Since when is unlocking bootloader a requirement to root a device?

[Teofel Ervenge]

When did unlocking bootloader become a requirement to root? Is there a specific reason it became a requirement or what? Is it possible to root a new samsung device today without unlocking bootloader?

 

[The_Chief]

I had to unlock the bootloader on my original Motorola Droid in order to root it. That was in 2009.

 

[ocnbrze]

When did unlocking bootloader become a requirement to root? Is there a specific reason it became a requirement or what? Is it possible to root a new samsung device today without unlocking bootloader?

it has always been.....especially on a samsung device. on other phones like the HTC Evo 4G (my very first device i rooted) you had to obtain s-off (basically getting s-off is like unlocking the bootloader) in order to gain root. so it has always been the way of rooting for most phones. plus nowadays, security gets tighter and tighter making it harder to root. it is the way of technology. and manufacturers want to have the ultimate secured phone. rooting bypasses security making the phone vulnerable if one is not careful.

the only samsung device that one can unlock the bootloader are the sammy phones with exynos chip. those with snapdragon chips will have their bootloaders locked.

if you want to root a phone, get a pixel phone.

 

[Davdi]

There are a few cases where rooting is a requirement for the apps to function correctly -Kali nethunter and other pen-testing apps do need root to function at all. https://www.androidauthority.com/how-to-install-kali-nethunter-android-896887/

 

[The_Chief]

Yes but the counterpoint is that payment apps like Samsung or Google Wallet, and virtually all financial and banking apps, will not work on a rooted device. It's a trade-off between what rooting gains and what is lost. Quite frankly, every reason I ever had to root & install custom ROMs is now part of the stock Android experience.

 

[tube517]

Why do you need root? You can do a lot of things without root that you could not do before

 

[Hadron]

Some older devices used hacks to get past the bootloader lock (e.g. my original HTC Desire: HTC did launch an official bootloader unlock, but only after the phone had been out for a year). But bootloader unlocking provided a cleaner way of doing things and solved the problem of hacks ceasing to work after software updates, so was a better solution wherever it was available.

If you have a recent Samsung then in most of the world you can unlock the bootloader, which means no need to rely on hackery. The problem is that North American models not only don't have unlockable bootloaders (probably at the behest of control freak carriers) but that Samsung have gone to great lengths to make it near impossible to do any other way. So for most models the sort of exploit that would have worked previously is no longer available.

I'm afraid the if you are in the States and interested in rooting the best advice I can give is to buy a different brand (and check first, especially if you are thinking of buying through a carrier).

 

[nickdalzell]

All modern and older Motorola phones are rootable and unlockable but they made it a process that's quite long and requires going to their website and entering a ton of jargon.

I last rooted my Nexus 6 way back in 2015, and this is the screen I got after trying anything Nougat+. Marshmallow was fine, but any 'modern-ish' version of Android produced this screen and it refused to boot. I know of no way to bypass this and I'm certain it's some Google attempt to crap on the root users. Something SafetyNet related I can only guess

It was NOT corrupt, all the ROM installs said it passed and I just got this after rebooting from recovery. I hate Google. All the forums said 'ignore it it goes away in ten seconds' but mine never went past this screen so I gave up rooting afterwards. Pressing power only turned the phone off or rebooted back into that screen. I can only imagine the hurdles of rooting something Android 10+ if it's even possible.

 

[Davdi]

Thiat might me Moto specific, I've rooted an HTC 10 EVO (Bolt) on Nougat without any problem.

 

[nickdalzell]

The Evo was from 2011. Those you could root without a PC back in the day. I miss those days.

 

[MustangLife]

Back in the KitKat (Android 4) days it was not required to unlock the bootloader. I think some folks forget about those times.

Unlocking bootloader lets you change to which operating system is launched, install/remove operating systems in your device, etc. While rooting gives you root/admin right INSIDE the operating system.

So I'm curious what did change over the years that requires unlocked bootloader which wipes data.

I remember basic rooting was so easy, a super su file/folder and all is well

 

[nickdalzell]

I'm still trying to figure out what they did to produce that stupid screen ^^ you get when you attempt to root any modern device. I never could get past it. If that padlock is yellow, which happens just by unlocking the bootloader, it eventually boots a minute later. But if red, it outright refuses. That happened since 6.0 on my Nexus 6. Never found a fix. Nothing online helps...they say 'just wait 10 seconds or hit power' and all that did was nothing...power just rebooted back into that screen. The device was NOT corrupt it's just Google hates root. I don't even know if rooting is possible given multiple devices running modern Android did the same thing. Red padlock saying it's corrupt and not trusted and refuses to do anything.