Root Is Root worth it if you do nothing past that?

[MB15SC]

Will it make battery life better, phone faster etc if all I do is root?

 

[ardchoille]

Will it make battery life better, phone faster etc if all I do is root?

No. Most people who root do so to remove bloatware and/or install a custom ROM. Rooting, and doing nothing past that, only gives you superuser access to the system, there are no other advantages that I know of beyond that.

You can get better battery life by calibrating your battery. I have done this on several Android devices and it has been beneficial.

Calibrating the battery - my take:
1. Run the phone until it dies due to lack of power, it won't take long on a new phone
2. With the phone off, charge the phone for one hour past the point that is appears to be full
3. Reboot and repeat steps 1 and 2 a few times
4. You should only have to go through this process once in a while, such as flashing a ROM

After the 4th or 5th repeat of this process, you'll begin to notice that the phone is more difficult to intentionally run to the point of dying due to lack of power. This lets you know that the process is working.

I have been doing this on multiple Android devices and I'm now getting around 20 hours on a single charge, with moderate use, out of my Evo 4G. I was getting around 35 hours out of my Samsung Vibrant and 20 or so hours out of my Motorola Cliq XT.

A note about bump charging: Don't do it, it lessens the overall battery life.
Bump charging is the practice of charging the battery to full, unplugging the USB cord and immediately plugging it back in. This will give you a boost in battery life but it is bad for the battery in the long run.

 

[D_Droid]

No... its the tweaks that come after that make rooting worth while.. I had the same thought before taking the leap into rooting.... If you need any help rooting and with flashing roms and kernels visit the all things root subforum....

 

[MB15SC]

No... its the tweaks that come after that make rooting worth while.. I had the same thought before taking the leap into rooting.... If you need any help rooting and with flashing roms and kernels visit the all things root subforum....

I'm affraid I'll do it, won't be happy and can't get back to stock.

 

[ardchoille]

I'm affraid I'll do it, won't be happy and can't get back to stock.

Then the first thing you need to do after rooting is make a nandroid backup before you do anything else. A nandroid backup is a complete snapshot of your phone system. You can restore a nandroid backup at any time to return your phone to the state it was in when you made the backup. A nandroid backup requires a recovery image (either ClockworkMod or Amon Ra) and a recovery image was installed when I used Unrevoked to perform the root process.

If you do root your phone, go to the market and install Rom Manager and Titanium Backup right after you root. These are two apps that are essential to root users.

Don't be afraid to root. there are tons of ROMs and I'm sure you will find one that you'll be happy with. I flashed a bunch of ROM and found several that I liked. Make nandroid backups before you flash a ROM. Don't like the new ROM and want to go back to stock? Restore your stock nandroid backup. Flash a new ROM and want to go back to the previous ROM? Restore the relevant nandroid backup. I copy all of my nandroid backups to my desktop computer right after making them so I always have them without wasting space on my SD card.

The biggest thing you have to worry about when flashing a ROM is 4G, some ROMs have it others don't. But going back to your stock nandroid backup restores 4G so there's n o fear of losing it forever.

also, if you flash a ROM and realize you don't like the theme, you can always change the theme fast and easily using the Ultimate Online Theme Kitchen.

 

[dan330]

rooting does nothing.. but unlock YOUR right to change things.

you can unroot
you can put it back to stock

and you can .. not do anything .. use it as it is.

but you are missing out on a lot. it is fun!

to answer your Q: no, it is not worth it.. if you dont do anything more. pretty much useless change! like unlocking a door.. but never opening it. and voids your warranty for nothing.

 

[bvbull200]

Well, if the question is whether or not it is worth it to root and do ABSOLUTELY nothing, then, no, it isn't worth it.

That said, you can remain on the stock ROM and still take advantage of root access. SetCPU will help with battery life, AdFree makes all of the "lite" apps more enjoyable, and Wireless Tether is a very functional app. You can use all three of those (and others) without flashing a new ROM or kernel. In that case, you aren't really doing any further "tinkering" after the initial root, but it is certainly worth it.

 

[midmadn]

IMHO - Rooting is worth doing just for the sake of making a nandroid backup of your phone system.

If you root and never install a custom rom or anything - at least make a nandroid backup. Also - copy your nandroid backup to your computer for safe keeping.

I actually had an app that I downloaded render my non rooted unmodified EVO useless to the point that it had to be replaced. The techs couldn't even get the phone to work with the factory resets or anything. They had to replace the phone.

If I had it rooted and did a backup beforehand I would have been able to fix it myself in a minute or two.

Jack

 

[dels28]

There is no doubt that rooting your phone will increase your battery IF, you use certain kernals and depending on your CPU settings. I've gone from getting 4.5-6 at work before my battery would be drained from 100 % to the battery lasting well through the day. 15+ hours.

 

[Ivansandroid]

The biggest benefit is the ability to wifi tether.

 

[evomattnc]

The biggest benefit is the ability to wifi tether.

The amount of people that tether astounds me...never have...though I may more when I get a wifi only tab

 

[Xtremedays]

You may root and say initially that you are not going to do anything with it or just use free wifi but the advantages start to jump out at you when your curiousity gets the better of you and you start looking around.....soon you will be addicted like the rest of us.

 

[ardchoille]

IMHO - Rooting is worth doing just for the sake of making a nandroid backup of your phone system.

If you root and never install a custom rom or anything - at least make a nandroid backup. Also - copy your nandroid backup to your computer for safe keeping.

I actually had an app that I downloaded render my non rooted unmodified EVO useless to the point that it had to be replaced. The techs couldn't even get the phone to work with the factory resets or anything. They had to replace the phone.

If I had it rooted and did a backup beforehand I would have been able to fix it myself in a minute or two.

Jack

I have to agree with this, making a nandroid backup can alleviate a lot of headache if something goes wrong later.

 

[bvbull200]

I have to agree with this, making a nandroid backup can alleviate a lot of headache if something goes wrong later.

But how much of the "going wrong" are things that would have honestly affected an unrooted phone? Nandroids are really beneficial when you start doing a lot of the tinkering that the typical root user does. I can't say that I would root solely for the purpose of making a nandroid backup.

 

[MizzouBrent]

If you root it, I don't see how you could avoid running a custom rom. When I first rooted, I thought I would want to just keep the stock rom. I quickly realized that basically any rom out there was better than the stock rom and I will never go back.

 

[midmadn]

But how much of the "going wrong" are things that would have honestly affected an unrooted phone? Nandroids are really beneficial when you start doing a lot of the tinkering that the typical root user does. I can't say that I would root solely for the purpose of making a nandroid backup.

I downloaded an app from the market that completely rendered my 3 week old un-rooted EVO useless. Nothing could fix it. Sprint had to overnight me a new phone. This was almost a year ago when they first started shipping.

Jack

 

[Granite1]

Having root access on my evo made it a hobby instead of just a phone. I can change things, run apps that only root users can use, get fantastic battery life, protect my investment from brickage. Rooting is, imo, what android was designed for. It gives the end user complete control of what they bought, instead of what the carrier tells you you can do with your property.

The root will set you free.

 

[bvbull200]

I downloaded an app from the market that completely rendered my 3 week old un-rooted EVO useless. Nothing could fix it. Sprint had to overnight me a new phone. This was almost a year ago when they first started shipping.

Jack

I'm not saying it can't happen, just that it is pretty damned unlikely. Don't get me wrong, I'm not disputing the idea that the ability to make a nandroid is a benefit, because it absolutely is, I just don't know that it, alone, is enough to go through rooting.

You could render your phone useless via the rooting procedure, too, though I don't think it is likely either.