root or not?

[Akashroy]

I have got galaxy j2 recently and heard about rooting and very curious to know weather it will be good or bad for me and my phone.will i be able to get my warranty back???? i am confused about weather i will be able to go to normal state as after a factory reset of a brand new phone.help please. Thanks

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[Crashdamage]

First, you need to determine if you must root the phone to accomplish a particular thing you need or want to do. Or, if not then maybe you just want to experiment. Nothing wrong with that, but there's some things you should know and consider first to avoid unnecessary grief.

Rooting grants full administrator permissions to the user, rather than limited user permissions. The good is that this allows you to do basically anything to any files on the device. It allows full control of everything on the device. The bad is that it also means you have full permission to muck up anything on the device.

It also reduces the security of the phone somewhat. The #1 rule of Linux security is Never Run as Root unless necessary to perform administrative tasks. Rooting breaks some built-in security features of Android like sandboxed apps, user permissions, etc. After rooting you are responsible for securing your phone so be prepared to do the work necesssary if you want a secure device. Do some research, install and configure a firewall etc.

I used to root every phone I had. It happens that right now I'm using a Nexus 4 which is rooted and running Marshmallow 6.0. But I usually no longer root my daily driver phone that I cannot do without. As hardware and software has improved the need to root has declined. Now I do not recommend rooting unless you have a specific need or just want to experiment on a spare device.

If you decide you really do need and want to root, first do a LOT of reading. See if there's a subforum here for your phone. You should check out the XDA Developer forum for information too, but be sure to read first and post later there as it's not a very n00b-friendly site. And as always, for questions this forum and Google search are your friends.

Be aware there is some chance a mistake could 'brick' your phone (make it unusable). Make sure you understand why you're rooting, the exact procedures required and all the terminology. And it's absolutely critical to have a recovery plan and backups in case things go bad.

DO NOT try to install a ROM that is intended for any phone except your exact model! If you have questions post back here before proceeding and someone will help. Don't forget to do backups! Read about nandroid backup.

Until you are confident that you have everything above ready and understood, you're not yet ready to root.

 

[Golfdriver97]

Welcome to the fourms.

heard about rooting and very curious

Android has evolved a lot since it's inception. Leaps and bound have been made even from Android 4.0 to now. Rooting is now to the point where it isn't needed as much as it used to be. Back in the 2.3 Gingerbread days, you needed root for almost anything. Nowadays, it's almost becoming unneeded.

First, you need to determine if you must root the phone to accomplish a particular thing you need or want to do.

I completely agree.

Rooting grants full administrator permissions to the user, rather than limited user permissions. The good is that this allows you to do basically anything to any files on the device. It allows full control of everything on the device. The bad is that it also means you have full permission to muck up anything on the device.

If you decide you really do need and want to root, first do a LOT of reading.

Take heed of what Crash is saying. To add to it, read on how to root, unroot, and how to get out of bad situations that are common. Read, read and read again. Look up different sources. Take a break from reading for a few days and reread everything.

I'm stressing this because there is nothing worse than doing this, and encountering a problem and going into a panic. When you panic, you don't think clearly. In my experience, don't do this late at night. Then, you are fatigued, and again, you aren't thinking clearly.

If you have questions post back here before proceeding and someone will help.

Very good tip.

For some further reading:
http://forums.androidcentral.com/am...-guide-you-ve-rooted-your-phone-now-what.html

http://forums.androidcentral.com/am...recoveries-versus-stock-there-difference.html

http://forums.androidcentral.com/am...00292-guide-how-use-your-custom-recovery.html

http://forums.androidcentral.com/am...h-your-custom-recovery-other-basics-twrp.html

http://forums.androidcentral.com/am...-how-flash-custom-recovery-clockwork-mod.html