i am buying a new phone, the S8+ to be exact, and there have been a lot of new developments (problems) when it comes to rooting your device. i've been rooting my smartphone devices for over 10 years because i love the freedom it brings (er, brought). Now i read things like Netflix, Snapchat, and AndroidPay not working on rooted devices. So i am wondering what people's experiences have been like. Any regrets? Are the trade-offs worth it to you? Is it worth being able to uninstall bloatware and install custom ROMs if a lot of other features and apps will stop working? i know most of this is personal preference but would like to know more about what other people have experienced.
billybag said:
i am buying a new phone, the S8+ to be exact, and there have been a lot of new developments (problems) when it comes to rooting your device. i've been rooting my smartphone devices for over 10 years because i love the freedom it brings (er, brought). Now i read things like Netflix, Snapchat, and AndroidPay not working on rooted devices. So i am wondering what people's experiences have been like. Any regrets? Are the trade-offs worth it to you? Is it worth being able to uninstall bloatware and install custom ROMs if a lot of other features and apps will stop working? i know most of this is personal preference but would like to know more about what other people have experienced.
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Click to collapse
First and foremost, if you plan on getting a US variant, meaning it will have a SD835 in it, Root is unlikely to come soon for it, This doesn't mean it won't happen, just not soon. Now if we're talking international, the ones that ship with an Exynos in it, they're rootable now.
Now, with that out the way let's get into the questions you've asked. There will indeed be a selection of apps that will not work when rooted these days because of "SafetyNet" check failure. Some of the biggest would be Snapchat and Android pay, However they will work with the assistance of Magisk which will allow SafetyNet to pass it's check, Same goes for most apps that fail to work because of root presence.
Heading back to what I first mentioned now, Rooting a Samsung device of recent years comes with some pretty notable cons to it, These would include loss of KNOX, I'm not sure what your stance on security is but if security is a concern to you, losing KNOX is not good. Another big and notable con is you will lose all Samsung pay support permanently, Actually to be honest both of the latter are permanently lost once rooted. If these things aren't a concern for you then by all means root away.
On to other things now, Rooting these days doesn't present as many attractive things as it use to, especially on a Samsung device. Most OEMS have given alternatives to many of the things a user couldn't do without root before. Currently there is no Xposed on Nougat and above, it's being worked on but there is no foreseeable date that can be given on when it will be completed.
So all in all, Until root is achieved for the Snapdragon variants, I'd hold off on a purchase of an S8. If we're talking Exynos variants then by all means get one, as I've said they're rootable right now. But don't let that be the ray of sunshine, though they're rootable, They're in infact an Exynos and Samsung is unwilling to provide source code to their Exynos chipsets. Which basically means to you that custom ROMs will be limited to rehashes of the stock ROMs with a couple mods if possible, AOSP such as Lineage and others like it are next to impossible to happen on Exynos without a source code to work from. It has been done before but the resulting roms took a long time to develop and either were extremely buggy or were just simply not usable for daily use.
I'm pretty sure I've hopefully covered every aspect I could but if you've got any more questions I'll surely answer them.
I apologise for this being so long lol.
Perfect. Thank you, this helped a lot.
billybag said:
Perfect. Thank you, this helped a lot.
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Glad I could help, Again sorry it was a lengthy response but it was necessary to cover all of it.
Related
Hey guys,
New to the forum - always been an iphone man, but in recent years I've been more and more unimpressed and annoyed by the apple offerings and so my S6 edge will be delivered in the morning.
My question is should I root it on arrival? Half the reason I made the jump is all the "you can do so much more with android" etc
What is that "so much more"??
I'm fairly tech savvy but obviously never used android so not sure what to expect, but something had to give.
Is adapting the OS easy to do? Things I'm looking to do would be change the themes from operator branded stuff etc at minimum and would like to get the most from my new phone
Also is rooting reversible? Should I want to sell on in the future I'm assuming it's a good idea to revert to original state
Thanks in advance
No need to root, s6 and edge is plenty smooth. "So much more" involves a 3rd party launcher. Personally, I use Nova.
Root is reversible.
FluffyR said:
No need to root, s6 and edge is plenty smooth. "So much more" involves a 3rd party launcher. Personally, I use Nova.
Root is reversible.
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Click to collapse
Yes, root is reversible, but tripping Knox by rooting a Samsung device isn't. Tripping Knox will permanently cause you to lose functionality of the Knox app and Samsung Pay. You could also potentially lose your warranty.
CafeKampuchia said:
Yes, root is reversible, but tripping Knox by rooting a Samsung device isn't. Tripping Knox will permanently cause you to lose functionality of the Knox app and Samsung Pay. You could also potentially lose your warranty.
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Click to collapse
From want I understand... the whole Samsung Pay debacle is just speculation at this point. Everyone swore that you could never use Google Wallet with root but look what happened. They said we would probably never see root on certain carrier branded Samsung devices. Look what happened. It takes time but it's almost always figured out.
To the OP... I would, personally, wait a little bit and just play around with the phone to see what you like and what you would change. If you find that there's a long list of what you would want to tweak then check out as many threads/forums as possible to see if the tweak can be done, what the risks are, and go from there. The phone is great without root but it's so much better with it. Good luck and welcome!
shoresteve626 said:
From want I understand... the whole Samsung Pay debacle is just speculation at this point. Everyone swore that you could never use Google Wallet with root but look what happened. They said we would probably never see root on certain carrier branded Samsung devices. Look what happened. It takes time but it's almost always figured out.
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Click to collapse
Installable apps like Google Wallet that check for root are not the same as Samsung Pay which is integrated into the ROMs security framework secured by Knox. Both Chainfire and Sammobile (which have Samsung insiders) have warned about rooting breaking Samsung Pay. It's more than just a little speculation, and it will be extremely difficult to work around if its possible at all.
The bottom line is that if you care about Knox or Samsung Pay, don't root or accept the risk.
Welcome to XDA @Strongey01
Years ago I would have said rooting is a no brainer but now, not so much. The 2 main functions of rooting were deleting bloatware and customizing. This new iteration of touchwiz is much lighter in term of bloat and there is the option to disable apps. Hers's what I would recommend: Get familiar with the os, start off with Nova launcher, pay for prime and explore away. That alone should allow you to customize your launcher beyond your wildest apple dreams. Get familliar with XDA learn the jargon, flash, twrp, odin etc. Explore the general and Q&A threads. There are a few threads about the advantages of root in there. Get familiar, get comfortable then root. If need be.
mrnovanova said:
The 2 main functions of rooting were deleting bloatware and customizing.
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Click to collapse
And ad blocking.
CafeKampuchia said:
And ad blocking.
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Click to collapse
Ok I stand corrected. Three main functions are deleting bloatware, customizing and ad blocking.
Btw what do you use for ad blocking? I mean without xposed.
Thanks for taking the time to respond guys it's appreciated.
Getting it to run quicker and ad blocking are the main reasons I considered rooting tbh
I definately need to look more in depth at roms etc to see what they really do as like I say I'm completely new to all this, it's like going back to when I built my first website, I just don't have a clue lol
Thanks again guys
mrnovanova said:
Ok I stand corrected. Three main functions are deleting bloatware, customizing and ad blocking.
Btw what do you use for ad blocking? I mean without xposed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Adaway. Follow the link in the post of mine that you quoted.
Strongey01 said:
Hey guys,
New to the forum - always been an iphone man, but in recent years I've been more and more unimpressed and annoyed by the apple offerings and so my S6 edge will be delivered in the morning.
My question is should I root it on arrival? Half the reason I made the jump is all the "you can do so much more with android" etc
What is that "so much more"??
I'm fairly tech savvy but obviously never used android so not sure what to expect, but something had to give.
Is adapting the OS easy to do? Things I'm looking to do would be change the themes from operator branded stuff etc at minimum and would like to get the most from my new phone
Also is rooting reversible? Should I want to sell on in the future I'm assuming it's a good idea to revert to original state
Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since you say you're tech savy, I think adapting to Android will be smooth and easy for you.
You don't have to root the phone to enjoy most of the customization options of Android. Google Play Store offers many choices for you to play with: custom launchers, dialers, text apps, phonebooks, notification apps, wallpapers, galleries, ringtone and notification apps, etc.
Rooting then installing a custom recovery will open more customization options. With a custom recovery, such as TWRP, you can install custom ROM's, which can alter your phone completely.
Specifically for the galaxy S6E, you can root in 2 ways - via CF-AUTOROOT or Pingpong Root. I recommend you root with pingpong b/c the Samsung Knox counter will not be tripped and you can try Samsung Pay later.
If you decide to root via pingpong, be sure not to later install a custom kernel or recovery b/c Knox will be tripped.
Sent from my SM-G925P using Tapatalk
Thanks for taking the time to write that. Very informative and helpful
Cheers
Well i planned on getting the V10 tomorrow and out of excitement i was going to look up how the dev was on xda. Disappointment it seems to be very little development. Is there a particular reason or should i get different phone?
I'm actually thinking the same exact thing. Plan on getting this phone this weekend with Jump on Demand from an S6
Development is down on all devices..and for many reasons:
1. Much greater security in Lollipop and Marshmallow
2. With all the customizations available and features included on new phones developers are losing the desire to make ROMs
Between layers and Xposed most users can make their phones do what they want
3. Manufacturers and Carriers locking bootloaders and making root very difficult and anything other than flavors of stock impossible
Security is the new thing that sells phones...these are people's personal assistants now with their entire lives and financial business on them.
With all the features included on new phones these days, including theme engines, for most people just having root is enough. And for some devices there is not even root.
Best advice? Look towards a Nexus device...unlockable, rootable and works on all carriers.
What kind of development do you want exactly? Between root and all the Xposed modules available, there really is no more need for custom ROMs. For the V10, P_Toti's G4TweaksBox takes care of 95% of things people would want to change, and you can accomplish the rest with Xposed.
when the phone stops doing what you want(i.e. when it's end of life and thus isn't supported by the oem) then is the time to worry about romming, but honestly, by the time a device is end of life, it's usually time to get a new phone anyways...android is to the point now that other than modifying things layout-wise, there's no reason to rom...as has been said numerously, between xposed and the way android is, and manufacturer skins as well, there's no point anymore
I know the Snapdragon variant has a locked bootloader; but, what are the chances of unlocking it at all by the talented devs in the community? Or, will this device end up dead and forgotten just like the S7 I upgraded from?
noxarcana said:
but, what are the chances of unlocking it at all by the talented devs in the community?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bootloader unlock: 0.00033%
Root: 6.22%
kcodya said:
Bootloader unlock: 0.00033%
Root: 6.22%
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Click to collapse
Figured as much. Probably should have gone with a different phone then, I suppose. I'm just tired of expensive products being locked down so tightly.
noxarcana said:
I know the Snapdragon variant has a locked bootloader; but, what are the chances of unlocking it at all by the talented devs in the community? Or, will this device end up dead and forgotten just like the S7 I upgraded from?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unlocked, prolly not. Samsung is serious about security.
Root? Yeah, I am sure it can be done. There are some recent exploits in 8.0 and 8.1 that were not patched until the March security patch. We don't have that security patch yet so this is a chance there.
Scott said:
Unlocked, prolly not. Samsung is serious about security.
Root? Yeah, I am sure it can be done. There are some recent exploits in 8.0 and 8.1 that were not patched until the March security patch. We don't have that security patch yet so this is a chance there.
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Click to collapse
A good, clean root? One that doesn't bring the device to a crawl and needs a ton of workarounds like the S7? Probably sounds like I'm being unappreciative of the work done with such exploits, but I assure you I'm not. I've had plenty of devices with great communities in the past, but I just feel that root is pointless if it isn't 100% stable.
Maybe I'll just start setting aside some cash for the next Google Pixel; or whatever they call it if they don't change the name again.
Inusee to be all about rooting my phones but I haven't rooted my last 2 phones. With the advances made with Android I really can't think of what I would do with root that I can't already do.
vintagerock said:
Inusee to be all about rooting my phones but I haven't rooted my last 2 phones. With the advances made with Android I really can't think of what I would do with root that I can't already do.
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Click to collapse
Take out all the Samsung logging and tracking. That's all I want to do.
vintagerock said:
Inusee to be all about rooting my phones but I haven't rooted my last 2 phones. With the advances made with Android I really can't think of what I would do with root that I can't already do.
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Click to collapse
Remove bloatware, install Viper4Android, make true backups of my device, along with an unlocked bootloader we can have faster updates through the use of custom roms, better customization options. These are a few things I'd like but can't because some company has decided that it isn't in my, the customer, best interest.
noxarcana said:
Remove bloatware, install Viper4Android, make true backups of my device, along with an unlocked bootloader we can have faster updates through the use of custom roms, better customization options. These are a few things I'd like but can't because some company has decided that it isn't in my, the customer, best interest.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Eh. I thought voper4android was always a little too heavy. All of the settings the phone natively has plus 3rd party launchers gives a heck of a lot of customization options.
I'm not trying to down anybody who likes to root. If I could I probably would. I just think those days are slowly fading.
965U Root?
http://androidbiits.com/root-samsung-galaxy-s9-plus-sm-g965u-star2qlte-easily/
vintagerock said:
Eh. I thought voper4android was always a little too heavy. All of the settings the phone natively has plus 3rd party launchers gives a heck of a lot of customization options.
I'm not trying to down anybody who likes to root. If I could I probably would. I just think those days are slowly fading.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Nova Launcher and have been using it for several years now; however, it doesn't affect the entire system. I have to use Samsung's themes to take care of settings and the built-in stock apps. I'd much rather have just one method of theming that handles everything; hence my desire to use custom roms.
As far as Viper goes, I can understand why it wouldn't be for everyone, but the built-in Dolby Atmos option sounds like garbage to me no matter what source I'm playing audio through. This is one reason why I miss my Galaxy Tab S 8.4".
xoneatom said:
965U Root?
http://androidbiits.com/root-samsung-galaxy-s9-plus-sm-g965u-star2qlte-easily/
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Click to collapse
That has to be for the Exynos variant as they're talking about installing TWRP. Snapdragon variant can't install a custom recovery without an unlocked bootloader; which is unlikely for us. However, I think there has been some progress toward a root method (don't quote me on that), but no actual root yet.
noxarcana said:
Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Nova Launcher and have been using it for several years now; however, it doesn't affect the entire system. I have to use Samsung's themes to take care of settings and the built-in stock apps. I'd much rather have just one method of theming that handles everything; hence my desire to use custom roms.
As far as Viper goes, I can understand why it wouldn't be for everyone, but the built-in Dolby Atmos option sounds like garbage to me no matter what source I'm playing audio through. This is one reason why I miss my Galaxy Tab S 8.4".
That has to be for the Exynos variant as they're talking about installing TWRP. Snapdragon variant can't install a custom recovery without an unlocked bootloader; which is unlikely for us. However, I think there has been some progress toward a root method (don't quote me on that), but no actual root yet.
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Click to collapse
Well, it clearly states that it's for the 965U. I'm just reporting what I read, but I'm no developer or any expert so who knows.
xoneatom said:
Well, it clearly states that it's for the 965U. I'm just reporting what I read, but I'm no developer or any expert so who knows.
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Click to collapse
That it does! I didn't see the 5 at the end of 965U.
Perhaps it's due to a lack of sleep, but I seem to be missing something with these model numbers. 965U shows to be the Snapdragon variant, but all other sources say there's no root method. I'm just going to stop worrying about it all at this point and quietly wait in the corner while the experts take care of business. Lol
I'm considering rooting my phone but I can't see very many custom ROMs for the s9+, I'd love to get stock android onto it or something a little faster. Is it worth doing?
yes. head over to treble forum here at xda so you could try some more aosp/los based roms aside from the los, rr and crdroid here
Connor1744 said:
I'm considering rooting my phone but I can't see very many custom ROMs for the s9+, I'd love to get stock android onto it or something a little faster. Is it worth doing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not for me, we can use themes and disable many samsung services and apps with a package disabler so me personaly i`am fine. Samsung update frequency has improved so that isn`t an issue for many users also, though some regions may not get as many updates as others.
It's not worth it unless you like the idea of ending with a $900 paperweight.
Not worth it. Disable apps and enjoy your good camera
Not worth it I think. Install adhell 3 which blocks ads and you can remove unnecessary bloatware. And you keep your warranty!
Not worth it, at least for me.
With a rooted device I can't use samsung pay, for example.
I'll have the chance to buy this phone for 160€. Normally I investigate around if the community enjoys the phone if there's development for it in custom roms and what's the status on the bootloader but it's getting complicated.
From what I've heard, Huawei stopped offering the chance for unlocking the bootloader for its phones, it is still possible with this one? If yes, completely? Can we do whatever we want or are we limited? I've browsed and seen treble support for it, is it working well? If you are using a P20lite with a treble rom, what works and what doesn't for you?
I'll still be looking for info to my own questions and even more but if you have some spare minutes, own the phone and have the answers I'm looking for, care to help please?
If it's worth it? For that price and as of right now, definitely yes. It's a well built phone for the price, the glass on the back is a bit bad of course in terms of durability but allows for better network possibilities which plastic does not. In terms of ROMS and recoveries the phone already has them which at this time is amazing, although development always depend on the true developers that stay up to date and that give their best to keep projects up to date.
Boot loader is a problem as of right now for those who have no key to unlock it. There is some paid software that can do it like Funky Huawei and others...Although I think Huawei might change it or find a better solution to developers trying to develop some ROMS to their phones. Huawei only does this because of security since Android is full of vulnerabilities and they are not risking to lose against other companies like Apple.
Once you have a boot loader unlock code, yup you are free to do anything on your phone
As for the treble ROM's, in my humble opinion I think they have a lot to evolve right now due to bugs (talking in general, not only for our device), I think they are good alternatives to normal ROM's though, simpler to install and smoother.
What works and doesn't work you can see it at github, I can give you a link for a treble ROM created by phhusson developer at github https://github.com/phhusson/treble_experimentations/releases/tag/v108, look on the issues tab if you have any issues yourself. I personally love his work.
Resuming, it's still a perfect deal since the phone only launched a few months ago at 400 euros.
Although if you want full control of your phone and at the same time receive a lot of updates I honestly recommend Nokia - Android One phones
You probably already know but, don't let Chinese phones fool you, their build quality sucks, they might have more a bit powerful but after 1 or 2 years it's dead
Cheers,
AS