New to Android

[redsquirrel0249]

I've basically never used android and I'm getting a new phone tomorrow, but I'm not new to mobile software. I spent plenty of time jailbreaking and modding on iOS, and would love to customize the operating system on my new phone and get the most out of my experience where possible.

 

Give me all your tips and tricks for engineering a better experience out of the hardware I get. What's the simplest way to gain root access now? Is that still meaningful/worthwhile? Are there any lesser known apps that might be helpful for hardware management, benchmarking, customization, etc? Any feedback is appreciated.

[zlolslavez]

It would be helpful to know what phone you have, as some phones are a lot easier to root then others. Personally I've stopped rooting/jailbreaking phones as it was more of a party trick than a utility, and wasn't worth the often worse battery life, however I am not really a poweruser, so your mileage may vary.

[redsquirrel0249]

8 minutes ago, zlolslavez said:

easier to root then others

Mostly looking at benefits/applications rather than methods at this point, but it's a Moto G6.

 

How does it worsen battery life simply by rooting? I know This happened on iOS because you had to run a bit of extra software to sustain the jailbreak. Does the same apply to android?

[zlolslavez]

1 minute ago, redsquirrel0249 said:

Mostly looking at benefits/applications rather than methods at this point, but it's a Moto G6.

 

How does it worsen battery life simply by rooting? I know This happened on iOS because you had to run a bit of extra software to sustain the jailbreak. Does the same apply to android?

It doesn't, but some of the tweaks I used that I felt were useful drained my battery, and I didn't want to bother with that anymore.

[Darkseth]

Forget root for now, is my advice.

get used to Android first, experience it as it is.

 

Then read up onto Root etc, know what Root gives you, and then decide if this is something you actually "want".

 

Keep in Mind, Android as it is often can do more than any Jailbreak'ed iOS. I wouldn't Root it, unless you know, you need a special feature that requires Root. Take one step after another ^^

 

Which phone are you getting?

[Donut417]

On 12/20/2018 at 5:31 PM, redsquirrel0249 said:

I've basically never used android and I'm getting a new phone tomorrow, but I'm not new to mobile software. I spent plenty of time jailbreaking and modding on iOS, and would love to customize the operating system on my new phone and get the most out of my experience where possible.

 

Give me all your tips and tricks for engineering a better experience out of the hardware I get. What's the simplest way to gain root access now? Is that still meaningful/worthwhile? Are there any lesser known apps that might be helpful for hardware management, benchmarking, customization, etc? Any feedback is appreciated.

Android itself should be more customizable  than iOS. I would agree with @Darkseth your better off waiting on rooting. Get use to Motorola's Android OS. Now I say Motorola's version because most phone providers dont use stock vanilla Android. Rooting really depends on Motorola and how hard they make it. Keep in mind it voids the warranty of the device in most cases. 

 

Also, with Apps on Android, Google not so good at policing their store. So be careful what you download. While this App wont change the use of your device, WiFi analyzer is a great tool to use when diagnosing WiFi related  issues at your home. Just wanted to put that out there, because the App is not on iOS. 

[redsquirrel0249]

22 hours ago, Donut417 said:

waiting on rooting

Well now that I've gotten more accustomed with the UI, I can enumerate what I mean that I need information on. There are custom launchers, third party contacts apps, phones, syncing/encrypting services, etc that could improve on the google experience or provide better security. Because of the increased vulnerability on android, it's important to get feedback before I go all willy nilly downloading the first of each thing I see.

 

As far as the actual launcher I like, but I'm trying to find gesture and macro aps, and better third party replacements for google stock services for phone, sms, music, video, etc. Decided on Signal, firefox, protonmail, and possibly a good gesture utility so far.

[Commodus]

40 minutes ago, redsquirrel0249 said:

Well now that I've gotten more accustomed with the UI, I can enumerate what I mean that I need information on. There are custom launchers, third party contacts apps, phones, syncing/encrypting services, etc that could improve on the google experience or provide better security. Because of the increased vulnerability on android, it's important to get feedback before I go all willy nilly downloading the first of each thing I see.

 

As far as the actual launcher I like, but I'm trying to find gesture and macro aps, and better third party replacements for google stock services for phone, sms, music, video, etc. Decided on Signal, firefox, protonmail, and possibly a good gesture utility so far.

Just remember that some secure services will refuse to run on rooted devices because that typically undermines trust (i.e. they can't verify that you haven't compromised their apps).  Thankfully, I don't believe you need to root for the apps you've mentioned so far.

[Nena Trinity]

Mod it? Download a launcher!

[Donut417]

3 hours ago, redsquirrel0249 said:

Well now that I've gotten more accustomed with the UI, I can enumerate what I mean that I need information on. There are custom launchers, third party contacts apps, phones, syncing/encrypting services, etc that could improve on the google experience or provide better security. Because of the increased vulnerability on android, it's important to get feedback before I go all willy nilly downloading the first of each thing I see.

 

As far as the actual launcher I like, but I'm trying to find gesture and macro aps, and better third party replacements for google stock services for phone, sms, music, video, etc. Decided on Signal, firefox, protonmail, and possibly a good gesture utility so far.

For the phone service try TrueCaller, they screen calls and tell you which ones are safe and which ones are ass holes trying to scam you. While they are not 100% right all the time, they are right enough. Video Wise I think VLC or MX Video player should work in most cases. SMS wise Motorola will have their own app on top of the one google provides. 

[redsquirrel0249]

23 hours ago, Nena360 said:

Download a launcher

Gee thanks for the tip. Let me just choose from the thousands of Chinese offerings

 

23 hours ago, Commodus said:

some secure services

Like what? And why would rooting "compromise" security? Anyone that has the know how to access a rooted device's information surely could just root it themselves, and anyone who roots their own device can secure the root just as well as they could secure ordinary data on an unrooted phone via encryption.

 

20 hours ago, Donut417 said:

SMS wise

I've already found Signal to be the best choice here for end-to-end encryption and versatility. Thanks for the other suggestions, I'll look into them.

[Commodus]

17 minutes ago, redsquirrel0249 said:

Like what? And why would rooting "compromise" security? Anyone that has the know how to access a rooted device's information surely could just root it themselves, and anyone who roots their own device can secure the root just as well as they could secure ordinary data on an unrooted phone via encryption.

Payment services (Google Pay doesn't like rooting, for example).  Enterprise software.  Security suites like Samsung Knox.  I'd add media apps, but those aren't intended as secure services.

 

The main issue is that many secure app developers don't allow rooted support because they can't trust the underlying security of the phone.  Yeah, you might have just rooted to put on a custom ROM with your interface preferences, but they don't know that -- for all they know, you rooted to intercept messages or steal videos.  Relying on stock firmware makes sure you have the most security tools available to you.

[Nena Trinity]

17 hours ago, redsquirrel0249 said:

Gee thanks for the tip. Let me just choose from the thousands of Chinese offerings

 

Like what? And why would rooting "compromise" security? Anyone that has the know how to access a rooted device's information surely could just root it themselves, and anyone who roots their own device can secure the root just as well as they could secure ordinary data on an unrooted phone via encryption.

 

I've already found Signal to be the best choice here for end-to-end encryption and versatility. Thanks for the other suggestions, I'll look into them.

Microsoft launcher or Blackberry launcher if you wanna avoid China. :3

[redsquirrel0249]

On 12/24/2018 at 3:25 PM, Commodus said:

Enterprise software

Those make sense, surprised by Google pay.

 

And my argument is simply that the fact that a phone can be rooted in the first place is grounds to not trust the baseline security of the phone. Though, I suppose having the program installed on that firmware would enable the program to be aware of unauthorized firmware changes, so that would be more secure.

 

On 12/25/2018 at 6:25 AM, Nena360 said:

if you wanna avoid China

While I do want to avoid those, my point was just that there are hundreds to choose from, so your initial suggestion wasn't very informative. I know launchers are out there, but it seems like many would suffer from some very clear drawbacks (such as poor third party app compatibility, missing features to mesh with non-stock Android skins, etc.). Why do you recommend those two? And can I mesh features from my stock launcher (or widgets from my stock launcher) with the new launcher? If so, I'll give them a try, but I like the clock/weather/battery combination widget moto offers by default. I do hate the moto bootlogo though. Way too bright and noisy

[Nena Trinity]

23 hours ago, redsquirrel0249 said:

While I do want to avoid those, my point was just that there are hundreds to choose from, so your initial suggestion wasn't very informative. I know launchers are out there, but it seems like many would suffer from some very clear drawbacks (such as poor third party app compatibility, missing features to mesh with non-stock Android skins, etc.). Why do you recommend those two? And can I mesh features from my stock launcher (or widgets from my stock launcher) with the new launcher? If so, I'll give them a try, but I like the clock/weather/battery combination widget moto offers by default. I do hate the moto bootlogo though. Way too bright and noisy

Well other good launchers are the Poco Launcher & Nova Launcher but I suspect both of them is Chinese.

[kokakolia]

On 12/20/2018 at 3:31 PM, redsquirrel0249 said:

I've basically never used android and I'm getting a new phone tomorrow, but I'm not new to mobile software. I spent plenty of time jailbreaking and modding on iOS, and would love to customize the operating system on my new phone and get the most out of my experience where possible.

 

Give me all your tips and tricks for engineering a better experience out of the hardware I get. What's the simplest way to gain root access now? Is that still meaningful/worthwhile? Are there any lesser known apps that might be helpful for hardware management, benchmarking, customization, etc? Any feedback is appreciated.

I have completely ruined my phone unlocking the bootloader, then installing custom ROMs. ROMs are probably your best bet at engineering a better experience with your phone. But it comes with the compromise of battery life and lacklustre camera software. Flashing a ROM worked the first time swimmingly for me and then the second time was a complete fail on so many levels. It’s not something I would recommend unless you don’t mind ruining an obsolete phone. 

 

I suppose that you could get an affordable  Xiaomi phone and do that kind of stuff. It can be a fun experience if you have the patience. And Xiaomi phones have a thriving community with folks who like to tinker. Be warned that things are always more complicated than they seem. 

 

Personally, I don’t believe that smartphone customization is all that meaningful. Apps are. I am just content having a boring operating system that gets out of the way. iOS is just that.