It’s time to talk about the disadvantages and risks of root. It might be less and less worth rooting an Android smartphone. A few years ago it was very common to install cooked ROMs and modify the system to get real performance, but with the advancement of technology and the improvement of the devices it has become a secondary issue for many. Here we leave you a series of doubts and disadvantages that you should take into account before rooting your Android.
Having root is not always so easy
There are applications like KingRoot or Nexus root toolkit to get root access easily. There are also popular ROMs like LineageOS that can be easily installed. But what is not usually said is that these tools are only available for certain phones, the most popular ones. If you have a mid-range Huawei, a non-high-end Samsung Galaxy or an LG, you may not have such simple tutorials.
If your kind of smartphone is used by few people, you will have less support
Related to the previous point, if your mobile is not a Nexus or a best seller, it is very possible that the number of tricks and ROMs for your mobile is much less. More difficult to root, less updates, less tutorials … the root world is based mainly on the work of the community but if the one that exists around your device is smaller, you will have more trouble finding what you want.
And be careful at this point, because many smartphones offers are dual SIM or Asian versions and ROMs do not work the same way. The Galaxy S8 (G950F) does not have for example the same backup as the Galaxy S8 dual sim (G950FD). And if instead of Samsung we talk about a lesser-known mobile, the problem is enlarged.
Many cool things can already be done without root
Control permissions, modify the appearance, create gestures … nowadays there are many applications on the Google PlayStore to configure Android to your liking without the need for superuser access. And they are right.
Tasker is one of those useful powerful applications that many users have in mind when talking about root, but the truth is that you do not need to have it to work. We can create all kinds of automation without rooting the smartphone.
On the other hand, there are many tutorials on YouTube and various tech blogs to activate hidden functions that would be easier with root, but they can be done manually via ADB. A method to remodify the Android system without having to root it. An example of this is uninstalling applications from the system or completely modifying the interface with the SystemUI app.
The manufacturer ignores
Is the warranty of the mobile lost if I root it? In the end you must think that by rooting the device you can skip security locks, avoid using pre-installed applications and generally use the device in a different way than the manufacturer had thought you would use it. Therefore, if you root and unlock the device’s bootloader, you have to think that you may have problems with some types of insurance or guarantees, since they may not cover it.
Need to update manually
By installing a custom ROM you can get a higher version of Android, but it will stay there. To receive new versions, you either continue within the same ROM, since some implement constant updates, or you will have to go back.
If you have a ROM, forget about official OTAs from your manufacturer, security patches, or updates that add new apps … you can have all the added ones manually thanks to the new ROMs that come out from the official one, but again it will be installing it by hand.
If you root a mobile phone, the manufacturer will assume that you can manage it on your own.
Risk of tricky bricks to fix
Almost everything has a solution, but it is true that installing ROMs and making root you can accidentally cause a brick on your device. It is that moment when the mobile does not turn on since we have installed a file that was not or we have skipped a step. Following tutorials is easy a priori, but sometimes they are not exhaustive enough or for your smartphones in particular it is not well explained. It is then when you get involved and cause these errors that render your Android phone useless.
There are some soft bricks easy to solve by entering the recovery and installing the ROM again, to hard bricks caused by installing software that was not intended for your Android phone. At that point we will have a nice paperweight that will look great in our drawer.