Has anyone ever rooted thier Android devices?

[Harold Mansfield]

So I've been studying network security and penetration testing. One of the tools is Kali Linux NetHunter, and I saw that you could install it on both a Nexus 5x and Nexus 7, but only if rooted. Well, I have both of those and I wanted it. So I rooted both of my devices.


Rooting is the process of allowing users of smartphones, tablets and other devices running the Android mobile operating system to attain privileged control (known as root access) over various Android subsystems. As Android uses the Linux kernel, rooting an Android device gives similar access to administrative (superuser) permissions as on Linux or any other Unix-like operating system such as FreeBSD or OS X.

Went well on the 7. Thought I bricked the 5x, but recovered it and soldiered on and got it it done.

I'm new to rooting devices, but right away one of the benefits is root access apps that give you more control than non rooted apps.

Since I'm increasingly more tin foil hat about my security and being tracked, the firewall apps that allow and disallow apps to connect to the internet are pretty sweet. Also, being able to actually uninstall bloatware ( even though it's not that bad on the Nexus devices) is a plus.

Was wondering if anyone else has rooted their devices and have any tips, warnings, or things they like to do with theirs.

[twoodal]

I have not rooted, but did jailbreak my old iPhone. Would not recommend. I've heard rooting is different but don't know a whole lot about it

[Harold Mansfield]

I have not rooted, but did jailbreak my old iPhone. Would not recommend. I've heard rooting is different but don't know a whole lot about it

What happened on the iPhone that makes you not recommend? Just curious.

[Brian Altenhofel]

I used to root my devices, but over time there have been fewer reasons to do so. The last time I rooted a phone was a Galaxy S3 because many of the things I wanted Tasker to do required root access early on, but I didn't need to root my S6 for those features. The last time I installed Cyanogenmod was on an HTC Evo.

At one time, the primary reason many gave for rooting their device was to use Titanium Backup to backup all of their apps and app settings, but that hasn't been an issue since the S3 at least. (When I upgraded from an S3 to and S6, everything migrated over as soon as I logged in with my Google account.)

If you're wanting to use a firewall app, there is no need for root access after Lollipop (released late 2014).

[Harold Mansfield]

My primary reason was to install KaliLinux Nethunter. Other than that, just seeing what other benefits or risks it offers.
I was also interested in checking out Copperhead OS, but maybe when I get another phone and don't need the 5X for anything anymore.

What I really wanted to root was my $50 Kindle Fire. That was an acceptable risk, but everything I read said it couldn't be done on the current version of Fire OS, and trying to use the method for previous versions would definitely brick it.

So I moved to the Nexus 7 and tutorials were everywhere for that. Once that went well, the 5x was sitting right there, so I tried it and it eventually worked. Not sure if it's related, but call quality is awesome now.