Back in the day - rooting Android phones and installing custom ROMs were such a big part of Android. I remember so well using titanium backup and Greenify and Cyanogenmod and the list goes on.
Is it still necessary to root in 2023 though?
I have been on vanilla Android without root access for the past couple of years and at this point most root features have made it into the vanilla Android OS. What are your thoughts?
Essential? no.
Worth it? maybe.
Nice to have control of your own device? absolutely.
I have two devices, primary with root (through Magisk as KernelSU still has some issues for me) and secondary without root. Anytime I have to do something more demanding on the unrooted device I really wish I had root. Local terminal access, ability to disable some annoying “features” (verified app links) and multiple other things I use daily make it worth it for me.
EDIT: I saw mentions of custom roms in other comments. I have a custom rom installed (AOSP based). If I was on a stock rom (or god forbid something like MIUI) root would be a must for me.
Since the proliferation of mobile banking that doesn’t even work if you have your phone rooted and the manufactures getting more hostile towards custom ROM developer I practically have stopped modding my phone altogether. I used to be a guy who flashes ROM couple times a day. However now, especially I’m working remotely, I find myself on my phone even less. My phone has become basically only used for texting, banking, and Uber Eats.
There’s something interesting about mobile banking. I constantly see stories of issues with it on non-stock / unmodified software. The funny thing is that I have never had any issues personally. Until recently my banking app worked even without Magisk’s Denylist (and the most picky app was McDonald’s). Now (since few months) I have to add it to Denylist, but that’s the only requirement, no SafetyNet, no Play Integrity, nothing.
I guess some banking apps are less annoying about phone payment, but a lot of them are.