Need to root an Android phone, is it safe?

Lionel Muller wrote:

Are you sure rooting uses an "unpatched exploit"?

If you have a device which allows unlocking the bootloader, you can
install a 3rd party ROM (and optionally root the device) without needing
to find an exploit. I have not found the need to do this for several years.

But AFAIK, if you have a locked bootloader, then the apps which "break
in" to allow you to root the device, rely on exploits - perhaps there's
a way using ADB from a recovery bootloader?

I know very little about this apart from on Nexus devices which freely
allow it.

My perception (which could be wrong) is that rooting is just root which
isn't an unpatched exploit except on iOS devices (because Apple forbids
root).

For alt.comp.os.windows-10,alt.windows7.general Andy Burns wrote:


f you have a device which allows unlocking the bootloader, you can
install a 3rd party ROM (and optionally root the device) without needing
to find an exploit. I have not found the need to do this for several years.

But AFAIK, if you have a locked bootloader, then the apps which "break
in" to allow you to root the device, rely on exploits - perhaps there's
a way using ADB from a recovery bootloader?

I know very little about this apart from on Nexus devices which freely
allow it.

The way I feel about root is the same as if Microsoft wouldn't let me be an
Admin on Windows, or if Canonical wouldn't allow that on Ubuntu.

To me, the advantage of rooting is that I like to keep an organized phone
without bloatware and spyware.

So I remove all the stuff I don't want, which needs root.
I don't use Google Play so I disable it and the Google Framework.
Of course, that makes YouTube stop, but AT New Pipe works BETTER (way way
way better) than YouTube anyway, and it doesn't have ads, so, that doesn't
matter.

Also I use Titanium Backup, which doesn't require root but which works
better with root.

All that having been said, I think it's the CARRIER who might lock the
device, not the manufacturer nor the maker of the operating system.

On 7/3/2017 6:44 AM, John Doe wrote:
Yousuf Khan wrote:
Which root kit tool did you use? Is the one I listed, Kingo
Root, trustable?

Not that one, but I am not sure which one. It is the one that
Team Win Recovery Project (TWRP) installs.

Yeah, actually Kingo Root, once it can't root your device tells you to
use the TWRP images too. So now I'm trying the TWRP, but my phone
doesn't seem to be in the list of phones supported. What am I supposed
to do now?

Yousuf Khan

On 7/3/2017 7:29 AM, Lionel Muller wrote:
All that having been said, I think it's the CARRIER who might lock the
device, not the manufacturer nor the maker of the operating system.

That's interesting, so do you think if I unlock the phone, that it will
also make root available?

In alt.comp.os.windows-10 Yousuf Khan wrote:
On 7/3/2017 7:29 AM, Lionel Muller wrote:
All that having been said, I think it's the CARRIER who might lock the
device, not the manufacturer nor the maker of the operating system.

That's interesting, so do you think if I unlock the phone, that it will
also make root available?

They're unrelated. Root is whether you have full superuser access on
the phone, unlocked is whether you can use the device on alternate
carriers.

For alt.comp.os.windows-10,alt.windows7.general Yousuf Khan wrote:


All that having been said, I think it's the CARRIER who might lock the
device, not the manufacturer nor the maker of the operating system.

That's interesting, so do you think if I unlock the phone, that it will
also make root available?

Two different things.

The carrier locks the phone so that you can only use one carrier.

That's not at all the same thing as being root.

Nowadays, I don't know anyone with a carrier-locked phone.
I'm sure they exist, but almost nobody has them so it's kind of a moot
question unless YOU happen to have a carrier-locked phone.

If you do, there are ways to unlock them, but let's not go down that rabbit
hole until/unless you need it as it's a completely separate question from
rooting.

Your best bet is comp.mobile.android

Yousuf Khan wrote:

John Doe wrote:
Yousuf Khan wrote:

Which root kit tool did you use? Is the one I listed,
Kingo Root, trustable?

Not that one, but I am not sure which one. It is the one
that Team Win Recovery Project (TWRP) installs.

Yeah, actually Kingo Root, once it can't root your device
tells you to use the TWRP images too. So now I'm trying the
TWRP, but my phone doesn't seem to be in the list of phones
supported. What am I supposed to do now?

I doubt that TWRP must be involved. I would ask in the
Android group recommended by another reply author. There are
also user forums on the web. Post back once you figure it
out.

I believe TWRP is for making backups. In order to make
complete backups, you must root your smartphone/tablet
(ultraport).

I have had no trouble using TWRP on a Samsung Galaxy Tab, but
currently not using it. For flashing ROMs and all that, you
must enable "developer mode" on your ultraport while using
utilities from your PC. But I am no expert.

My current ultraport is a dirt cheap but very functional
Motorola Moto E XT1528. Have not even used TWRP on it. And
apparently somehow Verizon (the default wireless provider)
keeps the ROM from being flashed.