12 reasons not to root your Android phone – and the only time I would

Kerry Wan/ZDNET

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ZDNET’s key takeaways

• Rooting or jailbreaking a phone isn’t as hard as it once was.
• The process does involve considerable risk.
• Some reasons might make you want to try.

Many years ago, when I first heard about rooting Android phones, the practice intrigued me. Rooting (Android) or jailbreaking (iOS) was a challenging task that some did simply because they could, and some did it because they had a very specific need. 

One reason rooting/jailbreaking has been such a controversial subject is because of the risks involved. I have rooted a few Android phones over the years, and one time I wound up bricking a device (that is, it was rendered unusable). Fortunately, that was a spare test handset; I still had my main phone available.

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While the process of rooting an Android phone isn’t easy, it’s far simpler than it used to be. Depending on your specific phone model, the process can vary, but the best method involves using the Magisk app. Here’s a quick look at the steps involved:

• Enable Developer Options on your phone.
• Install the ADB and Fastboot tools on your computer
• Obtain your device’s firmware from your manufacturer’s website, a reputable community forum, or locate a specific ROM you want to use (such as LineageOS). A ROM is essentially an alternate OS for your device.
• Connect your phone to your PC via a USB cable.
• Open a command prompt or terminal in the folder where you installed ADB/Fastboot tools.
• Reboot your device into Fastboot mode using the command: adb reboot bootloader.
• Unlock the bootloader using the appropriate command.
• Install the Magisk app on your phone.
• Transfer the boot.img file you extracted from your stock firmware to your phone’s storage.
• Open the Magisk app, select Install, choose Select and Patch a File, and select the boot.img file.
• Magisk will create a new patched image file.
• Transfer the patched boot.img file back to your computer (into the platform-tools folder).
• Ensure your phone is still in Fastboot mode.
• Flash the patched image to your phone using the command: fastboot flash boot magisk_patched_boot.img (the filename may vary).
• Reboot your device using the command: fastboot reboot.
• Once the phone reboots, open the Magisk app to confirm the installation.

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In short, rooting a phone is far more complicated than simply installing an app from an app store and tapping a few buttons.

Is rooting and/or jailbreaking safe?

That’s a tough question to answer because there’s always some risk involved. The risk could be as painless as breaking your phone’s warranty, which is all well and good if you never have to depend on the warranty. But if something were to go wrong with your phone and you need to have it fixed, problems could ensue.

Then there’s the risk of bricking your device. If this happens, the phone is finished.

Whether or not you’re willing to take those risks is, of course, a personal decision. As I’ve said, I bricked a phone during an attempted rooting; once that happened, the phone was useless.

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Is that a risk you’re willing to take?

As far as being safe, rooting your phone won’t automatically send your information to a bad actor. However, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Rooting your phone enables you to install a different operating system. You could, however, wind up installing a malicious OS, which can in turn lead to your information being sent to a bad actor. You need to ensure the OS you’re installing is safe.

Reasons to root your Android phone

In short, you need to weigh the possible negative outcomes against the positive. What are those positives? Here’s a shortlist of reasons to root your phone:

1. To remove bloatware that would be otherwise impossible to uninstall.
2. To install and use a different OS that better suits your needs.
3. To  customize your phone in ways the original OS doesn’t allow.
4. To install apps that require special permissions that the default OS won’t allow.
5. To give you access to system functions that the original OS doesn’t.
6. To gain complete control over your device.

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Reasons not to root your Android phone

As I’ve already mentioned, you could brick your phone or void your warranty. However, there are 10 more reasons not to root your phone:

1. You could brick your device.
2. You will void your arranty.
3. Google Pay will no longer work.
4. No more over-the-air updates.
5. Some apps block rooted users.
6. No more OEM support.
7. Some vendors may prohibit you from using a rooted phone.
8. Increased malware risks.
9. Disabled security features.
10. Vulnerability exploitation.
11. Introduction of bugs.
12. Possible performance issues.

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If you compare and consider both the above lists, you’ll probably be less inclined to want to root your Android phone.

The one reason that would make me root my phone

If I had to single out one thing that could entice me to root my phone, it would be to remove bloatware. Since I tend to use Pixel Phones, bloatware isn’t a problem. However, if I wound up with a different device that did include a lot of bloatware, I would most likely want to root the device so I could uninstall those redundant (and often inferior) apps. This is often true when you purchase your handset from a carrier that loads its own apps on the device. Most of those apps are useless and — best case — simply take up space or — worst case — can become security liabilities.

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Bloatware tends to be a bigger, more cmmon problem on low-end and mid-range Android devices. I’ve even encountered phones that include alternative app stores — and these should be avoided at all costs. If I were to purchase such a phone, I’d immediately root it and remove all of those apps. Without rooting, a lot of those bloatware apps cannot be removed.

In the end, the choice is yours. I tend to purchase phones that I wouldn’t want to root because A) the process is involved, and B) it’s risky. I wouldn’t want to wind up with a $1,000 paperweight, and I’m fairly certain that you wouldn’t either.