yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] krelvinaz:
Reasons for rooting my phones in the past were pretty basic.

#1 Ad blocking. I really hate advertising on both my PC and especially my phone. I realize that it is how sites and some apps get their revenue, but ads about "You have a virus", "Buy this stupid thing I will never click or buy" just make using my phone a hazard waiting to happen. Until fairly recently, blocking ads was not really possible without rooting. Been using DNS66 for some time how with decent sucess and just started using AdGuard with even better success where I no longer thing this is important any more.

#2 Backup, Titanium Backup, Been using it since I got into Android, like the security of it, ability to freeze apps etc and be able to restore to a new device. The past couple phones however this has been less needed. I make good backups of my devices especially tools that take a while to setup correctly and I export their settings on a weekly basis and back them up without root.

#3 System Changes. In reality, I have not done this much for some time. I was never much of a switch ROM type of guy. I have not used a custom rom for a couple years preferring to stay basically stock and tweak some things which if I am not root, I really don't need to do anymore (prevent OTA's from installing for example).

I don't need to defeat tethering restrictions, battery tweaks, or a special tweak for sound or some such thing, I just use stock as it is.

My current phone is a Nexus 5X from Google used on Verizon and while I did root it originally, I returned to stock after a while and re-locked the bootloader as I simply didn't have time to mess with it when it needed updating.

My phone is first most a phone and a requirement for both business and personal access, it is rarely far from me and I use it every day on a constant basis. The fact it can do so much more is a benefit, but I am not a gamer and it works just fine the way it is. I am also not really big on social media, twitter or some of those things... mostly annoying.

My Pixel will be here tomorrow from Verizon, won't bother unlocking it or rooting it. If for some reason that becomes an issue down the road, I will replace it with one from Google, but for now, the price was good and I still have my Nexus 5x as a spare which I can then do with whatever is needed.
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] stead2120:
My Pixel will be here Thursday, hopefully I will be able to root for titanium, adaway, tethering, and eventually exposed modules (I need to be able to download pandora tracks)
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] sovanyio:
Yes, always, because of google play services wakelocks
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] samier09:
My Pixel XL is my 1st Android phone I did not root.

I use Adguard (russian system wide ad blocker and much more) okay for all features you have to buy a membership but when you pay with Russian Rubel (I paid with PayPal) you can choose the cheapest plan and you get life time access... that trick really only works with Russian Rubel.
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] stead2120:
Licking my chops for Xposed Nougat. There is no point in owning a Google Phone without Unlocking and Rooting, just for the sake of backing up apps, etc.
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] pstgh:
OK- I've read a lot through these forums, but have yet to find exactly what I'm looking for......which is this: I've just acquired a Pixel phone via the Google Store for VZW (that is, it's not a VZW phone, but I am running it on VZW). This new phone is running 7.1 and now that I've had big red install a new sim card in it, it's already asking me to update to 7.1.1 which isn't going to happen until I better understand this phone and restore my previous settings. My previous rooted Sammy GSIV was fully backed up via Titanium Backup, so now all I have to do "theoretically" is root this phone, download TBPro and execute a full restore. On my new Pixel, I've enabled developer options, enabled debugger options, and have enabled the switch which says "allow phone to be unlocked".

Now- if someone could please point me in the best direction from here, I'd greatly appreciate it !!!! My main goal, as stated earlier, is to root the phone, download TBPro, and execute a full restore.

Thank you!
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] milan187:
You have a good phone so you should always be able to lock/unlock booladers.

To be safe though boot into bootloader and type on PC fastboot flashing unlock

That will unlock your bootloader. Keep it unlock and you can update to whatever you wish.

To root look in SuperSU and TWRP threads. It's stable now.
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] pstgh:
Can't get off square one!

Thanks- though I've installed the adb and google device drivers, they are not appearing in my 'Other Devices' column- I did however get something appearing called "MTP" ? Once I get adb and google device drivers up and running, I'll be off to the races but can't quite seem to get off square one because there's something I'm doing / not doing upon running that adbsetup.exe which isn't working in my Win 7 pc environment.... any help here would be great. Thanks.
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] milan187:
You don't need ADB for any of this. Just fastboot.exe on your PC. You put device in fastboot mode to send commands.

Turn the device off. Wait at least 15 seconds. Then hold vol down + power to get into fastboot.
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] pstgh:
That's news. I guess I'm getting confused by all of the various posts on rooting this phone over the past few months. Is there an updated step-by-step root process someplace that I can follow?
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] mac796:
I posted a great one for you like 3 posts up
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] farfromovin:
And the only need to back up apps, etc comes from flashing ROMS non stop.

I love owning a Google phone for the software, more so than any other device. This is the software I want, and it's pretty convenient to just take OTA's and always stay up to date with a dependable device. Rooting complicates that.
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] Bruce Lee:
I have rooted and modded most of my phones. The reason I root and mod. Faster performance, update when I want, more customization, help find bugs for the devs, and ROM FLASHING.

With my last few phones including the Pixel, I haven't. I need my phone stable and working well for my job. I miss tinkering a ton. I miss the feeling of flashing a phone. haha
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] MrBaltazar:
Yes because these phones look like they're in "elderly mode" with icon size, status bar size, etc. Changing LCD density to regain screen real estate is the first thing I do after root.
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] driz:
I did immediately to remove the trash apps that came on my phone. Plus I like better battery stats
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] pixel_junkie:
Such as?
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] driz:
The apps I consider to be trash, obviously.
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] pixel_junkie:
Obviously. I was hoping you'd share which apps you removed exactly.
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] driz:
I can't fathom how what apps i use can possibly help you, but ok.

the verizon stuff, anything to do with docs, any non-english keyboards, google play videos, google maps, im sure there was some other **** , i just remove it as i see it.
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] pixel_junkie:
You clearly know more than I and since I've been wanting to remove the same exact apps, sounds like you'd be the perfect person to ask - does root give you permission to remove such apps right off the bat or is there more to it? I want to get rid of that stuff but keep the original rom. Don't want a custom rom. Thanks for your help!
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] driz:
android is just linux, once you have root, you can delete whatever you want. i just shell in and remove the stuff. If you're not good on linux i think there is an app that does backups and app removal based on whats on your phone, i dont recall the name of it though.

actually a two second google turned this up

https://www.kingoapp.com/root-tutorials/how-to-remove-bloatware-on-android.htm

step two mentions the app i couldn't remember, titanium backup. im pretty sure this app can backup AND remove the apps. you could prob google "remove unwanted apps with titaniumbackup" or something
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] blackhand1001:
You actually don't need to root for this anymore. Google included a screenshot density slider in the display settings menu.
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] driz:
the people who like to view their phones with a magnifying glass might still need root ;) I swear, sometimes I read the DPI people use and can't imagine how they see.
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] blackhand1001:
So I actually found out that the smallest width setting in let's you set any screen size you want. Setting a value of 800 actually gave me the 9-10 inch screen UI lol. (Ends coming out to 216 DPI.
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] MrBaltazar:
I changes the status bar and makes the icons a tad smaller but not nearly enough

---------- Post added at 08:43 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:42 PM ----------

I have no problem having smaller text and icons. It's cleaner and allows more to be on the screen without scrolling.
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] blackhand1001:
Check my post right above your last post. It shows you how to change the DPI to anything you want without root.
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] pixel_junkie:
Do you need a custom rom for this to run or just root access? Thanks
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] k.s.deviate:
To use it as intended, yes a custom ROM is required. Pure Nexus is nice.. if you stay stock and just root you will only be able to use substratum in legacy mode, think Layers. A reboot will be necessary and certain aspect of the UI won't theme properly (system UI). If you use a theme like swift dark or swift black, they are designed to work with the stock pixel as much as possible.
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] pixel_junkie:
Thanks for the fast reply.

Read about Pure Nexus, sounds awesome but I'm afraid I'll screw up my phone if I attempt to root. Is it pretty easy? What are the chances of me bricking my phone?
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] k.s.deviate:
If you follow the guides in the twrp thread and follow the instructions in pure Nexus thread you shouldn't have any problems.
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] bobby janow:
You will screw up your phone. Don't do it.
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] pixel_junkie:
I'm certain of it. won't be doing it. Thanks though.
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] MrBaltazar:
I have a "Display Size" slider in the settings menu but it only goes down so far. Like I said, it makes it better but not quite enough. Would like 7 icons wide on my home screen. That's how I've been doing it for years and it works perfect for me. I really appreciate the extra room on the screen
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] varun.gid:
If only there was a setting to reduce Navbar height i would not use root. The Stock Navbar is way too huge,
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] mngdew:
Adaway, V4A, Mods and SDMaid.
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] geoff5093:
Love it for Network Signal Guru and Greenify.
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] PsiPhiDan:
App backups, audio tweaks, ad removal, themes, certain Tasker commands, etc.
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] Serge Winters:
what is life without root? :P
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] robotnikz:
Need root for the following reasons.

- freeze unwanted apps with titanium

- greenify / amplify

- tasker with secure settings plugin (4g/2g toggle ; data toggle when on wifi; gps toggle)

- nandroid backup
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] aldousd666:
Just to block ads

I never realized how great I had it with AdAway on my 5x until I got to pixel and tried to browse the web or play ad supported games. I was flooded with crap and interruptions that AdAway just makes all go away. So I was excited for the root, and I did it as soon as it was out and now, life is good again. If you've never used AdAway, try it, and you'll have a new lease on life! (You can't just use the app on nougat, you have to manually copy the file it generates into a certain place which will differ depending on which root method you used, but there are tutorials on this forum that will you through it)
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] bobby janow:
You don't need root for ad blocking.

---------- Post added at 09:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:08 PM ----------

Just remove the apps you don't want.

Greenify is useless

Can't speak to Tasker

No need for nandy if you're not flashing Roms.

Keep your data safe...lock your bootloader.
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] TonikJDK:
Not sure what you mean about copying it around. Using SuperSU....The correct versions he has made for the pixels...You just install and run it as always.
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] aldousd666:
When I did it, there was no correct version for pixels. My comment may be based on out of date information. Thanks for correcting me.

---------- Post added at 05:11 AM ---------- Previous post was at 04:32 AM ----------

What ad-blocker (that blocks browser AND in-app ads) do you run that doesn't require root? (I will reload stock today if I can have that!)
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] robotnikz:
Not all apps are removable without root.

Greenify is not useless. At least for me. Battery life increased much, standby drain is incredible low. 0,1%/h (WLAN,BT on, GPS off)

What do you mean with "cant speak to tasker". Works like a charm.

And yes, i need nandroid. :)
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] mnrivera210:
Adguard.
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] bobby janow:
Dns66. Search on xda. Free open source.

edit: Here ya go. https://xdaforums.com/android/apps-games/app-dns66-source-host-ad-blocker-root-t3487497
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] bobby janow:
The spam apps are and isn't that what matters most? The ones you cannot "freeze" then just disable in settings, no? Which specifically are you referring to?

I'd like to see a side by side of your idle drain with and without Greenify root. 0.1% is ridiculous overnight. I've never seen that with or without greenify. I just found too many issues with it and removed it. Never noticed an iota of difference in battery life. Without my idiot Mi Fit app I get about 0.4% / hr give or take. 0.7 with it. I can live with that.

I don't use Tasker is what I mean. I therefore have nothing to say about it.

Why do you need nandroid if you're not flashing roms? And really, how many roms other than PN are out there for the Pixel? Stoce 7.1.1 works so well there really isn't a reason for root, imo. Ok, yeah I miss a couple of things like vol skip track and center clock but I just learned to live with it and the stability that comes along with it. OTA instantly updates to latest security patches, no need to wait for a dev to merge it. I do copy my critical files to my computer in case disaster strikes, but other than that I see no reason for custom recovery.
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] robotnikz:
I can upload a pic, pls wait one night :)

When you dont user tasker, there is nothing more to say about. lol

Who said that i am not flashing roms?.I do flashing and not only roms. yay

The little things you are missing are exactly these things which i love rooting for. If you have "learned to live with it" than go for it and have fun. Nobody forces you to root, but there ARE reasons to root.
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] geoff5093:
Just to back up the other poster, Greenify also had a huge improvement for my stock and rooted Pixel. I had already removed all apps I didn't use, I uninstalled Facebook and Twitter and replaced them with the mobile site, but was still getting mediocre standby life. Since installing Greenify and greenifying all apps I don't care about instant notifications for (basically everything except Snapchat, Instagram, Tapatalk, Instagram, email, and streaming apps), and enabling aggressive doze, standby life is a magnitude better. I wouldn't say 0.1% overnight as that's crazy, but I can let my phone be idle for a couple hours and it will have the same battery percent as when it did when I stopped using it. It will only drop 1% or so after several hours. This is even when walking around and moving. The other huge benefit is I found when not using Greenify, after using apps they will often continue to run for a while in the background. MyFitnessPal seems to be a huge culprit, but many apps would keep my phone awake and prevent it from entering doze. This was fixed with using Greenify.

I tried running PureNexus and a custom kernel, but battery life was much worse with those.
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] bobby janow:
I also heard that PN was causing massive battery issues. The thing is that I am getting pretty much the same results as you are without root or Greenify. Doze is working fine and by end of day I still have about 40+ % left on my battery with use throughout the day. I can't imagine what more I can get or if I need it. That would mean giving up Android Pay, OTA, security on my banking apps and device in general, and that awful message about my phone being not secure on bootup. (lol, never really cared much about that) all for the sake of root and perhaps another 10% battery at the end of the day. The thread title of "Do you feel the need to root" has me saying no, not at this time. This device is the best I've ever had including the iPhone 6, 5x and N5 and I just would like to keep the full stock experience without worrying if this or that will mess with my stability and security. And just for clarity sake, this is the first device I've ever had (iPhone excluded) that I didn't unlock and root. And that includes my trusty Eris when I OC'd it to 750 MHz. Yes, I still have it.

---------- Post added at 07:46 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:43 AM ----------

Thanks, don't really need the screenies, I'll take your word for it with some stats for clarity. That is why I said "I can't speak to that" regarding Tasker. As for living with it, yes, there are choices to be made and options to be chosen. It goes both ways. There are also reasons NOT to root.
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] offtohavasu:
Unfortunately, I had the recent patch on Verizon before unlocking the bootloader. The reason I would like to root, however, is to add the screen mirroring function. Has anyone applied that yet?
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] PsiPhiDan:
Miracast still doesn't work. No one has fixed this to my knowledge. I am waiting anxiously for that feature!
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] piperx:
I, for one, have not seen this issue, in fact, in my humble opinion is much better than stock. I don't use greenify or tasker.
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] dantexaiver:
Up here in Canada my wife and I bought two packaged pixels for 700 each, bought them off a a vendor resellers friend. Get them up and running and next day I was fiddling looking in the internals to Discover these were Verizon phones.

I already unlocked the bootloader rooted etc on mine but my wife soon updated stock and now from what I hear she's permanently locked.

Hope an unlock gets released
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] Digital DJ:
I rooted my last phone (Moto X Pure Edition) but not very happy with the Roms available so will probably go back to stock. I haven't rooted and have no desire to root my Pixel. I don't see much of a difference in root to stock anymore other than customization. I find with rooting there always seems to be an issue, or something doesn't quite work right...
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] farfromovin:
While PureNexus ROMS definitely make it tempting to root and install a custom recovery, I value the reliability of a completely stock Google device and the ease of taking OTA updates. I am a flashaholic (once a flashaholic always a flashaholic) and customizing phones is a slippery slope for me, I just don't know when to stop. No more root for me!
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] jets76:
For 5 YEARS I used rooted phones and after a while flashing and all that got tedious. I lost my way. Having all those ads and crapware finally drove me to root again recently!

1. Migrating from phone to phone really is tolling and long winded without Titanium. Google backs up and restores when account syncing most apps - BUT, that never works as a few apps are always missing; plus no settings user settings are retained. With Titanuim apps restored need no changes to work like they did with user settings intact. Rare that an app gets restored vanilla.

2. Adguard is junk and kills the battery plus I have to stare at that freaking icon all day. Adaway is the cats ass and works a minute a day to patch a file and that's it. How's that for greenifying? All those ads slow down performance too...bad.

3. Anyone with a samsung can use their stock phone for a year, root it, delete all the bloat with a script, and increase performance to the point where next years phone upgrade is moot because it'll run so much faster. I justy did this for my buddy using an S4. He was blown away.

Also, when I have a setup that works right and has no accumulation of junk files I can nand that and it's ready to roll back to. After all the installing and uninstalling of apps crap piles up.

So really if you don't root you're missing out.
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] b4u2:
My phone is typically used as a gaming phone. I need good performance and battery life since screen is on a lot. I also like to just do things on the fly which I could not do with the iPhone 7+. I have one game that has some lag so I am considering root to see if I can fix the lag issue and also give me more control over battery life. The iPhone was good except for not having a file system.
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] TonikJDK:
Take a shot at Franco's kernel. I don't game but regular performance is awesome with amazing battery.
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] b4u2:
It's been a long time since I've been able to root on Verizon. I just started reading up on it and might try it tonight when I get home from work.
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] TonikJDK:
You don't need root to use his kernel, but you can add it afterwards.

Fastboot flash kernel fr-r7.gz
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] b4u2:
Can you link me to a thread to help with this?
[Google Pixel Guides, News, & Discussion] TonikJDK:
https://xdaforums.com/pixel/development/kernel-franco-kernel-r1-31th-october-t3491373
[G3 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] NoChaps:
I recently switched over to a new phone and left LG G3 turned off for couple months. I now want to give it to my mother and I turned it back on and wanted to flash to new Fulmics version because this one is on 5.3 from long time ago. I got TWRP 3.0 and when i go to the app and try to reboot to recovery it is just stuck on the TWRP logo and does not do anything. I tried through TWRP app and tried by turning off the phone and holding the back button and volume button down. Both yield being stuck on the same thing. What can I do to fix this ?
[G3 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Dragonfail:
Update to version 6.7 with full wipe