Database Develop

Root - Yes or No

I do not have root on my SM-N910F .
At this time I do not feel the need to do so.
I would like to know your opinion on this issue.
In Portugal the Knox with the value 0x1 , the equipment is not repaired under warranty.

No one can tell you to root. It is a decision you must make for yourself.
Sent from my SM-N910T using XDA Premium HD app

Temetka said:
No one can tell you to root. It is a decision you must make for yourself.
Sent from my SM-N910T using XDA Premium HD app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know it's my decision to do or not .
Honestly , I think it became more a habit than a necessity for most users.

1. First reason
After many years of owning latest smartphones I know very well which application I cannot live without. So after using pathed versions - for a (long) test purpose - just bought them. So - no need to root from this point.
2. Second reason
Stock UI. Been trying many ROM's with good or bad results and realised that there are never ideal custom soft for your mobile. They caused always some kind of trouble. Maybe the reason is I'm getting older and have no time to dig into system, but lately I decided to stick to preinstalled firmware and as the only modification - to change unuseful Galaxy launcher on similar Galaxy one from Play store. So again - no root needed.
And yes - I got my Note4 rooted. There are two reasons I did this:
1. To get a possibility to add any application shortcut to the bar on the right side. I know I can jump between applications by using the task touch button on the left side but I love to use the bar on the right. Much easier for me.
2. To get access to my SD card. From this point root will be always needed I'm afraid.
Sent from my Note4

WL8789621 said:
2. To get access to my SD card. From this point root will be always needed I'm afraid.
Sent from my Note4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
as far as I know Lollipop fixes the SD card Problems . Correct me if I am wrong

I'm still on Kit Kat. Was reading about SD on Lolipop and personally I think the new system SD storage improvement is dedicated to developers - not to us and our files whatever they are.
Sent from my Note4

I've rooted every android phone I have.. The note 3 took me about 8 months of non root use before I rooted to try custom ROMs.. They were great but not essential.
The note 4 running stock no root seems to be rock solid. Produces good enough performance to run anything with ease I chuck at it.. I like root apps. But deem non of them essential in my daily use of my phone. So in my opinion. This phone right now doesn't need root.
Sent from my SM-N910F using XDA Free mobile app

Ive been rooting all my phones the xouple of years and tried allmost every rom. Now i have my note 4 since yesterday but i dont feel the need to root it. Its just fast the way it came with touchwiz. And for the first time i dont disturb the touchwiz it just works on this beast.
So in my opinion i shouldnt root it to make it faster.
Only thing is i cant greenify facebook becouse its a stock app. Does somebody know how i can greenify it ??

Yes
Skickat från min SM-N910F via Tapatalk

Greenify? For battery life?
I'm gonna wait for lollipop, and then at least a few updates to that before I root.
Sent from my SM-N910H using XDA Premium HD app

RoyLoy said:
I do not have root on my SM-N910F .
At this time I do not feel the need to do so.
I would like to know your opinion on this issue.
In Portugal the Knox with the value 0x1 , the equipment is not repaired under warranty.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It depends on what you are doing with your phone. If you use mobile banking I recommend you DO NOT use root if so use as much protection as you can. With root you basically control anything - change design, control behavior of you device, control it's CPU and GPU, using different ROMs and more.
I've rooted my S4 and with awesome tools on XDA I was able to revert it and with USB jig make it totally unroot without any evidence of change.
It probably will be on Note 4 however Know could be problem.
I use root, I've SuperSU Pro and also I use Eset Antivirus. Mainly I use Xposed and fantastic X-Note ROM. Also what I love about ROOT is backup - simpy in recovery like TWRP.
Anyway it still depends on you what you wanna do with your phone. You can live without it in stock but at least Android 4.4.4. in Note 4 with Stock ROM is pretty junk on RAM.

Just a personal preference. I specifically root all my devices for two main reasons.
1 adware programs
2 hotspot
Those 2 reasons usually are the only 2 for me. The warranty thing i feel like it doesnt matter for me. I use to keep the sprint insurance on my phones and if i had a prob i could just take it and and get a replacement or repair. Sprint hasnt ever told me they wouldnt fool with my phone because it was rooted. I just bring it in with stock software and most of them dont even know what root is. I swap around phones so much now i just dropped the insurance all together because i figured i was paying 130 dollars a year with the rate increase and i wasnt benefiting from it. I hardly ever use any kind of hotspot and sprint makes u pay 20 dollars extra a month. I dont think i use it enough to justify paying that. I can go 6 months easy without using it. Its just those few and far between cases where it comes in handy.
My 2 cents
Sent from my SM-N910P using XDA Free mobile app

I didn't root my Note 1 or the Sony Z Ultra but I've been looking into rooting the Note 4 due to the phone interface being far too large for the size of the phone screen, the Z Ultra was correctly scaled to suit the larger screen so it made the Note 4 feel very cramped in comparison. I've used the adb trick I found on this forum to adjust the DPI without root which largely works well, it mucks up most of the Samsung applications which is fine as they can be replaced aside from the stock camera application which is meant to get the best out of the camera. The only solution seems to be to root it and set custom application specific dpi's although I'm not finding the misaligned camera screen too much of an issue.
John

The only reason I would really love to root is :
1. xprivacy
2. Ability to use any app in multitasking mode
But still waiting on the new android

donkon said:
The only reason I would really love to root is :
1. xprivacy
2. Ability to use any app in multitasking mode
But still waiting on the new android
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How will rooting help privacy?

I was lazy about rooting my Note 4 for a while but as soon as I did I realized I should not have waited as long as I did. There is some really solid, stable, streamlined ROMs available right now. The lag on stock is not as noticeable until you've rooted and installed a custom ROM. Now I can truly say the 4 is a beast.

touchwiz has no lag on stock. turn off window transition animator in dev options in stock settings and your lag will disappear.

zurkx said:
touchwiz has no lag on stock. turn off window transition animator in dev options in stock settings and your lag will disappear.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL

jlczl said:
LOL
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No...no LOL...deactivating the window animations always does help a lot to prevent lags. Afterwards everything is much more smooth. It's the first thing I always do when setting up a new phone / custom rom.

daffie said:
No...no LOL...deactivating the window animations always does help a lot to prevent lags. Afterwards everything is much more smooth. It's the first thing I always do when setting up a new phone / custom rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think that's what most knowledgeable people do when setting up a new TW phone. The LOL is because that doesn't eliminate the lag that is there. There is so much discussion about this all over, I don't really want to start it all over again here.

Please help - really wanna change my phone's OS ;(

I bought an HTC Desire 510 few months ago cause my Xperia ARC died (was the best phone I ever had).
Now I am very disappointed with the HTC 510, mainly cause of it's awful operating system bundled by google ALL OVER the place
The user interface is a one big disaster, so much annoying and unnecessary stuff... besides the annoying bloatware (parental control app? srsly?)
I really wanna root this phone and change it's OS to those similar of gingerbreed, cyanogen etc but I don't know how to do this with my current phone
and don't even know what custom operating systems are available for the model I have.
What annoys me about the user interface:
*Often lowers the earphone music volume without my permission then gives me this annoying warning that making it higher will damage my hearing - srsly?
*Screen tends to lower it's lighting and back again by itself while I use the phone
*A button at the bottom of the menu that looks like a "home logo" will open somekind of useless google page each time I drag that button up by mistake.
*Terrible and irremovable Gallery app, not to mention it displays images in uncomfortable way, it also features a slideshow which often plays automatically without me asking it to each time I enter a photo album.
*Poorly made irremovable alarm clock app
*Other forced google apps installed on my phone which i don't use and can't just get rid of
*Bad just bad option of organizing apps, well for me atleast, back on my Xperia ARC I used to organize my apps by "commonly used apps" feature, went great, here it's just wacky, it doesn't do it automatically after you set it to organize the following way. So I find myself surfing through all the useless apps to find the app I need at the app menu.
Can anyone give me guidance or recommendation for an alternative Operating System I could replace this horrific google product infecting my phone since I bought it?
I presume this phone would become amazing with a new custom OS, did anyone changed the OS on their HTC 510? if yes what you use and how is it?
Also I know to root this device you first need to unlock the bootloader, is there anything else important I need to know when rooting it?

Sofia_ZARAZA said:
horrific google product
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perhaps you should buy an iPhone.
Sent from my HTC_0PCV2 using XDA Free mobile app

VigiDroid said:
Perhaps you should buy an iPhone.
Sent from my HTC_0PCV2 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Beggars can't be choosers. Of course this person is trying to be both.

Sofia_ZARAZA said:
I bought an HTC Desire 510
Can anyone give me guidance or recommendation for an alternative Operating System I could replace this horrific google product infecting my phone since I bought it?
I presume this phone would become amazing with a new custom OS, did anyone changed the OS on their HTC 510? if yes what you use and how is it?
Also I know to root this device you first need to unlock the bootloader, is there anything else important I need to know when rooting it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dude really. Maybe you should have checked out the forums of this model B4 you bought it. That being said, since you say you are unlocked and rooted then doing a quick search should get you everything you need to rid yourself of all that is bothering you. Depending on what you have and with whom there are some pretty good options out there to use. Check it out and start doing it.
Or you could just throw your phone in the lake, buy and Iphone and forget about it. Bam!

CSP III said:
Dude really. Maybe you should have checked out the forums of this model B4 you bought it. That being said, since you say you are unlocked and rooted then doing a quick search should get you everything you need to rid yourself of all that is bothering you. Depending on what you have and with whom there are some pretty good options out there to use. Check it out and start doing it.
Or you could just throw your phone in the lake, buy and Iphone and forget about it. Bam!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually planned to buy Galaxy 3, heard it was good but also had slow loading problems, then I was offered an alternative of this HTC for the same price and faster working system. It was a spontaneous buy.
And I thought buying an Iphone but changed my mind cause of the "itunes" thing.
CSP III said:
doing a quick search should get you everything you need to rid yourself of all that is bothering you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, how do I deal with the "menu" thing where I want to authomatically always to arrange my icons by last used but cant right now?
I tried themes, but those are so intrusive and full of advertising, well those I tried so far.. (if there are any good ones to recommend I'd give a try) and how about disabling the annoying requests of updates I don't even need? <--(forgot to mention this issue) And how about issues 1-3 I mentioned? any idea how i deal with those then? You talk as if it's so easy, show me then.
About the lake.. better to throw to those who came up with this terrible phone idea

Sofia_ZARAZA said:
I actually planned to buy Galaxy 3, heard it was good but also had slow loading problems, then I was offered an alternative of this HTC for the same price and faster working system. It was a spontaneous buy.
And I thought buying an Iphone but changed my mind cause of the "itunes" thing.
Ok, how do I deal with the "menu" thing where I want to authomatically always to arrange my icons by last used but cant right now?
I tried themes, but those are so intrusive and full of advertising, well those I tried so far.. (if there are any good ones to recommend I'd give a try) and how about disabling the annoying requests of updates I don't even need? <--(forgot to mention this issue) And how about issues 1-3 I mentioned? any idea how i deal with those then? You talk as if it's so easy, show me then.
About the lake.. better to throw to those who came up with this terrible phone idea
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All I can say (and I never said it was easy) is for you to subscribe to all of the HTC 510 Forums and start reading thru the threads. In your case, the most helpful one being this one..."Help & Troubleshooting" if you can not find answers to your particular questions then I would assume that means we just aren't there yet. This is a pretty new device after all. I wouldnt know about themes being I am on custom ROM and that is not an option. You should maybe go for the Unlock and root your phone method. Try out some of the ROMs available. I believe that will alleviate many of your issues since the stock ROM that came with these units have multiple issues. Many of them are the same ones you are experiencing. I wish you well and Read, Read, Read.
Good Luck

Sofia_ZARAZA said:
Ok, how do I deal with the "menu" thing where I want to authomatically always to arrange my icons by last used but cant right now? I tried themes, but those are so intrusive and full of advertising, well those I tried so far.. (if there are any good ones to recommend I'd give a try) and how about disabling the annoying requests of updates I don't even need? <--(forgot to mention this issue) And how about issues 1-3 I mentioned? any idea how i deal with those then? You talk as if it's so easy, show me then.
About the lake.. better to throw to those who came up with this terrible phone idea
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should definitely read through the forums if you haven't so far. I have read/skimmed every thread here about our phone and I almost have no questions or concerns except for some ideas for a couple of issues that haven't been brought up yet or just not yet done.
I only use Sense Home or Dodol Launcher and they both don't have the option to sort by last used, check out Nova, Apex, or some other launcher.
As far as the update is concerned, you can follow this post by LarryBoyG, if you plan to stay on stock. I'm sure a custom ROM will be built that includes the update, unless everyone just wants to wait for Lollipop.

DPI Problems and unlocked bootloader annoying screen

I tried using easy dpi changer and texdroider and no matter what DPI i change to, my screen gets no effect. only apps and everything but my home screens. is there a way that my home screens could get smaller so i can add more icons. i used to do it this way on my nexus 5
Also, i had a question about the nagging screen after unlocking my bootloader. i tried searching but i see there is no work around yet. does this thing annoy guys as much as me? lol

peach007 said:
I tried using easy dpi changer and texdroider and no matter what DPI i change to, my screen gets no effect. only apps and everything but my home screens. is there a way that my home screens could get smaller so i can add more icons. i used to do it this way on my nexus 5
Also, i had a question about the nagging screen after unlocking my bootloader. i tried searching but i see there is no work around yet. does this thing annoy guys as much as me? lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The news (I looked into it) isn't that great. It's a part of the bootloader code itself, lives in a file called boot.c (somewhere along this path $source/bootable/bootloader/../../*/boot.c) and although it "could" be changed inside the file, there are many checks in that file, so it's not trivial. Then a full compile of the ROM (or at least the bootloader since it's a "bootable" ) which for me, is a lengthy process, and you have a dodgy bootloader that could easily put an end to your booting days (for awhile), so it's not clear to me that this is worthwhile unless you're putting out a custom ROM, give a damn, and want to make that part of the upkeep for your ROM.
I figure that when AOSP ROMs show up, (I think it took over 2 months after oneplus 3 came out for cm13 to come along), then that would be a good time to rethink it. I've hit the point where I just do as the message says and skip it by hitting the power button once. ;

I ended up somehow making my screen smaller but had to change DPI to 400. Anything less and it wouldn't work. I prefer 360 but 400 not bad on 5.5" screen.
Yea I just click the power button until it boots lol.
Can't wait for a nougat release for the 3T. I'm anxious for it.
Sent from my OnePlus 3T using XDA Labs

peach007 said:
I ended up somehow making my screen smaller but had to change DPI to 400. Anything less and it wouldn't work. I prefer 360 but 400 not bad on 5.5" screen.
Yea I just click the power button until it boots lol.
Can't wait for a nougat release for the 3T. I'm anxious for it.
Sent from my OnePlus 3T using XDA Labs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It might be worth asking anyone coming along to do ROM development in the near future if they wouldn't mind modifying that file I mentioned, I think ./bootable/bootloader/*/*/boot.c to dump the text & the 5 second delay. If you're rolling your own, it's not a big deal. I'd also go along with waiting for nougat. I can't really see anyone starting development (aside from the one or two that are already out there) prior to nougat. There is a 3t 14.1 Cm in the works, but not sure when it'll show up here in the dev section.

In You want more icons on Homescreen, just take a different launcher.. For example Nova

Just a quick reminder about the bootloader: It is closed source (although based on the open source base you see in your rom tree), managed and singed by OnePlus so only they can change it. It also is not built when you build a rom, and lives on a seperate partition that is not touched when you do anything reasonable to your phone.
Sorry but you won't get rid of it!

Jo_Jo_2000 said:
Just a quick reminder about the bootloader: It is closed source (although based on the open source base you see in your rom tree), managed and singed by OnePlus so only they can change it. It also is not built when you build a rom, and lives on a seperate partition that is not touched when you do anything reasonable to your phone.
Sorry but you won't get rid of it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OH yeah! Of course. I must have had a stroke or something .. ;; ) Not sure how I made that transposition. I've been away from Android development way too long. Thanks for setting that straight. Fortunately for everyone I never went ahead with my idiotic scheme. I may have just been so happy to get the 3.5.3 ROM build working that I got power-crazy. Jeez.
Many thanks.

custom Rom or not?

I just replaced the Google Pixel 2 xl with Note 9
So far, I like this phone.
I'd like to ask you guys, if it would be worth to root the phone and install a custom ROM / kernel
I can't see a percentage for the brightness, which is annoying, and the clock is on the left, I'd like to have it centered or on the right
With a good kernel, would it help to improve the battery life?
Thank you very much, in advance, any advices are welcome

With Samsung once you root and trip Knox you can't go back to stock - ever. And some apps will not work anymore. This is actually my first phone where I haven't seen any need for root anyway.
Take a look at good lock, with it you can customize allmost everything, incl. clock postition.

nex_t said:
I just replaced the Google Pixel 2 xl with Note 9
So far, I like this phone.
I'd like to ask you guys, if it would be worth to root the phone and install a custom ROM / kernel
I can't see a percentage for the brightness, which is annoying, and the clock is on the left, I'd like to have it centered or on the right
With a good kernel, would it help to improve the battery life?
Thank you very much, in advance, any advices are welcome
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
latest july build seems to have decent battery without the need to root.
also using samsung goodlock and its various components, you will be able to do a lot of stuff that were only possible on a rooted device. such as move clock position and much more UIwise.
for brightness % sorry never seen that.
so play around with all the goodlock addons 1st and see if its worthing staying on stock. as you know rooting will kill Spay...so
( i can never stay on stock since its much to fun to flash roms every now and then)

What exactly is good lock?
Where do can I find this app? @Bober, I always had a percentage on the brightness, on the Pixel 2 xl ( root / custom Rom)
There must be a way for this
Thank you, guys
LE : i never used an Android phone, with stock...

nex_t said:
What exactly is good lock?
Where do can I find this app? @Bober, I always had a percentage on the brightness, on the Pixel 2 xl ( root / custom Rom)
There must be a way for this
Thank you, guys
LE : i never used an Android phone, with stock...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
goodlock can be found on the Samsung store.
there is also an alternative called nicelock in the guides forum.
basically goodlock in it self is nothing but a downloader/manager or various plugins. they are the ones that modd the system.

Thank you very much, bober
Do I have to remove the simcard, when I do this??
I'm from Europe - Germany

nex_t said:
Thank you very much, bober
Do I have to remove the simcard, when I do this??
I'm from Europe - Germany
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
for what?
to install goodlock? if you dont see it in the samsung store then try:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/ga...-nicelock-goodlock-2019-launcher-pie-t3908648
sometimes apps are available by region. so using nicelock should bypass this.

nex_t said:
What exactly is good lock?
Where do can I find this app? @Bober, I always had a percentage on the brightness, on the Pixel 2 xl ( root / custom Rom)
There must be a way for this
Thank you, guys
LE : i never used an Android phone, with stock...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go to settings-Notifications-Status bar-Show battery percentage
Edit: sorry, misread that...not sure about brightness percentage!

Battery percentage?
Did you read exactly my post?!
LE : i installed NiceLock but when I try to install something from the menu, I can't
Not available in my country....

nex_t said:
Battery percentage?
Did you read exactly my post?!
LE : i installed NiceLock but when I try to install something from the menu, I can't
Not available in my country....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
really, i thought that was the purpous of nicelock, to bypasse that issue. post on the nice lock thread. sure someone has insight on that.
quote:
NICELOCK
Good Lock 2019 Launcher
What is NiceLock?
This app is only an alternative to main Good Lock app for the regions that it is officially unavailable.
This app only acts as a launcher for modules.

That's why I asked about removing the SIM

nex_t said:
That's why I asked about removing the SIM
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
try it i guess.

I tried but I can't install anything from NiceLock

nex_t said:
I tried but I can't install anything from NiceLock
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
then i really dont know...did you post here for help?
https://forum.xda-developers.com/ga...-nicelock-goodlock-2019-launcher-pie-t3908648

nex_t said:
That's why I asked about removing the SIM
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
uninstall nicelock an try this method which worked for me.
1. remove the sim.
2. uninstall samsung store
3. restart the phone.
4 open the vpn app and select US .
5. open samsung store , download the app update and than install goodlock.
6. open goodlock and install the apps-plugins ( download all of them and later you can uninstall unwanted ones).
7. insert sim and restart .....
---------- Post added at 01:39 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:09 AM ----------
nex_t said:
I just replaced the Google Pixel 2 xl with Note 9
So far, I like this phone.
I'd like to ask you guys, if it would be worth to root the phone and install a custom ROM / kernel
I can't see a percentage for the brightness, which is annoying, and the clock is on the left, I'd like to have it centered or on the right
With a good kernel, would it help to improve the battery life?
Thank you very much, in advance, any advices are welcome
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
im dealing with theis question myself, i have a korean version - n960n and im having some network connection problems ( i live in midle east which has different bands), and the super late updates from samsung for this model, im still in April security update.
other than this i really dont see the need for root-custom rom for my phone.
i will wait till the end of this month and see.

ubejd said:
uninstall nicelock an try this method which worked for me.
1. remove the sim.
2. uninstall samsung store
3. restart the phone.
4 open the vpn app and select US .
5. open samsung store , download the app update and than install goodlock.
6. open goodlock and install the apps-plugins ( download all of them and later you can uninstall unwanted ones).
7. insert sim and restart .....
---------- Post added at 01:39 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:09 AM ----------
im dealing with theis question myself, i have a korean version - n960n and im having some network connection problems ( i live in midle east which has different bands), and the super late updates from samsung for this model, im still in April security update.
other than this i really dont see the need for root-custom rom for my phone.
i will wait till the end of this month and see.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you should be on may release. manually download it and flash it with Odin.

I'm in the same boat here and am quite surprised by it. I ALWAYS root my phone, first thing, asap. I specifically bought the exynos version of the N9 so I could root. But after playing with it I find myself wondering why I need root.
Ad blocking - kind of miss this but using Brave browser mostly fixes that.
Customization - GoodLock is AWESOME. Takes place of rom customizations and Tasker, which was a must have for me.
Call recording seems to work, which it didn't on my Pixel.
Get to keep Samsung pay, which is much better than Google pay. And secure folder is a lot better than the name suggests, since it provides doubles if apps allowing multiple active logins.
Someone convinced me why I need to root this phone??

ThePublisher said:
I'm in the same boat here and am quite surprised by it. I ALWAYS root my phone, first thing, asap. I specifically bought the exynos version of the N9 so I could root. But after playing with it I find myself wondering why I need root.
Ad blocking - kind of miss this but using Brave browser mostly fixes that.
Customization - GoodLock is AWESOME. Takes place of rom customizations and Tasker, which was a must have for me.
Call recording seems to work, which it didn't on my Pixel.
Get to keep Samsung pay, which is much better than Google pay. And secure folder is a lot better than the name suggests, since it provides doubles if apps allowing multiple active logins.
Someone convinced me why I need to root this phone??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
to have fun with it and try new things. ( i get bored fast and quickly want more)
if you want to use the phone within the allowed parameters and not want anything more than you already have, than don't root. because the 1st thing happens when you root is that knox fuse gets tripped and apps relying on the device's security integrity will stop trusting it and fail to work. but apart from S pay you can get prety much all apps working one way or an other on a rooted phone just as a stock one would.( lately secure folder was found to work! thx dr
.ketan). people have turned to google pay instead of S pay.
but i do understand that its like: why break what's not broken?
some of us like the freedom and ability to do more. its not essential but since we own the device i guess our though process is what can we do to get even more out of this device.( price is not cheap so we need a reason to justify having bought it guess and have our money's worth ! lol )
but it is true. with good lock the visual aspect that was once one of the big reasons of rooting is now less and less of a reason. same goes with themes as well. nice alternatives to the stock themes and store bought ones like the wonderfull app: #hex ( xda made! search for it here and on playstore) allows you to theme. it has slimmed the gap even more between the need to root and not having to.
one aspect though that is important is being able to remove content and aslo add content like unsupported region carrier specific features eg:CSC , i put canadian CSC on my n960n.( somewill argue rhat if i had bought the canadian variant i would not need to do this. but the other reasons outlined in this message outweighs this.)
all in all im happy with my decision. and i have no trouble understanding that you or others are also quite happy with not having rooted.
what is good is that rooting has put pressure and have given samsung and other device companies examples and insight on what the community wants. by rooting and modding the device we show exactly what we need/want. and the result ( goodlock and other additions) that are aosp inspired has really made the device shine and be an attractive experiance to the general public and rooted user alike.

bober10113 said:
to have fun with it and try new things. ( i get bored fast and quickly want more)
if you want to use the phone within the allowed parameters and not want anything more than you already have, than don't root. because the 1st thing happens when you root is that knox fuse gets tripped and apps relying on the device's security integrity will stop trusting it and fail to work. but apart from S pay you can get prety much all apps working one way or an other on a rooted phone just as a stock one would.( lately secure folder was found to work! thx dr
.ketan). people have turned to google pay instead of S pay.
but i do understand that its like: why break what's not broken?
some of us like the freedom and ability to do more. its not essential but since we own the device i guess our though process is what can we do to get even more out of this device.( price is not cheap so we need a reason to justify having bought it guess and have our money's worth ! lol )
but it is true. with good lock the visual aspect that was once one of the big reasons of rooting is now less and less of a reason. same goes with themes as well. nice alternatives to the stock themes and store bought ones like the wonderfull app: #hex ( xda made! search for it here and on playstore) allows you to theme. it has slimmed the gap even more between the need to root and not having to.
one aspect though that is important is being able to remove content and aslo add content like unsupported region carrier specific features eg:CSC , i put canadian CSC on my n960n.( somewill argue rhat if i had bought the canadian variant i would not need to do this. but the other reasons outlined in this message outweighs this.)
all in all im happy with my decision. and i have no trouble understanding that you or others are also quite happy with not having rooted.
what is good is that rooting has put pressure and have given samsung and other device companies examples and insight on what the community wants. by rooting and modding the device we show exactly what we need/want. and the result ( goodlock and other additions) that are aosp inspired has really made the device shine and be an attractive experiance to the general public and rooted user alike.
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I've definitely rooted a bunch of phones. Every phone in my signature that could be rooted, and many friends phones etc. I've been a huge proponent of root. This phone just seems to not need it, at least not yet at this point. When sammy stops pushing updates in timely manner I will probably reconsider.
You are absolutely right that root, and the xda community in particular, has really pushed OEMs to make things better. Its great progress.

bober10113 said:
goodlock can be found on the Samsung store.
there is also an alternative called nicelock in the guides forum.
basically goodlock in it self is nothing but a downloader/manager or various plugins. they are the ones that modd the system.
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What customizations are you using on your status bar?

I've just got this phone new, and let me get this right....

I've got to wait 360 HOURS if I want to unlock this thing? AND give them my mobile number and email address???
Is that right? And nobody has thought thats ****ing weird til now?
I'm glad I haven't opened the box yet, think this will be being returned...

robneymcplum said:
I've got to wait 360 HOURS if I want to unlock this thing? AND give them my mobile number and email address???
Is that right? And nobody has thought thats ****ing weird til now?
I'm glad I haven't opened the box yet, think this will be being returned...
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Yeah, it really sounds like you need to send it back. using custom roms on a Xiaomi device isn't for you?
The 2 week wait is a security measure, and it was needed due to scammers. Yes, we all waited and honestly don't care to hear the whining. Hate to be a **** but it appears that you have been around long enough to know.
If you read more, you will see why Xiaomi choose to make people wait two weeks, and yes you absolutely must register your phone. It's actually very useful because you can enable Mi Cloud to backup and restore whatever files and programs/data should you need to wipe the device, and its the reason why the phone is unbrickable for the people that registered their devices.
Again, tens of thousands of us are just fine with all of that. 
If that bothers you then please do return it, and you will never know what a perfect device the Mi8 truly is.
The Mi8 is without a doubt one of the best phones for using custom roms, and we have a lot of great developers here, the camera is fantastic and even better when using the most recent Pixel Camera Mod
To go on, the recent beta Android 10 Miui is far superior to stock.
Another option is to downgrade and buy the Xiaomi A3 which comes with Android One and there is no wait to unlock the bootloader.
Sorry for being Harsh, but I surely answered your questions.

O understand why,and like you say, I've been here years with hundreds of devices.
It just seems odd they have my number, email and all access for 15 days whilst I get ’nothing’ back in that time. any thing I can do whilst waiting? Like root or app removal? Ad blocks...etc...?

robneymcplum said:
O understand why,and like you say, I've been here years with hundreds of devices.
It just seems odd they have my number, email and all access for 15 days whilst I get ’nothing’ back in that time. any thing I can do whilst waiting? Like root or app removal? Ad blocks...etc...?
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It's not that odd, the phone is warranteed. Personally, I register the warranty on everything I buy that costs a lot of money. At this point Xiaomi may make occasionally blunders. But I truly believe that they are highly ethical. They have had none of the Drama that certain other companies have had and they are one of the few who still allows for the bootloader to be unlocked.
There is plenty you can do, if you are fully updated to the recent Miui 11, you can turn off as, and using a non root ad blocking program such as Blokada or a Firewall program such as Adclear.. which works well.
Google how to properly bind your account to device or it could take longer. Your account must be bound to MiCloud and syncing. Once that part is setup then you can unlock the bootloader after 15 days.
Once you understand how it works you will find that it's actually very easy.
On the other hand, other devices such as One Plus are actually much more of a pain ( for some) due to their partitioning privileges structure.
Bide your time, and you will find it surely worthwhile. Slot of good information is available here in XDA which can be supplemented further by participating in Mi Community, at least initially, there is a lot of good steps with illustrations available and the users are highly active with being helpful.
Edit: Absolutely make sure that you register with correct information or you will be screwed. The account register your and IMEI, which again makes the phone much more secure.
Finally, during the 2 weeks read and take notes, this way you will know exactly what to do, when it's time to unlock the bootloader. I suggest using the Xiaomi. EU rom but that's a personal preference, there are plenty of time to choose from.

sadly I cant use this phone with my proper, usual sim card as I cant use it daily without root features I need, so I just have it with a spare sim in it for the 2 weeks and leave it at home, using my current phone. I will then unlock it with this spare sim in and then do the bootloader/twrp/kernals/roms...etc which I'm guessing will be ok to do? I wont be using a miui rom on it when it's finished, I had no intention of using miui when I got the phone, it was only bought for the hardware.