[Verizon] Whyyyy root the Galaxy Nexus?

g nexta said:

I need to transfer everything to my newly "undamaged"nex I ordered from vzw. I know there's debate about the gnex... Why should I root? Is it just for developers? (I'm merely your typical dude, though I know this gnex future is going hard.....)

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Rooting your GNex will allow you to run apps like Titanium which allows you to completely backup up all of you apps and system data. You can use ClockworkMod Recovery to make complete image backups of your GNex in the current state at that moment, kind of like doing an complete system backup on your pc. Beside that, your can customize it like crazy...undervolt it, overclock to save battery life or to simple increase the cpu speed. There so much you can do by rooting and unlocking, it's really hard to explain it all in a single post. But, you will not be sorry you did it

Customizing is probably the biggest answer you will get of why to root a smartphone. Plus, some apps will only run on a rooted phone. Hope that helps some.

Also, here's a FAQ thread with a bunch of folk's (from lots of different devices, etc.) take / perspective on rooting:

http://androidforums.com/faqs/443432-what-root-being-rooted-mean.html

For me, its about options and flexibility--I have the freedom to make changes if I want to (although you should be prepared to handle any downsides that may occurs ).

Cheers!

you gotta root it to get jellybean installed. i lovejellybean!

Guys,

Just a follow-up heads-up that I've moved this thread to the VZW all-things-root area (from the International area).

Cheers!

I root to make the device do even more cool stuff, and do it faster, with less lag, and while using less battery.

runningman3433 said:

you gotta root it to get jellybean installed. i lovejellybean!

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+1 for Jelly Bean. It flat out blows Ice Cream Sandwich out of the water, and ICS is awesome. JB is awesomer and it's only available for rooted devices. I am also a huge proponent of backups... they have saved my hide more than once!

I think that, for the Galaxy Nexus in particular, the better question is "Why not root it?"

It's very easy to do (even doing it the hard way without the automated tools), it's incredibly hard to brick, and it gives you access to so many features. You get to play with custom ROMS (it can be a bit scary at first, but once you get your feet wet, you'll be hooked), and you can use apps that can completely backup your device (make full NANDroid backups from recovery, and/or use Titanium Backup to backup your apps with all their data intact). One of the big things in my opinion, is simply being able to use a program like AdFree to block advertisements in webpages and even banners in apps (some don't like the practice of blocking ads, but personally, if the app is good, I'll buy the full or donate version), and to be able to have a firewall running on the device like with Avast! Mobile Security.

And of course, there's Jelly Bean. It's awesome, and I totally recommend at least testing it out even if you don't stick with it until it's an official release.

g nexta said:

You guys are really wanting me to try the rooted life! But I'm scared. When I've looked at the rooting process, it looked very intimidating, like I need to be a developer. Almost like one keystroke could destroy my OS.
And Verizon strongly discouraged rooting, saying it invalidates the warranty, and maybe other things? One reason I'm concerned is that I'm here now replacing the phone for free (after speaker/microphone damage) because of warranty and insurance, but if it was rooted, I may have been screwed out of hundreds of dollars.

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Technically, yes unlocking and rooting will void your warranty. But if you unroot, lock it, and do a factory reset before sending it in, they'll never know anyway. There's the possibility that if the phone is damaged badly enough, that won't be an option. But in some of those cases people have sent in their phones and gotten a replacement with no problems anyway. The big thing is the insurance company doesn't want to keep reissuing devices because some bonehead screwed up their phone trying to root it.

Screwing up the Galaxy Nexus during the root process is incredibly difficult. Bricking it would take you pulling the battery out of the device at one particular point in the process.... pretty unlikely (and I'm not completely certain that it would be completely bricked at that point... someone else would know better).

The rooting process looks very daunting. But here's my advice. Read the guides on how to do it manually. This will give you a decent understanding of what's actually being done to your phone at any given point. Understanding the workings of it does a lot to take away the intimidation. Then, when you think you have a grasp on it, choose one of the automated tools, and follow the guide for that tool to the letter. The vast probability is that you'll be golden without a hiccup. But if you do have a problem, you have a great community at your disposal that can help you out.

If all of that still sounds too risky to you, then perhaps rooting just isn't for you. No big deal. Don't feel pressured either way. It has its risks, but it also has rewards. All you have to decide is if the rewards outweigh the risks.

One other reason to root, unfortunately thanks to Apple's litigious ways, pretty soon an OTA will be going out to all GNex's in order to dumb down Google search on the phone. If you root, you will be able to hang on to the full power search, ie the way Google meant it to be. And with Jelly Bean going out, this power has been even more improved (but will probably also be dumbed down prior to official release).

I'd be willing to bet there's fewer returns due to people F'ing up their Nexus during the root/unlock process vs. other phones simply due to the ease which it can be done.

Most phones require some exploit to gain root access which is where the potential to screw something up is the highest. The Nexus makes the process much more simple and lowers the chances.

Read up and go for it! You'll never look back.

ok so doing what i should not have done being clueless on rooting.....i did it anyway. I want to remove superuser because i fear that it will keep me from getting a jellybean OTA update. i am running 4.0.4 and i think i unrooted it but superuser is stuck on there and i cant get rid of it. I just want to make sure that i will get jellybean. am i in trouble? is there a way to go back to the way it came out of the box and start over?

You'll want/need to keep Superuser to grant apps root permission. Do not delete it.

Also, forget about the OTA. There will be a version available well before an OTA is pushed, and I'm not talking about the GSM nandroid versions currently out there, even though they're pretty solid.

The source code for JB will be out shortly and you can run a proper JB ROM then.

As a side note, never except an OTA once rooted, and yes, if you desire you can revert your phone back to stock although I'd recommend spending some time on a custom ROM before you make that decision.

i think that i unrooted my phone...<--- not even sure. i tried running clockwork for instance and it says superuser denied access. i am at the point where if i am not wise enough to keep the superuser thing and update my rom myself i should probably be back on stock 4.0.4 and wait for verizon to release a 4.1. am i wrong on that. if so how and where can I get a 4.1 build and install it/then leave it alone so that i dont feel like i messed something up.

any advice is really appreciated

g nexta said:

I need to transfer everything to my newly "undamaged"nex I ordered from vzw. I know there's debate about the gnex... Why should I root? Is it just for developers? (I'm merely your typical dude, though I know this gnex future is going hard.....)

Click to expand...

Go for it! I'm as green as they come regarding rooting/unlocking and I did it, so how hard can it be? Here's a simple guide that may help you:

How To Root the Samsung Galaxy Nexus (One Click Method) (LTE and GSM Versions) - TheUnlockrTheUnlockr

As far as ROMs go, try Bugless Beast or Vicious, and thet'll have everything you need to get started. Also, Wugs Toolkit is a must for first-timers. You'll thank everyone for this after you do it!

What they dont know wont hurt 'em. If you gotta call Big Red about something, you can easily unroot, flash back to stock, and lock that bad boy back up using Wugs Toolkit (now known as Galaxy Nexus Root Toolkit, I believe) . They won't even know you rooted if you do that.

It's a big step, so don't rush into something you may not feel comfortable with yet. I only did it 'cause I didn't want to wait another FIVE FREAKING MONTHS for my phone to get the updates it should have got immediately!

I hope I'm not sounding bitter here...

so if i use the Galaxy Nexus Tool Kit...superuser wont deny it permissions and allow me to return to a stock 4.0.4?

g nexta said:

Does rooting and/or unrooting involve reconfiguring everything, like backing up and restoring, adjusting all the settings in all the apps and widgets alllll over again? (because that shit alone can take a week)

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When you unlock and root your phone, you'll have to backup everything you possibly can, and that includes the stuff on the "external" SD card partition. In the process of unlocking, it'll wipe all data on the device. And yes you'll have to set everything up again afterward. It is a little bit of a pain, but just plan accordingly and it's not that bad.

After you're unlocked and rooted though, things get so much easier. If you wanna swap ROMs or what have you, you'll have been able to make Titanium Backups of all your apps, and you'll also have been able to make a full NANDroid backup of your phone. On the new ROM you'll be able to restore pretty much everything as you wanted it, and if you ever want to go back to the previous one, that NANDroid will restore your phone to the point it was made as if nothing had happened to it.

If you want to re-lock and unroot your phone however, I believe that will wipe all data again. But if you're doing that, it's probably because you need to get the device replaced anyway.

A few tips for preparing to unlock:
Backup everything in your SD card. If it won't transfer over the USB cable or you can't see the files you need on your PC, use Airdroid or something similar. If the folder starts with a period (.) and is still hidden, use a file manager like ES File Manager to remove the period, and then move the file (just remember to replace the period when restoring the file to your phone). This is also a good time to weed out anything you don't need taking up space on your phone, like music you never listen to.

Take screenshots of your homescreens, including your expanded folders, app drawer, and any app that you may have had to configure to look as you wanted it. That way you have that reference to set things back up.

Check in the options of apps to see if they have a backup option. Notepad type apps, often have an export to SD option. Export bookmarks if you can/want, though if they're in the default browser and are saved to your account those will synch back up.