Living unrooted?

[SerkTX]

Howdy,
I apologize if this is a topic that's been beat to death, I searched and couldn't find anything directly related, but my search skills aren't the greatest.
I've always rooted my Android devices, I currently have a Note 2, and am getting the itch for a Note 4, however I'm a long time AT&T customer. I'm considering either switching everything over to T-Mobile, or trying to make a go of it with an un-rooted device.
Other than just being able to say "Yeah, it's rooted" the main two things I wish to accomplish with rooting my device is to remove the bloatware, and do a full deep backup and if necessary restore of my device. Currently I use Titanium to accomplish both goals.
I just wanted to ask, is there a way to do both of those things on an un-rooted phone these days? The hassle of switching providers would be a real pain that I'd like to avoid if possible.

Thanks for any insight ya'll can provide!

(And yeah, aware of the option of buying a T-Mobile phone and running it on AT&T, but frankly if I'm gonna hafta do something that crazy, I'd like to start giving my monthly money to T-Mobile too. Don't wanna reward a company that pushes me away like that.)

 

[srkmagnus]

You can go into system settings > applications > sort by all > disable. The apps won't be deleted from your device, but will be removed from the app drawer and will not be running in the background. That's the extent of removing bloat on a non-rooted device such as the Note 4.

Let us know what you decide and how it works out for you.

 

[Closingracer]

I disable all my apps and etc and fine never rooting my phones. I've been AT&T the longest with android and only had t-mobile for 5 Months and now Verizon so I'm used to look bootloader so I am fine living with it

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

 

[jamezr]

I am not sure i would do anything different if i was rooted. I have all the blat disabled. Would be nice to be able to do a TB complete backup just incase.

 

[plumcrazy]

i dont care enough about backing up my phone and dont care at all about the bloat, so i gave up rooting a while ago

 

[Jdane07]

Running a rooted note 4 and loving it!

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[motoguy1]

Same boat. I'm within the 14 day return period on my Note4, so I've considered returning it, getting the TMobile version, etc. I've rooted my Android tablet, and past couple of iPhones have been jailbroken. When I do an honest assessment, I don't know that I've gained a benefit, other than saying "I've done it". Ok, I used MyWi on the iPhone pretty extensively. But aside from that, I've played with some "visual' aspects, but nothing else.

I've decided that switching to a non-ATT version isn't worth the hassle, and I'd likely not notice a difference. So, I'm just keeping bootlocked, non-rooted, ATT version and calling it good.

 

[beh]

I used to root my phones and use Titanium like you. But also like you I really only used it for backup and bloatware removal. In Kitkat you can disable most of the bloatware and those apps you can't you can delete the cache and data and they don't seem to interfear with the phone's operation. I use clouds to backup my phone data and list of installed programs. Sammymobile will allow you to download the OS if ever necessary. So the last 3 tablets and last two phones were not rooted and I didn't miss it at all. In addition, it is a heck of alot easier to get service with a phone that says "stock".

 

[Crispy]

There are 2 levels of modifications you can do with root/unlocked bootloader -

1. Run rooted apps like Greenify, Xposed, theme changers - these are mostly 100% risk free, don't affect stability of phone, and add features
2. Run custom roms - this is where lack if stability and features comes in, esp if you run AOSP roms

I do miss root because of this.

 

[muzzy996]

I've always run rooted devices and don't plan to stop. I totally understand that there's multiple camps out there. If you're in the must have root camp and want to stay on AT&T like I was then the only options at this time is either buy a T-Mobile phone outright and use your AT&T SIM in it or wait with the rest of the AT&T Note 4 users hoping for root to come. Who knows how long the wait will be but I'm surprised the bounty for root has risen to as high as it has and it has been this long without a resolution.

Personally I'm an impatient person, I rooted my brand new Note Pro within 2 hours of purchase. On my T-Mobile Note 4 I held out a little longer, long enough to get my purchase and unlock squared away . . a whole week and a half! LOL! My purchase route was getting the T-Mobile on contract through Costco, going back to a T-Mobile store to pay off the Jump plan balance, paying cellunlocker.net for an unlock code, unlocking, swapping in the AT&T SIM and then calling T-Mobile to cancel service. There are other ways to go about purchasing and I'm sure there are cheaper ways but I could care less, I had the means and the desire so thats what I did.

During the week or so without root it was clear to me that living without root wasn't going to work for me. I'm now on Dynamic Kat ROM and loving it. Lag is minimal, reserved to the typical samsung software issues with the recent apps button and the startup time for gallery access from within the camera application. Elsewhere on the device though performance is great and the customization within the ROM and via xposed modules is awesome. Absolutely no regrets with my purchase decision.

 

[razortaz18]

I have rooted every single device I've had that was rootable. Now I've got a Verizon Note 4 that I can't root. Honestly, I live that I CAN'T root it. Even with backups flashing new ROMs or never versions and constantly wiping my device got tiresome. Other than flashing ROMs, my big reason for root was for tethering. Guess what, FoxFi works awesome. I use three different bluetooth devices with my phone all the time. Now because I'm not flashing and wiping constantly, I don't need to re-pair them daily. I hope the Note 4 never gets root.....because if it does I'm gonna root. ☺. ...and I'll down that dark hole and become a flashaholic again.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[tclementi1]

I would upgrade if I were you but recc. Picking a different service also I was rooted on the note 2 and now have the note 4 I honestly don't miss root

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[LaTuFu]

Bloat can be disabled, and Google backs up the majority of data I need to retain nowadays, (if the app I am using doesn't already upload the stuff I am using to the cloud). I don't see the need to root any more as a result.