On Sat, Jun 03, 2017 at 02:39:58PM +1000, Rohan McLeod wrote:
opinion of things like Kingroot https://kingroot.net/; as an alturnative to replacing the supplied version of Android ?
Getting root on an android device is not just useful as the first stage in installing alternative "ROM"s(*). Having root access to your own device is useful in its own right with the stock image, alternate ROMs are optional. I've never heard of this one before. my attitude is similar to russell's - who is behind this site, and can they be trusted with root on my phone or tablet? I can root my nexus 7 any time i want. it's a standard feature with most phones and tablets from google and some other manufacturers (and other manufacturers go out of their way to make it difficult). the price is that rooting it via the google-standard mechanism will cause it to be wiped. and i cant' do a complete backup of the entire device without root. If I were inclined to use their tool, I'd do a **LOT** of research on them first, treating both any negative reports AND a shortage or lack of positive reports about them from well-known and trustworthy names in the android dev community as a no-go danger sign. I'd prefer to backup what i can¸ root it myself and then restore than to trust some mystery app on an unknown site. BTW, it's also worth noting that some app developers don't allow their apps to be installed or run on rooted devices. Netflix is one of the more famous ones that recently announced they're doing this. DRM can be bypassed on a rooted device. DRM can also be bypassed in lots of other ways, but their investors and movie/tv production companies don't really understand the details of DRM snake oil, and some are just content with a reasonable delay between official release and first-crack. (I don't run Netflix so IDGAF) (*) Not really a "ROM", that's just what they are misleadingly called in android enthusiast communities - what they mean by it is "alternative boot image" or "alternative firmware image" (and even "firmware" isn't strictly accurate as it's installed on a flash disk or SSD, not a PROM/EPROM/EEPROM etc chip). The "ROM" terminolgy is entrenched, there's no point in quiblling about it. Just ignore the fact that it's wrong. craig -- craig sanders <cas@taz.net.au>