Related
The Bionic is my 5th Android and they all have been rooted and had custom roms installed. Before I root it and get to installing custom roms, I would like to know what each one does well and what their weaknesses are. I don't currently have the time available to install them and play with them all like I normally do, so I'm asking the users who are currently using them.
3 things that are important to me: performance, battery life, and would like the camera not to take 5 seconds after clicking it before taking a picture(wouldn't care about this but have kids that I would like to take pictures of). I would also like to install custom boot screens (after owning the lg revolution, I now know that custom boot screens aren't always an easy task).
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using XDA App
smokedkill said:
The Bionic is my 5th Android and they all have been rooted and had custom roms installed. Before I root it and get to installing custom roms, I would like to know what each one does well and what their weaknesses are. I don't currently have the time available to install them and play with them all like I normally do, so I'm asking the users who are currently using them.
3 things that are important to me: performance, battery life, and would like the camera not to take 5 seconds after clicking it before taking a picture(wouldn't care about this but have kids that I would like to take pictures of). I would also like to install custom boot screens (after owning the lg revolution, I now know that custom boot screens aren't always an easy task).
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unl3ash3d: Blur based and stock feel, but with extra mods and an extra pretty theme. Pulldown toggles.
Liberty: Stripped down, AOSP (as much as it can be) and a speed demon. Pretty lightweight. Lots of free RAM here. Pulldown toggles. Reboot and other options in the extended power menu.
Which one is better? Matter of taste. Do you fancy the new blur we have? If yes, go Unl3ash3d. Do you want a stripped down, clean, AOSP vanilla gingerbread feel? Go Liberty.
Battery life I couldn't tell you, as I never ran Liberty through a full discharge. I'm a (new)blur kind of guy - it's grown on me. Unl3ash3d gave me battery issues on some early builds, but this latest is great and gets me the best battery life I've had to date.
Both have different themes available for them, so that's equal as well.
Good luck.
P.S. When Eclipse drops in here, give that a whirl. Smooth.
As far as the camera goes, I agree that the stock one is pretty unusable compared to other phones. Both Liberty and Unl3ash3d have replaced the stock camera app with ones that I find work much faster and better.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using xda premium
I definitely appreciate this thread and would love to see more discussion from those with experience with the various roms. I've just switched from the Atrix to the Bionic and from some of the comments, I wasn't even sure if it was worth switching to a custom rom or not. Obviously they each offer some benefits, but complaints about battery life were a bit concerning. I also wasn't clear on how much faster/smoother any of them performed compared to stock (though it's pretty nice in stock form already).
As of now I'm rooted and running go launcher without any huge complaints, though I like to tinker and customize stuff, so that alone is driving my interest in running a rom, though I'm still having trouble with taking interest in a particular option.
CC Lemon, don't let the complaints about the existing roms scare you. This is still a relatively new phone and it takes time for the devs to work the bugs out. Over time, they will be worked out.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using XDA App
smokedkill said:
CC Lemon, don't let the complaints about the existing roms scare you. This is still a relatively new phone and it takes time for the devs to work the bugs out. Over time, they will be worked out.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldn't say that it scares me... I'm just not convinced there's anything I should be trying yet. I'm sure we'll see some great roms eventually, but I'm not looking for something that I'll update every time a new version is released, so I'd like something with as few bugs as possible. My post was mostly directed at trying to figure out if any current roms in their current form are worth using or if I should just wait until more bugs are worked out.
The recent CM7 developments definitely sound promising. I know it's just a matter of time before I decide to flash something, but the question is when and what.
Okay so i had the revo before this and i liked it. I rooted it and it was great, ran custom roms, and really easy to do. I just got the bionic and i have had it for about 2 weeks now and I LOVE IT!!! So my question is, and correct me if im wrong, if there are no custom kernels, and only one stable updated rom thats not buggy ics, what is the point in rooting. I should add that i dont plan on using wifi tether. I mean i use adw so my phone already "looks" like i want it to, and acts like i want it too. The only thing i think i would use is the fact that the bloatware is gone but does it really make that big of a difference? I mean if i can like make the display look better or something than of course, but if its just for the look, no performance upgrades, i dont seenthe point. Please give me your guys opinion.
Thanks for all who respond and appreciate your time
Lots of benefits to rooting. Here's a random one.
tuckmobile said:
Lots of benefits to rooting. Here's a random one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea I mean that's cool, what are the benefits of Beta over regular or a keyboard like touch pal.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using xda premium
Personally I haven't found the need to root my Bionic. Going on six months now I think. Had the Eris before this and rooted it to get a faster phone(Bionic is fast enough), to tether(Bionic can do it wired for free and wireless without root using FoxFi), to move apps to sd due to storage limitations (Bionic has plenty of room and lots of stuff can be saved or moved to sd). ROMs are a bonus, but they are always a work-in-progress and most being updated regular, so you always have to reinstall so more stuff will work. My Bionic just works.....................
Sir_Eagle said:
Personally I haven't found the need to root my Bionic. Going on six months now I think. Had the Eris before this and rooted it to get a faster phone(Bionic is fast enough), to tether(Bionic can do it wired for free and wireless without root using FoxFi), to move apps to sd due to storage limitations (Bionic has plenty of room and lots of stuff can be saved or moved to sd). ROMs are a bonus, but they are always a work-in-progress and most being updated regular, so you always have to reinstall so more stuff will work. My Bionic just works.....................
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree completely
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using xda premium
Lots of programs will have more functionality when your device is rooted. If you use a security program like SeekDroid or Avast you'll benefit from root. With root you can install custom recovery, allowing you to backup/restore your entire system. If you haven't tried a custom ROM you don't know what you're missing. Sure they are always a work in progress, but so is the Stock ROM. Try eclipse I bet you'll like it better.
Let's flip your question around: what's the disadvantage to rooting? You can always unroot.
Sir_Eagle said:
Personally I haven't found the need to root my Bionic. Going on six months now I think. Had the Eris before this and rooted it to get a faster phone(Bionic is fast enough), to tether(Bionic can do it wired for free and wireless without root using FoxFi), to move apps to sd due to storage limitations (Bionic has plenty of room and lots of stuff can be saved or moved to sd). ROMs are a bonus, but they are always a work-in-progress and most being updated regular, so you always have to reinstall so more stuff will work. My Bionic just works.....................
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm rooted but use stock. I'm able to replace my boot animation with something more to my liking. My status and notification bar is also customized. Having pulldown toggles is nice for turning things on and off. Being able to flash the webtop hack is nice. I've also found that I enjoy changing my font.
Besides those things, its much easier to back up some apps when your rooted. If you ever buy any apps, I suggest backing them up. Being able to make system backups is also useful.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using XDA
Firstly, please don't get me wrong here. Im not trolling in the slightest and I really appreciate all the work the devs do here.
With the HTC One having such high specs is there really any need to flash custom Roms? In my opinion all of them seem the same and don't look or feel any different to the stock rom on the One. The only benefit I can see is for Root access.
Im sure there is a lot of "under the hood" tweaks that are done but are these really noticeable or beneficial to the end user? Other peoples thoughts would be interesting.
dr9722 said:
Firstly, please don't get me wrong here. Im not trolling in the slightest and I really appreciate all the work the devs do here.
With the HTC One having such high specs is there really any need to flash custom Roms? In my opinion all of them seem the same and don't look or feel any different to the stock rom on the One. The only benefit I can see is for Root access.
Im sure there is a lot of "under the hood" tweaks that are done but are these really noticeable or beneficial to the end user? Other peoples thoughts would be interesting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually yes, I wish to get CM working fully on HTC One.
It gives us an alternate experience than what HTC wanted us to.
Best of all, you don't have to wait so long for HTC to update their phones.
Especially when they abandon the One, we rely on CM.
But I'm really hoping for the success of the One, nobody could resist the look and feel of the One.
Livebyte said:
Actually yes, I wish to get CM working fully on HTC One.
It gives us an alternate experience than what HTC wanted us to.
Best of all, you don't have to wait so long for HTC to update their phones.
Especially when they abandon the One, we rely on CM.
But I'm really hoping for the success of the One, nobody could resist the look and feel of the One.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I totally agree the updates and the benefit of getting rid on Sense if you dont like it is a real benefit. But is there a need for multiple Sense custom roms?
dr9722 said:
I totally agree the updates and the benefit of getting rid on Sense if you dont like it is a real benefit. But is there a need for multiple Sense custom roms?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's subjective I guess. But for something like example HTC DROID DNA or Butterfly, Sense 5 gets ported before HTC did. So I guess it's also a huge benefit.
Earlier updates is the main reason why I will be rooting, these phone networks take ages to update it's unavailable!!
Also there are some very nice skinned roms out there
I won't be unlocking my bootloader for a while. Not until I am at least sure that my device is working 100% and that will take a couple of weeks. I was eager to root it etc but I was reading about HTC's warranty and it seems as though it is a very long winded process. Maybe you wish to do the same?
m00moo said:
I won't be unlocking my bootloader for a while. Not until I am at least sure that my device is working 100% and that will take a couple of weeks. I was eager to root it etc but I was reading about HTC's warranty and it seems as though it is a very long winded process. Maybe you wish to do the same?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yep ill be in no hurry either.
when i finally get a device im happy with yea i will root and flash custom rom, but not CM - Sense 5 is great and IMO is much better than stock JB - there are a few minor things I would like added, but I have no doubt they will be added to custom sense 5 roms in due course.
to me, there is no point in being a flashaholic. flash the latest stable base, and then keep up with custom kernels for battery.
thats me, idk bout u guys
Personally something that will push me over the unlock bootloader line is when either when A) IF the HTC logo can become mapped as a button, or B) A full relock becomes available lol
For me, absolutely. I consider some features (such as long press vol key to skip tracks) essential. There are also always some visual things I like to change no matter how well it is made
I just need root to enable volume key wake, and ill want to remap the keys. Everything else looks flawless
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using xda app-developers app
do you need root etc. to install flash on ONE ?
ChazyChaz said:
do you need root etc. to install flash on ONE ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. To my knowledge, the built in browser has flash support.
What about Wi-Fi hotspot support?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
While there's obviously no NEED, a lot of people will prefer to flash ROMs for a variety of different reasons.
I'd say the main reasons are;
*The ability to have a pure AOSP look which is preferred by a lot of people (especially those who come from a Nexus device). Also, a lot of people don't like the look/feel of Sense and will therefore want to change the UI to something which is more preferable to them.
I, for example, have never tried Sense before and could quite possibly hate it once I finally test it. On the flip side of that, I may love it but at least custom ROMs will give me the ability to completely change the UI whilst giving me a ton more customizations and optimizations than a custom launcher would do.
*As mentioned at the end of the first reason, customization is a huge part of what a lot of people do with their devices. For example, when I had my SGS2 I used to love the ability to flash a simple ROM and have a ton of customization at my fingertips, so I could edit the look of my phone to my hearts content.
*Some people are simply flashaholics and have ORD (Obsessive ROM-flashing/updating Disorder). I'll normally flash every ROM in sight if the device is new and there aren't many ROMs available yet. This way it gives me a good early decision as to what type of ROM I'd prefer on said device. However, once the device starts getting more development and more ROMs start appearing in quick succession, I'll then make my mind up about which ROM to choose and generally won't change ROM for the vast majority of the devices lifetime.
Got a HTC? Join the HTC Hangout Thread
I unlocked, rooted and flashed now because in a few months time the phone will be setup perfectly; all the right apps, all the right data, all in the right place (and HTC might of discovered a way to do a Sensation on us (S-Off))
With the phone rooted I can be relatively confident of getting it back to my currently backed up state after any major updates (and, when I finally install some games, get their progress restored as well)
Sent from my Tricked out HTC One via xda-developers application
Sense means HTC. I don't see any reason to buy HTC if I'm not gonna use sense.
Because HTC makes great hardware. I buy HTC exclusively, but I rip sense off it ASAP and put AOKP or CM or something without sense. Nexus devices are generally not top of the line hardware, they're supposed to be a benchmark for development (i.e. midrange). That said, N4 has more impressive specs than usual, but I can't imagine buying an LG phone. I have never realized LG even made smartphones, only flip phones until the N4 was released.
Still, HTC makes best hardware, I just generally don't like sense. That said, sense 5 does look interesting.
Sent from my EVO LTE using xda premium
Having options is nice!
Dharkan said:
Sense means HTC. I don't see any reason to buy HTC if I'm not gonna use sense.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To a certain extent, yes, I agree with you on that statement. However, sometimes you just need a change and it is nice to have the option of running AOSP roms as well. I would much rather go back and forth between Sense/AOSP than TouchWiz/AOSP after having my GS3.
No. Roms are for old devices. Lol
Sent from my C6603 using Tapatalk 2
Well Im no noob to rooting.. rooted the Samsung moment , og evo, and evo lte.. some reasons for rooting were battery life, theming , faster.. well the HTC one seems fast, the theme is great, and battery life decent..
Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk 2
I do it for for stuff like % battery, changing cpu/scheduler settings for better battery, debloating, ect. So you are the only one who can decide.
If you had to ask, you don't need to.
I don't say that as a pejorative. You're asking because you don't have a thing you need to do that requires root. So you don't need to.
Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk 2
I usually run stock for at least a few months but the HTC One I rooted maybe after a week. The dot dot dot drives me nuts since HTC decided a menu key is not needed. The menu key is needed and it's still nice to have even on ICS compliant apps. There is room for it, I love this phone except for no menu key.
It's always worth it to gain root access. Wifi Tetethering alone will justify it. And to be honest, rooting is usually not good enough. It's in your interest to flash a custom ROM; there is a lot to be gained. There is a reason we're on Android and not iOS or Windows Phone and the benefits we gain from rooting is one of them. (This is not a jab at other platforms, I hate everything equally)
Super Tommy said:
It's always worth it to gain root access. Wifi Tetethering alone will justify it. And to be honest, rooting is usually not good enough. It's in your interest to flash a custom ROM; there is a lot to be gained. There is a reason we're on Android and not iOS or Windows Phone and the benefits we gain from rooting is one of them. (This is not a jab at other platforms, I hate everything equally)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I just went right the rooting process after having the phone for two days, simply for WiFi access. Also the custom ROM doesn't hurt (running Viper right more and will wait for CM10.1 to catch up). Will try the custom kernel to get the swipe to turn on/off, real soon.
Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk 2
So since we don't have s-off, do I need to root the phone just like I did before using joeys gui flash?
Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk 2
thlinx said:
So since we don't have s-off, do I need to root the phone just like I did before using joeys gui flash?
Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never used that application as it seems like it really doesn't offer anything outside of what GooManager and/or ROM Manager already offer. You may not have to root the phone, but you'll likely need to unlock the device with no S-OFF. The rooting process on this device isn't that difficult, and the videos on the forum from QBKing and wwJosh are solid and walk you through the process. All you really have to do is follow some simple instructions and use copy and paste.
Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk 4 Beta
Main 2 reasons I root my phone's:
1)tethering, hardly ever use it so it's not worth paying the sprint fee, but when u need it u are glad u have it
2)ad blocking apps
As far as flashing kernals and hboots I usually don't fool with it. I find a nice stable customized Rom built off stock and stick with it usually.
Sent from my HTCONE using xda app-developers app
Super Tommy said:
It's always worth it to gain root access. Wifi Tetethering alone will justify it. And to be honest, rooting is usually not good enough. It's in your interest to flash a custom ROM; there is a lot to be gained. There is a reason we're on Android and not iOS or Windows Phone and the benefits we gain from rooting is one of them. (This is not a jab at other platforms, I hate everything equally)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would have to disagree with that; I actually prefer to stick with stock if at all possible. Sometimes there is a ROM out there that has such better performance all around to justify a switch (mostly Carbon-style ROMs that are minimalist), but I take satisfaction in running stock.
Rooting is also useful if you want to enable various features like GPS toggling/Airplane mode toggles for tools such as Tasker or Power Toggles, or to freeze/remove bloat.
Hello I'm huge Android fan and I never ever understood the root I've rooted my HTC one and got the Android revolution 40.3 by Mike 1986 with kit kat 4.4. And what is the big deal about root is there a cydia like program that installs stuff? I saw the bloat ware is gone and that's nice but come on it can't be just all that?
Tell me all the things as iI'm 5 years old
Thanks ahead
Edit: how do I update the rom OTA
Your 5 years old yeah sure
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
When you jailbreak the iPhone you are just able to install non apple apps. You can do that out of the box on Android by allowing other sources in settings. With root on Android you are able to install customized roms, like you did the ARHD. But with root you can customize the base rom with things like Xposed. It's much more powerful than just jailbreaking. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Tapatalk
That's about right. The easy way to look at it is, when you get an android phone you have guest access, bit like a guest account on a PC.
You can do everything you need but not major stuff. Rooting the phone gives you administrator access or full access to everything so you can do anything eg install a different ROM or kernel.
Yeah I've got that xposed installer but what is great to install and what or why does I need to change the rom or kernel... But is the xposed installer "the big thing"?
sliz said:
Hello I'm huge Android fan and I never ever understood the root I've rooted my HTC one and got the Android revolution 40.3 by Mike 1986 with kit kat 4.4. And what is the big deal about root is there a cydia like program that installs stuff? I saw the bloat ware is gone and that's nice but come on it can't be just all that?
Tell me all the things as iI'm 5 years old
Thanks ahead
Edit: how do I update the rom OTA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Five years old huh?? Hmmm..
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk
U can download stuff without even rooting.,Kid
Sent from my Nexus 4 using XDA Premium HD app
I think he meant "Explain it to him like he is 5 years old".
Either way, you want to know what is root used for in Android? I'll help you out : Click Here
sliz said:
Yeah I've got that xposed installer but what is great to install and what or why does I need to change the rom or kernel... But is the xposed installer "the big thing"?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't NEED to do anything. Everything is based on personal preference. Different roms offer different levels of customizations and performance and gives you options based on your wants. Different kernels offer more customizations to the power source of the phone. And let's you control and adjust different aspects of the phone you'll never have the opportunity to during stock. Xposed installer can be "the big thing" based on your needs. There's no way you're going to learn all this in one thread so I'd advise doing some research first like everybody else. Google has a ton of lists on why you should or shouldn't root, and install different kernels and roms. This entire thread sounds like a giant troll to me but if it's not I would advise you do your research. Because why install a different rom when you don't even know why you're doing it?
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
With an iDevice, Jailbreaking does things like allowing you to install non appstore apps, installing themes, and a few other odds and ends. With android, a lot of those things can be done out of the box. And anrdoid phone that has been rooted allows you to install custom ROMs, as has already been mentioned, and do various other things like overclock or underclock the processor and graphics, or make major changes to the phone itself. A lot of things you can do with rooted phone can potentially make the phone unstable or unusable to a degree, if you don't know what you are doing.
With root you can use the Xposed framework which can do a wide variety of things like changing the battery icon to show the percentage of the battery, make the notification bar at the top transparent, add widgets to your lock screen that you normally wouldn't be able to add, or even make it so you can hold the volume up or down buttons to change the song your listening to. There are almost endless possibilities with what you can do with rooted phone.....and that's really putting it in the simplest terms possible.
My suggestion would be to look around XDA at some of the things that require root access on you android device. Things like overclocking and underclocking, I wouldn't mess with until you have a firm grasp on what it can do and the side effect of what happens when you do it wrong.
Since it seems like you are new to android, I wouldn't worry at all about root, as you have a lot to learn before having root access will have any real use for you. It's much like buying a new house and wondering how many cable channels you'll be able to get. It's not one of those things that is a major priority. I've been using android devices for more than 5 years and still don;t find root access to be a mandatory thing.
I know what rooting is and what it does but I never found the great thing about it beside bloat ware is removed and the reason why I rooted was to get rid of them and can't get back to stock cause of bootloader is unlocked and can't get OTA on my phone with stock rom.
But I've read the ARHD rom offers OTA how do I setup my device to that. And I looked around in xposed installer and there are some preeeety nice software there
With root you are like a parent and can do things that you wouldn't let your kids do, such as eating chocolate before dinner. ?
The root user can do pretty much anything in a *nix OS, such as modify the system partition or running low level commands.
sliz said:
I know what rooting is and what it does but I never found the great thing about it beside bloat ware is removed and the reason why I rooted was to get rid of them and can't get back to stock cause of bootloader is unlocked and can't get OTA on my phone with stock rom.
But I've read the ARHD rom offers OTA how do I setup my device to that. And I looked around in xposed installer and there are some preeeety nice software there
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ARHD has never had OTA updates
the only roms I have used that did OTA is ViperOne and MaximusHD their could be others I have just not used them
InsertCoin uses an update system but it's not OTA like the others