Do less people jailbreak or root?

[FearoftheNight]

Hey guys. I've been jailbreaking since the OG iPhone and rooting/romming my android phones since forever. Lately I get the feeling that many of the features that I did that for are now built into ios/android. Am I the only one that feels this way?

 

[mnewsham]

It has been that way for 2-3 years really, at least for me with android. It only gotten better lately. At this point the only reason to root/ROM an android phone is if the stock ROM from your manufacturer is woefully outdated and they arent updating, or it is filled with a lot of bloat. Generally however if you are getting a flagship or near flagship android device in 2015, it will be pretty solid stock and you will be able to do pretty much whatever the average person will want to do without rooting and or throwing on a custom ROM.

 

[lxskllr]

Root is the primary criteria for any phone I get. Not having control of my computer is offensive.

 

[ImDonly1]

Only want root to adblock really.

 

[mnewsham]

Only want root to adblock really.

Even that can be done without root now actually.

 

[Zodiark1593]

In my case, rooting to underclock the cpu greatly improves browsing battery life.

 

[Denly]

I don't know anyone jailbreak or root the last couple years.

 

[JeffMD]

I haven't rooted in ages, mainly because it is a pain in the ass for the phones I had, but also I had no reason to. No good rom updates, ect.

I jailbreak my iPad because Apple is a little more restrictive on app types, and many useful apps on the other app stores.

 

[RockinZ28]

I'm never buying a phone without root capability again. Note4 has been utter crap. It's sad when an iphone probably has more potential than an android phone with Verizon, as with most recent flagship phones root is no longer possible.

Actually using my Note2 with a custom ROM again since FoxFi was down for a few days and couldn't do a wifi hotspot without root. It actually feels smoother and performs better than the Note4 in a lot of ways. And I can customize everything just how I choose. FoxFi was back working a couple days ago, still using the Note2...

 

[zerogear]

I'm never buying a phone without root capability again. Note4 has been utter crap. It's sad when an iphone probably has more potential than an android phone with Verizon, as with most recent flagship phones root is no longer possible.

Actually using my Note2 with a custom ROM again since FoxFi was down for a few days and couldn't do a wifi hotspot without root. It actually feels smoother and performs better than the Note4 in a lot of ways. And I can customize everything just how I choose. FoxFi was back working a couple days ago, still using the Note2...

For you, it's more of a problem with Verizon than anything else. I have been thinking about rooting my current phone (Z5), however, after running it without root for a couple of weeks and using Firefox (with uBlock Origin) -- I honestly haven't found too much I am missing, maybe except for Xposed with Pandora Patcher and Spotify dpi

 

[Artdeco]

I used to do both till about a year ago, current carrier allows free tethering, Verizon didn't, that was my primary reason.

iOS has integrated many jailbreak tweaks over the years, as has Android, the security issue comes up now too with jail breaking & rooting, so I just run stock.

 

[RockinZ28]

For you, it's more of a problem with Verizon than anything else. I have been thinking about rooting my current phone (Z5), however, after running it without root for a couple of weeks and using Firefox (with uBlock Origin) -- I honestly haven't found too much I am missing, maybe except for Xposed with Pandora Patcher and Spotify dpi

Yea ATT and Verizon have both locked their phones down unfortunately. They are more tolerable without root than they were in previous years for sure, but still it's nice to at least have the option available.

Get the latest Android versions/tweaks with custom roms instead of waiting months if ever for the carrier, TitBackup, block ads and firewall apps from using data, no bloat, better performance and battery life are some of the things I definitely have been missing.

 

[FearoftheNight]

Even that can be done without root now actually.

Hey can you explain how to do that with ios and android? Thanks!

 

[gorcorps]

I haven't bothered on my galaxy s4 or note 4. They were good enough as is that it wasn't worth trying to find a method for the model I had.

 

[mnewsham]

Hey can you explain how to do that with ios and android? Thanks!

Not sure about iOS but android has a few apps you can grab (Adguard is one i have used). The apps aren't in the app store because google obviously doesn't want you blocking ads (it is google afterall and ads are their bread and butter) but you can find the APKs for these kinds of apps online, you will have to allow third party apps in the developer options, but no root is required.

 

[Radeon962]

I used to with most every device as I was always trying to get better battery life but have pretty much given up on my last few phones as Android and iOS have gotten to the point where I don't need it.

On Android I just run Nova Launcher and IOS is just stock.

After working all day I got tired of tweaking this and trying that. I just want to use my phone and do other things rather than messing around with my phone all night.

 

[shabby]

Not having control of my computer is offensive.

Ya its strange when you can buy a $300 laptop and put any os on it but if you spend 6-700 on a phone they lock it down not allowing you to do anything to it.

 

[core2slow]

Unfortunately, root is still a requirement for gps and some other functionalities in Tasker...which I use 100% in my daily life.

 

[Commodus]

I'd say that there are generally fewer people clamouring for jailbreaks or root.

Some of it is due to features rendering those tricks obsolete, some of it is because vendors are clamping down on the practice, and certain security features won't allow it (particularly workplace features).

Personally, I've never done it and don't think it's wise unless you're absolutely bent on getting a given feature. You're frequently weakening the security of your device, and stability is sometimes a problem. That and I don't like the song and dance that goes with updating a phone in that state.

 

[FearoftheNight]

Not sure about iOS but android has a few apps you can grab (Adguard is one i have used). The apps aren't in the app store because google obviously doesn't want you blocking ads (it is google afterall and ads are their bread and butter) but you can find the APKs for these kinds of apps online, you will have to allow third party apps in the developer options, but no root is required.

Does Adguard work as well as adblock? Any idea where I can find an apk from a reliable source that doesn't potentially contain malware?

 

[Graze]

Root is the primary criteria for any phone I get. Not having control of my computer is offensive.

I couldn't care less for root unless there wasn't something I needed to do that required and as was pointed out the way things are going I need that less and less.

This entire root thing and tinkering for tinkering sake jades me now.

 

[Ichinisan]

Hey guys. I've been jailbreaking since the OG iPhone and rooting/romming my android phones since forever. Lately I get the feeling that many of the features that I did that for are now built into ios/android. Am I the only one that feels this way?

I also used to jailbreak my devices, but stopped doing after a lot of the enhancements got added directly to iOS. I never bothered to jailbreak my iPhone 6 Plus or my iPhone 6s Plus.

It would be nice to have TetherMe again (AT&T doesn't allow me to tether or do mobile FaceTime on my grandfathered unlimited plan), but I wouldn't jailbreak for that alone.

Some of my apps would try to detect a jailbreak and disable functionality. iOS 8 and 9 are glitchy enough that I don't want to constantly wonder if each glitch / crash is due to being jailbroken.

 

[JimmiG]

Didn't root my LG G2 or my OnePlus One on KitKat.

However after upgrading the OPO to Lollipop I was forced to root, because you need a bunch of hacks, fixes and XPosed modules to fix the various bugs and problems with Lollipop.

 

[dawheat]

My Note 5 is the first phone I haven't due to a combination of factors:

- my enterprise email app started erroring out on rooted phones.
- Android Pay and Samsung Pay also doesn't work on rooted phones
- Note 5 came with a lcd_density of 560 instead of 640 like the Note 4
- I can block ads in Firefox with an extension

I do miss a couple things root lets you do:

- block ads in apps as well
- force tablet mode in different apps, especially browser (it's a 5.7" 1440p display, let me use tabs like a desktop browser vs. these gimped mobile browsers
- clean up my status bar (do I really need an alarm clock icon, NFC icon, etc)
- fully uninstall some apps

 

[Bubbleawsome]

I jailbreak.