5 reasons not to root your Android device

Security Risks

By gaining root access, you get total control over the entire system. With the right skills and tools, you can read and modify almost any parameter on your device. This is the reason why some apps, as as SuperSU, require root access in order to work properly. However, this type of access is a double edged sword  as with root access nothing is there to prevent malicious applications from wreaking havoc on your system: system files can be corrupted or deleted, personal information can be skimmed,  and you could even soft brick your device.

However, the silver lining to all this is that the user has to allow an application access to root privileges before they can gain the access, so it is always a good idea to do some research on applications that are asking for root permission.

Warranty out the window

Obviously, gaining root access ins’t something that is officially supported by manufacturers, otherwise we’d start seeing device coming already rooted straight from the factory. As such, if you gain root access on your device, you can more than likely kiss your warranty goodbye. Some devices, such as Samsung, even have a flash counter built into them that will keep track of whether or not a user has tampered with the firmware and installed unofficial software and this can be checked even if the phone has been unrooted and locked again.  While there are methods of restoring this back to zero, there are no guarantees that the Warranty department won’t catch on.

It’s not a guarantee that ALL warranty claims will be denied due to rooting your device, but anything having to do with the software side of things (ie: softbricking your device on accident) most likely won’t be approved.

Not all devices are created equal

The procedure to root a device varies from manufacturer to manufacturer and even from device to device. There is no “official” method for rooting your device. For example,while most Samsung devices requires you to use the Odin software on your PC to get the same results. As such, with device specific instructions that often require multiple steps and at least a decent understanding of computers, there is a much larger chance for things to go wrong and possibly rendering your device unusable.

Problems with updates

Another common issue that comes along with rooting your device is that you’ll start seeing that automatic updates to the firmware stop being pushed to you. For example, you’ll no longer have the convenience of seeing updates via Wi-Fi (OTA) and management software such as Samsung KIES will no longer work properly. You’ll see be able to manually update the firmware and flashing it to your device, but it is a relatively cumbersome process to have to do each time a new version of your firmware is released.

You’ve got a rooted device, now what?

One of the most important thing to consider: when you’ve rooted your device, you gain a ton more access to areas of your device that were previously out of your reach. But with this access, what exactly are you going to do with it? Is there something out there that will get what you want done without needing root access? 

The intention of this article isn’t meant to scare anyone out of rooting their device, but rather highlight some of the risks associated with the process itself.  

Have you ever had any issues when attempting to root your device? Let us know in the comments.