I've not got round to trying to root a device yet, and before I root my Nexus 7 in order to access files on USB Flash drives, I'd like to check out a few points please?
I'd heard that Google had previously blocked rooted Android devices from renting movies, eg in Wired and this very forum. Could anyone confirm please if that's still the case, or has Google removed that block since?
Secondly, does anyone know if rooted Android devices are being blocked or restricted in any other way on the Play Store? Eg after rooting, would I still have access to (and be able to re-install) all the apps I'd previously installed from the Play Store, particularly paid apps, would previously-installed apps still show up in my Play account, and would they still be automatically updated? I'd suspect so, & sorry if it may seem obvious, but I want to verify this definitively before rooting.
And what about OS updates, I assume I'd have to do those myself manually thereafter?
Are there any other major disadvantages to rooting please, apart from wiping my existing data and perhaps voiding my warranty? (I'm aware it may be possible to unroot before making any warranty claim - unless of course the fault prevents that!)
I am 99% sure that the root block on movies has now been removed for Google Play Movies
Root does not effect you installing other apps, however certain apps may be root protected i.e. won't work on a rooted device, there are not many of these and most of them you can "hide" root to use.
Lennyuk said:
I am 99% sure that the root block on movies has now been removed for Google Play Movies
Root does not effect you installing other apps, however certain apps may be root protected i.e. won't work on a rooted device, there are not many of these and most of them you can "hide" root to use.
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Click to collapse
Cheers Lennyuk.
What about Play Store accounts, hopefully there's no indication of Google detecting rooted devices and disabling accounts or deleting apps from the accounts of people with rooted devices?
I really don't think Google cares. These devices are meant to be a stable platform that you can develop on, so they are going to expect people to root them.
Google don't care about root at all, people that do are usually OEM's (because they like an excuse to void warranty) and certain app makers like bskyb (they quote security reasons but deep down they just don't really understand root and are fearful of piracy)
Lennyuk said:
Google don't care about root at all, people that do are usually OEM's (because they like an excuse to void warranty) and certain app makers like bskyb (they quote security reasons but deep down they just don't really understand root and are fearful of piracy)
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Click to collapse
Great, thanks very much Lennyuk and pjohnson87. After the movie rental blocking, I thought I ought to check if any other restrictions had been imposed by Google, whether under pressure from app makers or for some other reason.
As long as I don't lose the ability to (re-)install paid apps from the Play Store, that's the main thing I'm concerned about!
Related
Any reasons not to "root" my Hero or dows it only has upsides?
If I set the cpe speed to max, would that make my Hero more "fragile", i.e. have a shorter life, etc?
Regards,
BTJ
Here I don't know if it's the superuser apk or just the rooting, but when I launch contacts once fully rooted, com.android.acore crashes when I launch contacts. Logs don't say anything useful to me
As far as I'm aware, you will not be able to download copy protected apps from the market (paid or not) if you have a rooted device - at least that was true of the ADP phone (Developers G1).
Regards,
Dave
I've been able to download protected apps once rooted.
You lose your guarentee
foxmeister said:
As far as I'm aware, you will not be able to download copy protected apps from the market (paid or not) if you have a rooted device - at least that was true of the ADP phone (Developers G1).
Regards,
Dave
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Click to collapse
hi foxmeister,
could you be more explicit please cause i was able to download app from the market even after rooting my phone. thx
I have no issues buying paid apps on my rooted phone. Because I am on a carrier or in a country that shouldn't have access to paid apps yet, I just have to insert the SIM card from a carrier where paid apps is supported and connect to Market over WiFi. Alternatively, being rooted means that you can also install Market Enabler, which is a 3rd party app that allows paid apps to show up regardless
Sawkes said:
You lose your guarentee
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. You dont. You can always un-root the phone so its all good.
deeren said:
hi foxmeister,
could you be more explicit please cause i was able to download app from the market even after rooting my phone. thx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I understand it, the issue relates to those paid apps which are "copy protected" and not all paid apps (all copy protected apps are paid apps, but not all paid apps are copy protected!).
Googles DRM scheme is to essentially to just install apps marked as copy protected to an area of the phone a regular user can't see. If you have root, you could then copy off the app and redistribute it, so they put a block on phones with root access being able to access copy protected apps.
Certainly there were lots of complaints that developers with ADP phones (essentially pre-rooted Developers G1) could not download their own copy protected apps from the market.
It may well be that the market app can't detect certain methods of rooting the phone, so perhaps this is not an issue any more.
Regards,
Dave
minogue said:
No. You dont. You can always un-root the phone so its all good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can only un-root your phone if it is actually working. If you want to return your phone because it doesn't power on any more (for example) you wouldn't be able to un-root it prior to return.
However, I doubt that HTC would spend too much time looking at whether or not a dead phone was rooted, and would probably just replace the unit and refurbish the old one.
Regards,
Dave
I take my Nexus 7 with me a lot of places, and those places don't always have wi-fi, the main problem with this is that a lot of the apps I have on my Nexus come from the FAOTD from the Amazon Appstore, and therefore are rendered completely useless when I'm not connected to wi-fi.
I realize this may be the wrong forum, but this is the device that I have, and the question that I have is "Is there any easy way to remove the DRM from these apps?" It's not like I've pirated them, so why shouldn't I be able to use them anywhere?
EDIT: Before I get crap for wanting to remove DRM, which would basically be pirating, all I really want to know is if there is a way around this, I'd really like to be able to use my tablet in locations without wi-fi.
PhreeqQitsikk said:
I take my Nexus 7 with me a lot of places, and those places don't always have wi-fi, the main problem with this is that a lot of the apps I have on my Nexus come from the FAOTD from the Amazon Appstore, and therefore are rendered completely useless when I'm not connected to wi-fi.
I realize this may be the wrong forum, but this is the device that I have, and the question that I have is "Is there any easy way to remove the DRM from these apps?" It's not like I've pirated them, so why shouldn't I be able to use them anywhere?
EDIT: Before I get crap for wanting to remove DRM, which would basically be pirating, all I really want to know is if there is a way around this, I'd really like to be able to use my tablet in locations without wi-fi.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While I don't know of a way to remove the DRM without acquiring modified versions... I do know of one trick. I believe if you've opened the said app while on wi-fi, it gives you a temporary license that lasts a small amount of time. (How long, I don't remember...) But each successful license extends the duration, until it becomes permanent, or near to it.
Though... I might be confused with the Play Store, or maybe they both do this, but I know for certain I read it.
Hello Good People of XDA
I have been a i9506 owner for quite long, had a 9100 before,
I am used to root and mess with apps to customize things to my wim,
at the best of my knowledge (I lack android programming skills, but I can do things with terminal and filesystems).
All that before to say I am not totally a noob, but my lack of technical knowledge might bite me there.
System wise, I am under 4.2.2, rooted, unknow sources are not allowed, system check for apps is allowed,
I have an antivirus (more than one, but only one works each day, just to be sure I don't miss things)...
My problem is that I recently found out that some apps, actually system apps, blocked
with Titanium backup, or with gemini app manager, or app quarantine,
were actually running anyway.
They are marked as blocked in my app manager, but can still be force closed,
and they appear in battery displays (most of these under the android system block, in the list of services/apps used),
and in process running when using Ccleaner apps.
Also, my battery display show GPS is activated, while when I go into options, all boxes are off or unticked.
I thus wonder what's happening?
How is it possible to have these schrödinger apps tamed and blocked like I want them.
I want these to shut down and only work when I DO ALLOW these, for them not to suck my battery or do unauthorized chores like tracking me when I don't want.
How is it possible that they even behave like that? In i9100, I never observed that in Android 4.0.
I wonder if Google didn't change the workings for making us unable to disactivate what we don't want to work, which was pissing them off.
They already change the permissions displays in the market so permissions as intrusive as "contacts/sms message/USB stockage" are considered "not relevant/important",
while they are depending on the announced display of the app.
But I don't want to go on the "conspiracy route" (I am not like that, I am a pragmatist and I just observe facts, like these apps, with sensitive access, not being able to be deactivated), so let's focus on the technical part:
such apps were Maps, Samsung sync adapters, NFC service , Google Agenda/Contact synchronisation, sysscope, context provider, etc.
That's a lots of things that are supposed to communicate to cloud or other devices, with feels lot like a gaping flaw in the armor...
I want a phone and a tool, not something that track me or put me at risk of being stolen by somebody with technical knowledge.
Am I alone?
Thanks for any insights.
Blocked apps still working
I don't know if my title was too unclear, so I would like to change the title but am unable to do so?
Is it please possible for a moderator to do it (with the title of this post)?
Thanks by advance.
I feel like it is a true problem not being able to block some apps,
or even more, to believe they are blocked while they perfectly perform in the background,
and display activity only in secondary reports, not under their respective "buttons"/information tabs.
I wonder abourt the technical reason to such behavior.
Then delete those apps or block some of the permissions with an app (eg Privacyguard).
It's my opinion that an antivirus app (at the moment) is a waste of resources. Just think before you install something. Also if you are worried about security, you should always run the latest version of Android. 4.2.2 is an old version.
Lennyz1988 said:
Then delete those apps or block some of the permissions with an app (eg Privacyguard).
It's my opinion that an antivirus app (at the moment) is a waste of resources. Just think before you install something. Also if you are worried about security, you should always run the latest version of Android. 4.2.2 is an old version.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your answer.
Well I don't want to delete system app when they might be useful at time.
I just want them to behave correctly, that is, not work when they are blocked.
That is not a solution to say "uninstall this", while the true problem is Android general behavior here.
I didn't installed system apps, they came with the thing, and all of them are not bloatware.
"NFC service" is something I want to keep for when I am ready to use it,
but I don't want to let it free and unleashed because of the opening it leaves on my phone.
Same goes for bluetooth, synced backups and so on.
I don't want backups on the cloud, so I deactivated the options, and blocked the apps.
Why are they running? It is not normal!
And my old version is maybe not secure, but actually trying 4.3 hasn't changed anything,
and I only suspect this to be some "new feature".
The antivirus is a waste for scans, I agree, still it has useful firewall features that justifies in itself its uses.
I'm thinking of purchasing a MOJO for one of my family members, and would like to know the benefits of rooting the system. Also, are there many risks involved with rooting?
Thanks.
Hi,
Rooting the MOJO will allow you to download all apps from the Google Play Store. That was the primary reason I rooted mine (and the reason the folks at Mad Catz say to do so ).
The number of apps you can download is very limited unless you do so. It is not necessary, but helpful.
That being said, rooting also allows you to make your device much more useful (tweaking, removing unwanted system apps, etc...).
I haven't had any issue with mine since I did the rooting. You can always unroot!
In sum, if you want the person to enjoy the thousands--if not millions-- of apps in the Play Store, rooting is the solution.
jlenoconel said:
I'm thinking of purchasing a MOJO for one of my family members, and would like to know the benefits of rooting the system. Also, are there many risks involved with rooting?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi
Rooting is like using Android with admin rights.. that's all.
So you can do much more ie, if you want a "software" way of shutdown or rebooting it .
risks... you could delete/change something that you shouldn't and it wont boot :/
You can control what apps get Super User rights, so you can lock it down.
You can even root it without the USB cable via the towel root apk.
Hi!
Rooting the Mojo is very easy and safe when you follow the instructions thoughtfully and it opens up lot of potential. After rooting you can
hide the bottom bar when you want to play games or watch videos in fullscreen. See GMD Auto Hide Soft Keys.
move app data and/or OBB files to your external SD card to be able to install lot of and/or large games. See FolderMount and the video tutorial.
allow or deny internet access per app without routing your traffic through a third-party proxy server. See AFWall+.
block in-app ads. See AdBlock Plus.
gwaldo said:
Hi
You can even root it without the USB cable via the towel root apk.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do you do that?
Oh yeah, do you ever have to reroot?
jlenoconel said:
How do you do that?
Oh yeah, do you ever have to reroot?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its an apk, google it, sideload it.
It wont fix the google play store issue, lack of compatiablity, although the latest firmware has better comparability.
Besides market helper is way better, with the stock rom.
If you upgrade to CM12, market helper doesn't work, well at least for me it didn't.
No, once your rooted, your rooted until you reinstall a rom.
Silly question, but if our phone cannot be rooted, or access gained via an infection through a clicked on link/downloaded apk.. can our phones catch a virus and have things stolen from us without our knowing? Mostly asking because I always thought rooting a phone was essentially the same thing thing as infecting it. It's a silly question to me mostly because I know little about how the whole scheme of things work when talking about virus infections on a phone. But it's still something I just started to think about since our phone has yet to be rooted. Does this make sense to anyone else what I'm asking? And if so, please, if you can, explain if these phones can catch a virus/infection.
I personally don't use a anti virus. For my it's just a resource eater. But I am always on stock with no root. Maybe when you start downloading apps from unknown sources and install them you can be infected with some nasty things.
Sent from my SM-N910F using XDA Free mobile app
the only real danger is Trojans, virusses that disguise themselves as legitimate apps.
but these are actively scanned for by bouncer on the googe play store servers, and by the Google play services on your phone.
you can protect yourself against them with an antivirus, but it isn't really necessary unless you frequently make use of pirated apps or 3rd party app stores.
these trojans also won't be able to do too much unless you root and give them root access(don't pirate root apps, don't give pirated apps root access)
they can't retrieve more than you allow them.
and rooting typically happens through what could be considered a virus, except that what you install isn't malicious.
1 click root solutions act like trojans by showing as legitimate apps to the system.
flashable root solutions often behave more like rootkits, installing themselves in the bootloader or recovery partitions to automatically re-root the device after an update.
neither are a risk on the note 4 since 1 click root exploits don't work right now, and flashable root methods require some very specific user actions(reboot to download mode, flash with odin)
if you're still worried about security you can enable active knox protection.