Back in the day - rooting Android phones and installing custom ROMs were such a big part of Android. I remember so well using titanium backup and Greenify and Cyanogenmod and the list goes on.

Is it still necessary to root in 2023 though?

I have been on vanilla Android without root access for the past couple of years and at this point most root features have made it into the vanilla Android OS. What are your thoughts?

  • Zak@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    Necessary is a matter of perspective, and what it is you need your device to do. Mine is that if you don’t have root (or equivalent) on a computer, you don’t really own it. That’s a philosophical point more than a practical one - I’d want root even if I didn’t currently have a use for it.

    Practically, here are some things I use root for in 2023:

    • Advanced charge controller - limit battery charge to extend service life. Some devices have a built-in option now, but it’s usually only a single switch for 85%. I usually set it to 60%.
    • Backup of apps with their data (Neo Backup), to install onto another device or after a factory reset - I don’t think there’s a way to do anything like this without root.
    • Mounting remote devices for access by arbitrary apps using EasySSHFS - I don’t think there’s a good equivalent.
    • Accessing exfat format external drives, like the SD cards in my camera using MiXPlorer’s built-in filesystem drivers. Android is an asshole for not supporting more filesystems. It’s Linux; the support already exists.
    • Hosts file ad blocking - DNS ad blocking is a viable alternative now.

    If something blocks me from using it with root, I’ll give it a 1-star review on Google Play and probably not use it even if I can get around the blocking. If my bank starts using more effective blocking, I will probably change banks.