check so they can charge you if it's rooted, lol. My friend got screwed.
     
  9. qboy

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    Android ICS does have this built in (IIRC it has done since FroYo - certainly has on my T-Mobile UK Xperia S running Gingerbread and ICS) - however some networks disable that functionality. Even if you enable it they can detect it (the browser being a desktop one is a givaway!) so you may still be blocked/charged.

    Having a real unlimited plan with tethering is awesome I have to say (thanks T-Mobile UK :slight_smile: )

    I have to say the only four benefits I have found from rooting were as follows:-
    1. Installing a tethering app (not needed since FroYo).
    2. Being able to disable/enable GPS from a tasker task (again Android has come to the rescue and it's turned off most of the time nowadays, my X10i used to get stuck and left it on killing the battery - my Xperia S only turns it on when needed - Also the addition of GLONASS support means it gets a much faster lock than my X10 ever did with GPS only).
    3. Disabling the shutter sound on the camera (this is a bloody irritant, as taking a photo stops music from playing :frowning2: - but is an option in some countries anyway)
    4. Being able to un-install some stock apps (Again another issue Android has kinda solved - you can disable most of them now - no Moxier killing my battery for no good reason!).

    Basically I found it worth rooting my X10i on Donut and Eclair; but not by Xperia S on ICS.

    Here in the UK EE (T-Mobile/Orange) leave all the warranty support to Sony service centres so don't really care what you do with it - the heavy customisations are long gone (the only thing I can see different is the National Roaming options they have to cope with the weird EE network (the result of two networks merging into one which won't be complete until 2015))
     
    #9 qboy, Nov 11, 2012
    Last edited: Nov 11, 2012