Why you should pause and read before installing Lollipop 5.1

[deesugar]

Honestly rooted phones are a lot safer to work with. With a rooted phone you can have as many backups of the phone as you want, like a save in Apple's Time Machine and then go back to that save if something goes wrong. Having a complete backup like that is way more reassuring and easier to deal with then the non-rooted BS.

Google should really offer a way to backup up your phone before an update or for safe keeping. It's old technology that was available a long time ago and it should have never been phased out.

 

[doogald]

Honestly rooted phones are a lot safer to work with.

No, it's definitely less safe if you care about the security of your data. (And remember the data on your phone is not just private info about you, but also about your contacts and people you correspond with as well.) If a phone is rooted it's going to be far easier to steal data if you lose your phone or it is stolen. Trivially so in most cases. And if a phone is rooted, it is going to be far more vulnerable to malware.

Google should really offer a way to backup up your phone before an update or for safe keeping. It's old technology that was available a long time ago and it should have never been phased out.

Better answer. <rant>Android should have a backup and restore process that allows you to factory reset and bring it right back like iOS does. Basically, backup your data and settings, then, after a factory reset, restore your settings, reinstall your apps from the play store (that part Android does), and then restore your app data as each app is restored. The inability to restore most settings in particular is a pain (BT pairings, ringtones, notification tones and volumes, etc.) Every single setting you can get to from the settings app should be restore-able.</rant>

Android has never had that.

 

[deesugar]

No, it's definitely less safe if you care about the security of your data. (And remember the data on your phone is not just private info about you, but also about your contacts and people you correspond with as well.) If a phone is rooted it's going to be far easier to steal data if you lose your phone or it is stolen. Trivially so in most cases. And if a phone is rooted, it is going to be far more vulnerable to malware.

I'm afraid you don't know much about root because you can turn it on and off (once you're rooted) simply with any of the many apps or widgets available and only use the root functionality when you need to do something. You can also set specific permissions for your data and/or apps.

 

[doogald]

I'm afraid you don't know much about root because you can turn it on and off (once you're rooted) simply with any of the many apps or widgets available and only use the root functionality when you need to do something. You can also set specific permissions for your data and/or apps.

But once you set permission for an app like Chrome, you've set it and most people are unlikely to go back to turn it off. I rooted my first Android phone in May 2010, so I think I know a thing or two about it.

But, I'll just link to someone who knows a lot more about it than you or me: [Q] security of rooting apps and custom roms - Post #3 - XDA Forums

 

[deesugar]

But once you set permission for an app like Chrome, you've set it and most people are unlikely to go back to turn it off. I rooted my first Android phone in May 2010, so I think I know a thing or two about it.

But, I'll just link to someone who knows a lot more about it than you or me: [Q] security of rooting apps and custom roms - Post #3 - XDA Forums

Ha, that's funny you chose to link to Jcase! He's one of the most active members out there rooting the Moto phones including some of the Droids

First of all if you're going to go the paranoid route then it's not safe to put your personal information on anything that connects to the Internet stock or rooted. Don't use the cloud, write everything on paper and lock everything in a safe. Also there's no guarantee you wont have exploits and problems with a stock phone and stock updates. But there's a reason why people like your friend Jcase root phones. It gives you the awesome ability to customize your phone and allows you to:

1. Remove Preinstalled Crapware and bloat
2. Back Up Your Phone for Seamless Transitions
3. Block Ads in Any App
4. Boost Your Phone's Speed and Battery Life
5. Automate Everything
6. Unlock Hidden Features and Install "Incompatible" Apps
7. Truly Own Your Device


And yes with great power comes great responsibility but you also get to learn a lot about Linux and how phones work. It's the most fun way to learn about programming, how OS's work and the interaction between hardware and software. You can brick your phone but nowadays there is no "tech" in the back of a Sprint or Verizon store to say it's due to rooting or it's your fault. They just send you a new phone, I should know I just got my new phone last week from trying to sideload 5.1 to see if I could reset the Force LTR bug.

But at this point it just comes down to personal choice. Those who are happy to have Google, Verizon or Moto to tell them what their phone can do and what software will be loaded are free to do so. But there is a big group of people who like to tinker, customize and push the possibilities of what their phone can do.

It's the same as some people like to turn wrenches and soup up their cars and those who prefer to leave it stock and take it to a mechanic when something goes wrong.

 

[doogald]

Ha, that's funny you chose to link to Jcase! He's one of the most active members out there rooting the Moto phones including some of the Droids

Not funny - very deliberate. Believe me, I know exactly who JCase is. (I don't think he's published an app that can root a Moto phone for quite a while now, though. Sunshine last rooted the OG Moto X and 2013 Droids, and maybe the OG Moto G, until 4.4.4 came out just about last year. Nothing since then.)

 

[deesugar]

(I don't think he's published an app that can root a Moto phone for quite a while now.)

Once you have found the exploit to root a phone there really isn't much else to do unless there is an update that patches it. Especially since the Turbo hasn't had an update for a very long time. Other people came up with easier ways to use the exploit and root the phone in a more automated way using scripts but that's about all you can really do.

 

[smokie11]

I had the opportunity today to spend some time with one of my sons who happens to own a Droid Turbo, he asked me if I had updated to LP and I said no, he told me he did the OTA update to LP about 2 weeks ago and was very happy with it. My first question was how is your battery life? He said about the same. I asked him if there was any one feature that clearly in his opinion made it better than KK and he said no, he liked the overall effect like eye candy, he likes it because is new, different and the latest. Fair enough, that is certainly a good enough reason to change...but not for me. Next we spent about the next 10-15 minutes opening programs that we shared in common also going to different web sites phones side by side. The results were this: KK was slightly faster most of the time (1 second on average) a few times LP was faster (fractions of a second) The truth is exactly what I saw on You Tube videos: right now as of today KK is overall slightly faster than LP. I would like to emphasize my son is very happy with LP, he likes how it looks and that is fine. Reality TODAY demonstrated to me that KK is faster than LP. No big deal faster, just a little faster. So this ART vs Dalvik is an area where until developers actually rewrite their programs to take full advantage of AOT ahead of time compiling vs just in time to avoid those programs that today don't play nice with ART. The future it seems belongs to ART but in the present Dalvik is superior. Just my opinion ok guys don't get all crazy and worked up about it. Just remember you know a lot more about this than me...the only thing that matters to me is what I see when I use my phone, not lines of binary code.

 

[chaoswyrm]

If you're having patch problems, I feel bad for you, son. I got 99 problems, but Lollipop ain't one.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[StormnNJ]

After a cache wipe performance is much better.

 

[smokie11]

Those are the highest numbers I have ever seen, don't know why a cache wipe would speed up phone the purpose of a cache is to speed up apps by storing information that you use repeatedly. Great numbers though.

 

[mobrules]

Got replacement today that is kitkat. Plan to root but is there an app to disable or a setting that I can change to disregard the update until I can root?

 

[mobrules]

Anybody? Looking for answer to above post. Any help is appreciated.

 

[mobrules]

So after receiving the replacement phone of course the update wanted to push. Called tier 2 and got someone that gave a crap. They helped me disable the moto app so the update won't push. Back on kitkat but for me I'm happy. Double the battery life and stronger 4g signal right away. On lollipop it was around - 120 and now it's - 100.

 

[this_is_nascar]

So after receiving the replacement phone of course the update wanted to push. Called tier 2 and got someone that gave a crap. They helped me disable the moto app so the update won't push. Back on kitkat but for me I'm happy. Double the battery life and stronger 4g signal right away. On lollipop it was around - 120 and now it's - 100.

How did you disable this?

 

[mobrules]

How did you disable this?

Here's the things I disabled.