Database Users

Regarding ROOTED Hero or any Droid phone..

Taken from an user in Androidforums.com ...
that kind of crossed my thoughts when I rooted my phone, what is the possibility though?
n0gik said:
This is a wonderful thread - and my apology if I've missed this question here or anywhere else.
Regarding 'rooted' Hero (or any other Android) phones, once they're rooted, can you set a root password? ('passwd' command after issuing 'su' command)
It would seem to me that leaving the superuser unprotected, with escalated execution privileges NOT protected, then downloading/installing a maliciously written application could become an issue. I'd hate to see thousands (millions?) of Android phones become disabled, DOS attack points or spamming mailer daemons.
Just trying to make an educated decision before rooting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

no answers????

I've not done much research on the subject however the superuser apk is there to protect us with custom roms so you can be protected from potentially malicious applications.

We really cant set a password on our root, especially since this is not a "Full" linux distro, it's very watered down to fit and run "well", this includes the SElinux. The SuperUser app offers protection, when an app runs that requires Root, superuser kicks in and asked Always Allow, Allow, Dont Allow, Never Allow.
Given, superuser probably has its weeknesses all security apps do and anyone with the smarts to figure out the loop holes will. It's a cell phone, not your bank account or medical records. I can't see you or anyone carying anything too private on it, maybe some corp. emails. Viruses happen, luckily there doesn't seem to be to much circulating in the way of Android. There are even a few AV apps on the market if you look for them.
The only app I have that requires root is WiFi Tether. Maybe, oneday, when we get full kernel source someone can protect our root a little better than it currently is. If having an Android phone has taught me anything, it is that Google security policies must be Garbage. Look at how they protect paid apps, if I was a Dev that wanted to make money on his code there is no way I could cope with only having stuff in a protected folder. Looks like they would have to make their own software protection, and some have.

Lcarpenter, thanks for answering.
I can breathe a little better now..

Android vs iPhone - A comparison of Security Models

Since there have been so many security discussions going on for Android and iPhone, I did a short post on the topic comparing the security models of both. Do chime in with your comments all
Android vs iPhone: Security Models

One point about the "sandbox".
You already pointed out that Apple doesn't have "permissions", but that also affects the sandbox. An app doesn't have to ask permission to get your personal data and they would have no way of stopping it even if it did.
Android not only requires the app to ask for the permission when you install it, they can also enforce that restriction if the permission wasn't requested. The Android sandbox does not allow code to do things it never advertised because it is running tightly controlled bytecodes that can be statically proven to only access the information it was given permission to access.
On the contrary, iOS apps can run any code without any controls other than what the reviewer observes.
So, the "permissions" and the tighter control of the Android sandbox combine to make the apps even more tightly restricted.
One thing I would love to see added to Android is the Blackberry style of permissions where each request can be set to "allow, ask each time, disallow" so you can disallow an app from using a permission it requested, or even allow it, but require the OS to ask you to verify each time the app uses that capability. Right now Android says "this is what it *WILL* do and if you install it I won't do anything to restrict it - either accept this or don't install the app" which is very limiting.
There are quite a few apps that I've installed which asked for permissions that it isn't important for me to give them. I want to use their main feature, but the programmer went and added what they thought was a nifty unrelated feature and that secondary feature requires permissions. If I only want the main feature then I should be able to disallow the unnecessary "addon" permissions. (To name an example - a Zip file browsing app that wants to kill tasks? Really? Why? Oh, because the developer thought it was cool to add a task killer to every app in the market. D'oh!)
Also, the lack of this per-permission "line item veto" capability is teaching Android users to just blindly accept an apps permission requests because they all sound daunting even for benign apps and so they learn to stop thinking about it and the permission granting is really just noise for the sheep for the most part. Granted, there are a few security conscious users that will push back when apps request permissions outside of their needs, but it would be better if the average user would see every time an app does something suspicious, rather than just letting it happen willy-nilly under the covers and the security conscious would have better tools to investigate their suspicions by verifying that the app only generally does use the capabilities when it is about to do something worthwhile.

^^ I totally agree with what you say.. And the ability to revoke certain permissions from the app at certain times is what i desire as well. .This is something that always makes me doubtful when installing apps.. They should atleast do this for the internet permission. I know I can do this by rooting my phone but I want to be able to do it without rooting...

Concerned about Security - apps sending private information

After reading the article about TaintDroid (http://www.digitaltrends.com/comput...oid-apps-secretly-sharing-your-personal-data/), and how a significant portion of the apps were sending back data when not required to....I must admit, I am a bit concerned about security on my Nexus.
What are you all doing to be safe with your information on your phone? Is there a firewall that any of you are using to deny apps the ability to transmit data?
And please no responses like "don't log into anything or enter any passwords for anything on the phone" ...because then we might as well be rocking blackberries and not a phone like this with a capable browser.

"Name and shame" is the best way for an open system to eradicate this stuff

Damn alarmist journalism. Scare everybody into a corner, and then come out with a product that magically makes it all right.
Personally, I don't do anything different. I don't see why you should.

there's a firewall app that will let you block internet access to specific apps
i think it's called droidwall

Wallpapergate...
This whole issue is a joke, I agree something to monitor outgoing information would be great, I doubt however that someone who want to steal your info would sent it out unencrypted so catching this may not be easy at all..
As for this new episode of the WallPaperGate again, the info this application send is common on any platform, if you ever paid for an app on handhango or such site, the first thing they do is to ask your imei so that the app can be linked (ie DRM) to your phone… in this case the guy use imei as a cookie so that he can offer the correct screen resolution.
I would like to point out that one of the sponsor of this “studies” that target only android device is Intel who have interest into many thing including MeeGo and off course MeeGo is much safer than android…
My 2 cents…

How homebrew can be achieved in WP8

Windows Phone 8 technically only allows apps to be installed from the marketplace.
However, Microsoft pretty much has left us with an avenue that would allow us to easily create our own custom 3rd party marketplaces.
With Windows Phone 8, Microsoft has introduced the "company app store" concept. This is originally intended to allow companies to easily distribute LOB applications to its employees.
http://www.windowsphone.com/en-US/business/custom-hub?wa=wsignin1.0
Note how the whole system pretty much relies on a certificate. Anyone with the certificate can sideload applications signed with said certificate.
Now this gives me the idea, why can't the homebrew community purchase their own certificate, and use it to create a 3rd party homebrew marketplace?

the_tyrant said:
Windows Phone 8 technically only allows apps to be installed from the marketplace.
However, Microsoft pretty much has left us with an avenue that would allow us to easily create our own custom 3rd party marketplaces.
With Windows Phone 8, Microsoft has introduced the "company app store" concept. This is originally intended to allow companies to easily distribute LOB applications to its employees.
http://www.windowsphone.com/en-US/business/custom-hub?wa=wsignin1.0
Note how the whole system pretty much relies on a certificate. Anyone with the certificate can sideload applications signed with said certificate.
Now this gives me the idea, why can't the homebrew community purchase their own certificate, and use it to create a 3rd party homebrew marketplace?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let's bump this up, shall we? (Since I'm not going to bother making my own thread, if nobody is going to reply to it)
Here's what I've learned through my evaluation of the company app system. The requirements are simple:
-Company Dev Center account
--Requires that you have a legally registered company (e.g. an LLC), which is verified by Symantec
--$99 plus whatever fees are associated with the LLC
-Symantec Signing certificate
--Requires the company dev center account
--$299
This is actually much less than I thought, as I was expecting this to be limited to the enterprise. Rather, anyone with chump change and some legal papers can get a certificate that allows anyone to sideload apps.
The legal papers is where it gets complicated, unfortunately. If it were just the money, I'd honestly consider a fundraiser to start a homebrew store. The certificate simply needs to be used to sign the enrollment tokens (which are just provxml documents with the cert in them), the enrollment token needs to be distributed to the masses, and then the cert is used to sign all the 'brew. It could be setup pretty easily with an online system for registering devs, uploading xaps, and having them signed, for example.
But the requirement that I have an actual company makes things really complicated; I'm not sure how much verification Symantec does, but I'm under the impression a security firm like expects legal registration, which is not something I personally have, nor something I particularly want (LLC taxes are pretty steep these days)
So, here's the question. Does anyone out there have a "company" dev center account, or has played with "company apps", and is willing to experiment to see if this system would be at all useful for homebrew?
Curious to see if there's any interest. In theory, a WP8 Cydia-like app could be developed very easily

this sounds very interesting, though I do not have a company...yet. Does it have to be an LLC? I am thinking of starting an IT/computer repair company here in my town as a side business, not 100% sure yet, but considering it.

Jaxbot, you sly fox .
That's a great idea.

A couple issues to consider...
Might want to read through the WP Store T&C carefully. While those may very well be the only requirements to get a company account, I wouldn't be surprised if there are much more in the terms to keep one. In other words, distributing your app to non-employees could get your company account banned/disabled/revoked. I haven't done the leg work on this so not sure.
The VeriSign cert you get will likely have requirements to be maintained by a single person or group. Publishing the private key would almost certainly (and quickly) get this revoked. So you would either need to someone to manually sign/publish all the apps or figure out an automated process. That should be possible but would likely take a good bit of work to get going.
My $.02.

Jaxbot, did you get a WP8 device and if so, what model did you get ? I know you were trying to get one.
What would be interesting is to see what type of apps you can deploy with this. Could something like this open a full unlock or Interop unlock becase the corporate account could get those type of pemissions to their devices ?
Is this tyed to the Active Directory in anyway, knowing Microsoft each user might need an account in the Active Directory to be able to use the "Company Dev center"? There could be a lot of limits depending how you can connect to the server that runs it.
Do they have a test version ? Maybe that can be used in this case, just to see if it works and could use a deeper investment to get this working. If you could get me a full unlock from this, I surely would pay up a little for it.

DavidinCT said:
What would be interesting is to see what type of apps you can deploy with this. Could something like this open a full unlock or Interop unlock becase the corporate account could get those type of pemissions to their devices ?
Is this tyed to the Active Directory in anyway, knowing Microsoft each user might need an account in the Active Directory to be able to use the "Company Dev center"? There could be a lot of limits depending how you can connect to the server that runs it.
Do they have a test version ? Maybe that can be used in this case, just to see if it works and could use a deeper investment to get this working. If you could get me a full unlock from this, I surely would pay up a little for it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe there are a few things you can do with corp apps that can't be done with regular ones but there's not much. Definitely not full interop unlock (at least not directly).
No. It's not tied to AD at all.
I don't think there's a "test" version. The $400 it would cost is chump change for any legit company. Microsoft could waive the $99 fee for someone they're working with but you'll still need the $299 cert and Symantec/VeriSign isn't gonna give that to you for free.

I'm just an end-user, but YEAH! Dev-unlock: $99. Full unlock: priceless. Definitely would pay a bit.

piaqt said:
I'm just an end-user, but YEAH! Dev-unlock: $99. Full unlock: priceless. Definitely would pay a bit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This wouldn't be a full unlock. It would just allow devs to publish apps to an alternate marketplace and users that are not dev unlocked could easily download them.

RustyGrom said:
A couple issues to consider...
Might want to read through the WP Store T&C carefully. While those may very well be the only requirements to get a company account, I wouldn't be surprised if there are much more in the terms to keep one. In other words, distributing your app to non-employees could get your company account banned/disabled/revoked. I haven't done the leg work on this so not sure.
The VeriSign cert you get will likely have requirements to be maintained by a single person or group. Publishing the private key would almost certainly (and quickly) get this revoked. So you would either need to someone to manually sign/publish all the apps or figure out an automated process. That should be possible but would likely take a good bit of work to get going.
My $.02.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correct. The ToS needs to be really well understood. Some people seem to imply that users outside the company are okay to enroll, but I'm not sure. However, I'm not really sure if the enrollment even touches MSFT's servers at all, and if T&C violations would cause a problem. Something that needs to be looked into. If it's a definite breach of T&C, I say it's not worth it. My $0.02
DavidinCT said:
Jaxbot, did you get a WP8 device and if so, what model did you get ? I know you were trying to get one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately no, all my research has been on the emulator. All my attempts to get my hands on a WP8 have proven fruitless so far.
What would be interesting is to see what type of apps you can deploy with this. Could something like this open a full unlock or Interop unlock becase the corporate account could get those type of pemissions to their devices ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, definitely not full unlock. Interop, I'm not sure. The apps are signed and installed, so I have no idea if ID_CAPs are limited. An app like Folders could definitely be deployed, though, with the new WP8 apis.
Is this tyed to the Active Directory in anyway, knowing Microsoft each user might need an account in the Active Directory to be able to use the "Company Dev center"? There could be a lot of limits depending how you can connect to the server that runs it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, you can enroll within active directory, it says that in the instructions.
Do they have a test version ? Maybe that can be used in this case, just to see if it works and could use a deeper investment to get this working. If you could get me a full unlock from this, I surely would pay up a little for it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
RustyGrom said:
This wouldn't be a full unlock. It would just allow devs to publish apps to an alternate marketplace and users that are not dev unlocked could easily download them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What he said. Basically, it would give us homebrew apps that fit into the limitations of the SDK, but not necessarily the limitations of the certification requirements. Folders, Themes, etc. could likely be built. Apps such as CacheClearer and Tweaks, probably not, but again, I have no experimental research on this yet.

This presentation from BUILD (http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2012/2-014) should answer most of your questions. The phone does 'phone home' to Microsoft to check the publishers and apps installed. Also, capabilities are limited to "same as standard marketplace apps" however the 'company store' app can install apps and manage apps that have been published through it.

RustyGrom said:
This presentation from BUILD (http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2012/2-014) should answer most of your questions. The phone does 'phone home' to Microsoft to check the publishers and apps installed. Also, capabilities are limited to "same as standard marketplace apps" however the 'company store' app can install apps and manage apps that have been published through it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
55 minutes, exciting Thanks for that, though, clarifies a lot. In that case, then, it sounds like the company store app won't really have much useful information for us, as it sounds almost more restricted than I had originally hoped. In that case, then, "company apps" is probably not a worthwhile route to peruse. My 2 cents.

Terms and conditions for a company account
a. Internal Distribution. Subject to the terms of this Addendum and the Application Provider Agreement,
you may make Enterprise Applications internally available to your Employees. Enterprise Applications
may not be made available to consumers, other companies or the general public, except for vendors or
companies that are under contract with you to develop or test any Enterprise Applications. You are
responsible for any unauthorized distribution of the Certificate Software and Enterprise Applications
outside of the terms and conditions of this Addendum.
b. No Alternative Marketplace. You will not use the Certificate Software to: (i) make paid Applications that
are offered in the general Windows Phone Store available to your Employees; and (ii) make available
Enterprise Applications in a manner that harms the Windows Phone Store as determined by Microsoft
Yeah, MSFT thought about that idea WAY ahead already.
Termination. If you breach the terms of this Addendum and/or the Application Provider Agreement, Microsoft
may (a) revoke the certificates provided by Certificate Software; and/or (b) terminate your Enterprise Account immediately.
If that happens, every app installed will fail to work a day later.

Well it was a good thought guys. A damn good thought..

Since WP8 supports MMC, can we side load any temporary OS to read or execute from anything from it!?

nitin88g said:
Since WP8 supports MMC, can we side load any temporary OS to read or execute from anything from it!?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MMC? And seriously, go start another thread! Do NOT thread hijack! I can't stand it, seriously

MMC - Multimedia Card.

I am a MCSE, I wounder if there is a verson to learn how use it. Maybe they have a traning version so I could learn how to get it working on domain. This would be nice if I can try this and get a interop unlock by setting it up on my own domain..

DavidinCT said:
I am a MCSE, I wounder if there is a verson to learn how use it. Maybe they have a traning version so I could learn how to get it working on domain. This would be nice if I can try this and get a interop unlock by setting it up on my own domain..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not possible. The apps you deploy will not get interop privileges.

Reasons, Advantages and Disadvantages to unlock/root the G5 Plus

I am asking myself - specifically for the G5 Plus, but probably in a more general sense - where the huge advantages and disadvantages of rooting are, considering that the G5 plus comes with a relativly clean Android 7.XXX and a not an old overloaded android version, which didn't use to have many of the capabilities that Android 7 offers. I know that my questions might particularily overlap with questions in other topics, but for sure not every question, especially specific G5 Plus questions.
Overall I am interested in the topics security and product-experience, if you want to call it like that. I ask myself: Is root still worth losing warranty or is it not? Keywords or keyquestions that cross my mind are:
OTA updates: I guess those won't be possible anymore?
Encryption: Will it still work and increase security if the phone is lost?
Backup functionality, especially in combination with cloud services: Is there something like -backup my whole phone down to the very core on some google server (best proteced with a password and some AES256 encryption)- so that I can restore it some day in an easy manner? How would you backup your phone and settings, etc. with and without root?
Safety: What could happen if I lose my (bootloader unlocked and) rooted phone: Will someone be able to read my passwords (e.g. google...) and other sensitive information directly from the phone, even if it was locked, in the moment I lost it? What is the worst thing that could happen?
Root Functionality: How does the root access / superuser specificly work, e.g. if I'd accidentally install an app or similar, which might contain a virus: Is an app like this instantly capable of messing my whole system or will I be able to manually confirm specific security related changes, especially system changes, that an app might try to do? With other words: Does root mean that the system will be wasted by even the tiniest mistake or is there some security buffer?
Unlock Bootloader only: Is it an option (or make any sense to you) to just unlock the bootloader and install a the G5 Plus TWRP recovery without rooting the phone and does this give any advantages or is this just a totally nonsensical option, which is maybe not even possible? If I got it right, rooting does not necessarily need to reset the phone in any way, while unlocking the bootloader enforces to do a reset, right? In this context I was also asking myself if unlocking the bootloader (now that I don't have wasted precious time on customizing my phone, yet) right now is a useful option (without any disadvantage besides losing the warranty) and if I ever experience the necessity to root, I will only need like 2 commands and it is done - without having to reset my phone again?
Root Must Have: Is there any specific functionality or reason - you would say - one should definitly root the phone for, as it is a must have functionality, which would be locked without root?: I only have virtual examples, e.g. if Nougat would prevent me from changing the volume to a level higher than 50 % and the absolute exclusive possibility to change this was to get root access. Another example , although really not that critical one, could be: I noticed that I am only allowed to install 5 different finger prints... root could give me the possibility to install infinite finger prints?
Feature Loss: Does one lose some other neat features or functionality that is usually provided by Google or Motorola if the phone is not rooted but not possible anymore if it is rooted?
Third Party Trust: How can you people trust the TWRP Backup or custom ROMs? Don't you fear that there might be a virus or trojan horse within?
Best regards and thanks in advance for your patience with a newbie

No response?
172 view, no answers :-/. Guys tell me: Is it due to the length of the text? Is it something else? I could split it up in several questions, but I though that this would be unwanted.
And I will be thankful for every help on either of the bold buzzwords, it is not like you need to comment on everything

Must have for me: correct timestamps when moving or copying files using TC. Only possible with root.
Unlock only: yes makes sense. Unlock is the part where you lose all data, and then you can use fastboot boot to make backup. Rooting itself should not lose any data, so it is advantageous to unlock early. Root has time.
Lost functionality: on most devices using Magisk 12 you can pass SafetyNet, which means you can use Android pay, play Pokemon go etc, but the apps trying to detect root/unlocked devices get changed and may not work anymore at some time. Probably you will have lost this possibility when starting with unlocked bootloader and need to install Magisk to get green SafetyNet. Magisk hides the unlocked bootloader.
OTA: do a backup of boot partition before rooting, do no modifications on other partitions than data, cache and boot and you should be fine restoring boot partition to do OTA. It's easy to overlook some app using root to write system, logo, recovery, something, but backup should help. Or install complete firmware, then OTA is possible again.
Note: I do not have the device, just saw the questions which have the same answers for all current Motorola Android devices - you may search in general forums or forums for similar devices for answers

OTA updates: if you are rooted you have tempered with the system partition and therefore ota are not easily installed
Encryption:it is possible to wipe the phone and use if you are unlocked
Backup functionality Google already does backup some settings natively. you can still do an adb backup even without root
Safety: if they are techies they know how to access files via twrp etc. but worst thing is they just wipe it and use the phone
Root Functionality: root gives some apps access to the system partition which is not possible normaly. if you installe some dubious app which wants access to root to mess with your system you are lost.
Unlock Bootloader only: you need to unlock the phone to root it. by unlocking your phone is wiped clean. than you can root it. the advantage of installing twrp are the "easy backups" and installing custom roms or even root. there are no real advantages or disadvantages anymore. earlier you had to unlock/root/install custom rom to have some extra functionalities but android did mature and has most functions built in
Root Must Have: there may be some system limits which you can bypass with root like headphne volume limit, reading wifi passwords or/and having systemwide adblock. I personally do not see a benefit anymore. I used to root for having system-wide adblock but I can achieve it with rootless apps like adguard.
Feature Loss: you will lose android pay. you can not use some apps like mario run or pokemon go. you will lose OTA feature.
Third Party Trust: actually I dont know. with the custom rom base growing I only trust official lineageOS as it is review by many people before building. therefore the chance is reduced to have some spyware feature in it

I too would like to know, has the source code to ANY custom ROMs been reviewed by third party to verify no malicious code?
Although I worry that some ROMs could violate my data privacy, root is something that I simply cannot willingly go without - if I don't have root access, it's simply not *MY* phone, it's a phone that is configured to someone else's [some company's] desires and priorities.
I'm disappointed that the built in tethering does an "entitlement" check - AFAIK it's actually illegal (or, at least against contracts the companies signed with the FCC) for the cell phone provider to attempt to control what a user does with their allotted amount of cell data. Yes, the cell provider company can decide how MUCH data you are allowed based on what plan you pay for, but they are not supposed to restrict HOW you use YOUR data. Therefore, I demand unrestricted "tethering" from any smart phone that I use.
There are other apps I like to use that require root access: Root file explorers, Titanium Backup, Smarter WiFi Manager, Greenify/Servicely etc., but most of all, I CANNOT STAND the intrusive obnoxious awful ads which seem to be prevalent these days! A good ad blocker is an absolute must! The blame rests squarely on the shoulders of the websites which allow such awful advertisements such as "pop behind" windows and particularly, ads which cause the web page scroll to constantly keep jumping away from what you are trying to read making the site basically unusable. There is also lately a prevalence of "click bait" ads/links which brings you to malicious/obnoxious websites which popup dialogs trying to stop you from closing the web page or navigate away - they put up big flashing red letters and say things like "We have detected a virus on your computer do not close this window or your passwords will be stolen and your data lost" and when you try to close the page it keeps popping up a dialog making it difficult. Sorry, but, such ads simply can't be tolerated - even this [xda] website sometimes has unpleasant ads, or at least there were times when I really regretted turning off my ad blocker when visiting this site in the past, that is for sure!
I usually use a "custom ROM", I miss exposed very much, but, I suspect there are too many malwares in the xposed repository these days? (I'm not sure of this, just suspicious).
I like to be able to change the color of my status bar clock to green and position it in the center as that is easier for me to use (see it quickly when I want). However, the standard launcher is far too limited in how customizable it is, so I use a combination of Nova Prime (requires root for some features) and Chronos Weather/Clock/Calendar widget which puts a larger clock right in the upper middle of my desktop so I turn off the status bar clock (Nova Prime feature, one that requires root).
Oh, and I like to use a custom "System Font", I'm not sure if we can do that without root? It really makes the phone feel like MY phone and look (and operate) how I want it to.

critofur said:
[...]
I'm disappointed that the built in tethering does an "entitlement" check - AFAIK it's actually illegal (or, at least against contracts the companies signed with the FCC) for the cell phone provider to attempt to control what a user does with their allotted amount of cell data. Yes, the cell provider company can decide how MUCH data you are allowed based on what plan you pay for, but they are not supposed to restrict HOW you use YOUR data. Therefore, I demand unrestricted "tethering" from any smart phone that I use.
There are other apps I like to use that require root access: Root file explorers, Titanium Backup, Smarter WiFi Manager, Greenify/Servicely etc., but most of all, I CANNOT STAND the intrusive obnoxious awful ads which seem to be prevalent these days! A good ad blocker is an absolute must! [...]
[...]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could you explain the entitlement check a little further? Does it mean that with the current Android version and an unrooted/locked G5 plus it is impossible to use the Smartphone Mobile data connection, e.g. on a notebook via wifi tethering? This would be a real argument to root.
Did you try adguard, as ckret suggested? Is there a huge difference between an adblocker with root or an adblocker like adguard without root on the phone? I basically assume that with nougat it is possible to grant apps access to almost anything (except for root) - including to block features other apps use, e.g. advertisements. But I am actually not sure.
Maybe ckret knows more on this aspect, as he seems to know both adblock concepts - the rooted and the unrooted one with adguard?

Comparing DNS66 (local DNS server without root) with adaway (root):
+ You can select blocking per app with DNS66, adaway modifies hosts file which always is valid for all apps and system services
- You can not use another VPN while DNS66 is active
- You need to disable VPN under Nougat while using Download Manager (bug in Nougat, for all VPN services)
Personally I have root, but use DNS66. I don't need adblock when connecting to my computer at home (that's when I need to use another VPN) and am using Marshmallow ATM, but probably would continue using DNS66 when on Nougat. For PlayStore there is a workaround implemented, and if some download fails I'd know I need to disable VPN.
This is why I only said Total Commander copying timestamp is my only real killer app (besides Titanium Backup) which makes me need root. Android O is supposed to change the behavior implementing SDCardFS which shall allow setting timestamp without root.

sky-head said:
Could you explain the entitlement check a little further? Does it mean that with the current Android version and an unrooted/locked G5 plus it is impossible to use the Smartphone Mobile data connection, e.g. on a notebook via wifi tethering? This would be a real argument to root.
Did you try adguard, as ckret suggested? Is there a huge difference between an adblocker with root or an adblocker like adguard without root on the phone? I basically assume that with nougat it is possible to grant apps access to almost anything (except for root) - including to block features other apps use, e.g. advertisements. But I am actually not sure.
Maybe ckret knows more on this aspect, as he seems to know both adblock concepts - the rooted and the unrooted one with adguard?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
adaway:
adaway replaces the hosts file in your system with a custom hosts file which redirects some requests to 127.0.0.1 which results in ads not being shown
since it is deeplevel change of the hosts file the app requires root to change the file
pro:
* ads are blocked when resources are requested
* it is system-wide and everything is checked on demand
con:
* system slows down with big hosts file as every request must be checked everytime a site/app is opened
* if a wrong request is blocked your app/site might not show/work at all since it is a system-wide check
adguard:
this app has two different ways of blocking ads
vpn: a local vpn server is created on the system and all requests are rerouted through it. works the same way as adaway but without a root access.
pro:
* rootless method
* you can create a bypass for different sites/apps
con:
* you can not use a 2nd vpn connection while the app is active
* it may use a bit more battery as it creates a server but this should be negligible
proxy: this is nearly the same as vpn just you should be able to use a vpn connection
so big pro and con for me is that i do not have to reroute all apps through the adblock check
important apps (banking e.g.) are free to use the connection without being rerouted.

I know it might seem like a stupid question, but how often (and for which reason) do you use/need a(nother) VPN connection?
Does this also mean things like tethering or a WLAN access like eduroam - or is this something different?
I am actually not sure if I ever needed VPN on my smartphone

sky-head said:
I know it might seem like a stupid question, but how often (and for which reason) do you use/need a(nother) VPN connection?
Does this also mean things like tethering or a WLAN access like eduroam - or is this something different?
I am actually not sure if I ever needed VPN on my smartphone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you need a vpn connection if you want to access the intranet without being physically there
e.g. intranet of a company to access emails or if you are a student and got some special tool/e.g. which can only be accessed through the university connection
most times you will only use vpn on a notebook or pc but I hardly doubt most people will use it on their phones

ckret said:
you need a vpn connection if you want to access the intranet without being physically there
e.g. intranet of a company to access emails or if you are a student and got some special tool/e.g. which can only be accessed through the university connection
most times you will only use vpn on a notebook or pc but I hardly doubt most people will use it on their phones
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
... exactly what I was thinking about it. I've never been needing a VPN on my phone. On the notebook I need it on a regular basis, thats true.
I should have been asking "I know it might seem like a stupid question, but how often (and for which reason) do you use/need a(nother) VPN connection on your smartphone?", to state my question more precisely.

Using AVM Fritzbox as router makes it possible to use the standard phone via SIP. This only does work when you're in your intranet, directly or via VPN. Also I need to access my documents on my computer, my media library at home, to configure the router and more and therefore I use VPN on a regular basis. Yes, I do these things using the smartphone. But when using VPN, I do not need adblock.