Basic Concepts of and Safety of Rooting/Unlocking
Hi, I am a simple phone user who has just been overwhelmed with roadblocks while researching a new phone and service. I'm coming off of a Verizon contract and looking for a less expensive alternative. Everything about Cricket's plan looked great until I ran across fine print that they don't support mobile wifi hotspot unless you pay at least $20 more per month. I had never heard of mobile hotspot being regulated until now so this came as a shock to me. Based on my historical usage, which is only as a backup strategy when clients don't have wifi to connect my diagnostic equipment while on remote service calls, I may use 100MB total in a year over the course of four visits. So I barely use the hotspot feature and will not be buying the Cricket plan or any other if it means paying more than I already do with Verizon (just to use the data I've already purchased).
My research has brought me to the conclusion that the best course of action is a new Nexus 5X and going through the unlocking/rooting/disabling hotspot flag procedure I've read so much about. For the time being, and considering I become more confused the more I read about this, I'd like to ask a few really basic questions. IOW, I don't understand much of the discussions I've read (which have been 1000's of posts).
Is there a nickname or procedural name for backing up the phone when it is brand new out of the box, such that I can reset it to 100% stock if something goes wrong later? I am not worried if it deletes any apps or contacts as I will reload them as necessary. I'm talking about getting it 100% stock such that it would be in fair reselling condition or make a good place to start over with another rooting effort if the first attempt goes awry.
I am using a hybrid type Casio Android phone now; the phone's inner weirdness has apparently caused Verizon to halt updates so it's stuck on 4.1.2. I'm OK with the older OS. The latest Android OS is not important to me unless my next phone simply can't operate without continued updates. Can I upgrade a new 5X's Android OS to whatever the latest version that's available from Google before starting the root procedure, then lock out or somehow decline any future system updates? If so, is this a reasonable approach for me given I want to do as little modding as possible? I lived with 4.1.2 for years so my theory is that my simple needs will not require the latest / greatest capabilities a few years from now. I ask because it appears that a rooted phone needs to be returned to some more stock form before updating the OS. This seems like it could be a real hassle down the line.
I'll save more pointed questions for later once this sinks in. Thank you to all who read this. Any help is very appreciated.
Hi, I am a simple phone user who has just been overwhelmed with roadblocks while researching a new phone and service. I'm coming off of a Verizon contract and looking for a less expensive alternative. Everything about Cricket's plan looked great until I ran across fine print that they don't support mobile wifi hotspot unless you pay at least $20 more per month. I had never heard of mobile hotspot being regulated until now so this came as a shock to me. Based on my historical usage, which is only as a backup strategy when clients don't have wifi to connect my diagnostic equipment while on remote service calls, I may use 100MB total in a year over the course of four visits. So I barely use the hotspot feature and will not be buying the Cricket plan or any other if it means paying more than I already do with Verizon (just to use the data I've already purchased).
My research has brought me to the conclusion that the best course of action is a new Nexus 5X and going through the unlocking/rooting/disabling hotspot flag procedure I've read so much about. For the time being, and considering I become more confused the more I read about this, I'd like to ask a few really basic questions. IOW, I don't understand much of the discussions I've read (which have been 1000's of posts).
Is there a nickname or procedural name for backing up the phone when it is brand new out of the box, such that I can reset it to 100% stock if something goes wrong later? I am not worried if it deletes any apps or contacts as I will reload them as necessary. I'm talking about getting it 100% stock such that it would be in fair reselling condition or make a good place to start over with another rooting effort if the first attempt goes awry.
I am using a hybrid type Casio Android phone now; the phone's inner weirdness has apparently caused Verizon to halt updates so it's stuck on 4.1.2. I'm OK with the older OS. The latest Android OS is not important to me unless my next phone simply can't operate without continued updates. Can I upgrade a new 5X's Android OS to whatever the latest version that's available from Google before starting the root procedure, then lock out or somehow decline any future system updates? If so, is this a reasonable approach for me given I want to do as little modding as possible? I lived with 4.1.2 for years so my theory is that my simple needs will not require the latest / greatest capabilities a few years from now. I ask because it appears that a rooted phone needs to be returned to some more stock form before updating the OS. This seems like it could be a real hassle down the line.
I'll save more pointed questions for later once this sinks in. Thank you to all who read this. Any help is very appreciated.
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