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You don't, if you care enough to buy a phone where that's possible. Any Nexus device can be reflashed to a custom Android build for example. Of course you void

You don't, if you care enough to buy a phone where that's possible. Any Nexus device can be reflashed to a custom Android build for example. Of course you void your warranty that way. What you're really asking is why is there no root shell by default on all phones, and simply posing the question also answers it - it's a phone, there's zero demand for messing about with terminal emulators on a phone. If you say, but I'd like to install apps as root, the problem is such apps could break the phone in arbitrary ways like by infecting it with malware/adware/spyware that then can't be uninstalled. Modern operating systems are very much designed to limit what apps can do to avoid the nightmare that desktop OS's turned into, where people are afraid of installing apps in case something goes wrong. For better or worse you can install apps on Android/iOS without much fear, which is one reason people do it so much: you can always remove the app again if it's trouble. Android is pretty customisable and has lots of permissions anyway. There are very few things you can't do if you don't have a carrier-locked phone. So supporting apps with root access would vastly worsen the malware situation in order to satisfy a tiny number of geeks who like editing config files: a very bad tradeoff. But hey, Android is open source, so if you think I'm wrong go ahead and make money selling phones with root access.

chx 10y ago
Of course we shouldn't forget little niceties like YouTube not being able to play background music. Only the paid YouTube Red service can do that which is simply not available in many countries -- but even in those YT won't play in the background. Unless, of course, you have xposed installed... So, as usual, controlling what you can do with your own device results in a) perceived gains for the rightholder b) pain for ordinary users c) nothing at all for the informed. If this resembles the DRM situation, it is.
- tokenizerrr 10y ago
  > Only the paid YouTube Red service can do that which is simply not available in many countries Oh yes, this. I pay for Google Music which is supposed to include that, but I do now have it by virtue of living on the wrong side of some border.
- dingo_bat 10y ago
  Just install Firefox and you're set.
- zigzigzag 10y ago
  What's that got to do with root access? If you can beat YouTube's DRM then you can just make your own player app. No need for root. If you can't then what makes you think you could defeat whatever checking for rooted devices YouTube would add to their app? Anyway, this sort of discussion is pretty pointless. The market has spoken. The number of people who care about root access is tiny compared to the number of people who want a safe device and app experience. Heck the entire iPad/iOS experience is pretty much "let's take a general purpose computer, make it do less, and it'll sell much better".
  - chx 10y ago
    Um, how do you plan to install xposed if you are not root?
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
    - Dylan16807 10y ago
      You install your own player app. You don't need xposed. You don't need root. You do need to sideload because the app store forbids anything that annoys youtube.
- kogepathic 10y ago
  Just install NewPipe and you can download YouTube videos to your phone, or only download the audio. [1] Works fantastically. [1] https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdfilter=NewPipe&fdid=org.schabi.newpipe https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdfilter=NewPipe&fdid...
  - chx 10y ago
    Oh. And how do you install F-Droid?
    - ce4 10y ago
      The process is called sideloading. Android offers it for free, whereas on iOS you need a developer license to do it. https://f-droid.org/forums/topic/how-install-from-f-droid/ https://f-droid.org/forums/topic/how-install-from-f-droid/
      - chx 10y ago
        Let's prod further. How do you sideload if you are not rooted? I can't remember what you can and what you can not do but I am reasonably sure you can't just adb install foo.apk if you are not rooted as the "untrusted sources" option won't be available.
        detaro 10y ago
        It's explained (not well, but it is) in the link ce4 gave you. You enable it in the settings and and then just install packages. EDIT to match your edit: you remember wrong, the option is always there (unless there is some manufacturer out there that blocks it (Amazon maybe?), but most devices certainly don't)
        ce4 10y ago
        Go to settings=>security and enable "unknown sources" (allow installation of apps from unknown sources). After that you are allowed to install .apk files (e.g. clicking the "download of xy.apk finished" notification or in a file explorer app). Edit: that setting is always there, it's only greyed out if you installed a corporate app that explicitly disables it (e.g. the "GoodApp" email/calendar/contacts suite).
- shaggerty 10y ago
  You can play YouTube audio in the background and with the phone locked if you use Firefox.
darklajid 10y ago
"Of course you void your warranty that way." Wait.. What? Why would that be the case? And .. why would you state that you'd lose your warranty and prepend 'of course'? As far as I'm aware you do NOT lose your warranty. That would be rather stupid (of course).
- orf 10y ago
  Because if you go about flashing your phone willy-nilly and some bad firmware bricks the phone, it's not the manufacturers fault is it.
  - darklajid 10y ago
    I'd argue that you have a hard time bricking a phone. But even if you manage to do that somehow, that is a specific problem. Using a general statement like 'flashing voids your warranty' remains weird (and wrong imo). "Stuffing your phone in your pockets voids your warranty. Because if you stuff it in your back pocket and sit down on it, hard, it's not the manufacturer's fault if the screen breaks. Is it?"
    - justsid 10y ago
      But you _do_ void the warranty if you break your phone when sitting on it. It's a specific action that does that, and it's not as simple as "only rooting your phone voids the warranty"
      - darklajid 10y ago
        I.. think we agree? Are you just chiming in to support my position? Because I think that is what I wrote above. That was the point, I tried to answer the GP's 'if you brick it (by flashing it)..' line of reasoning with 'if you brick it (by sitting on it)..' and showing that there is no connection between flashing and bricking in general.
    - cfstras 10y ago
      There's plenty of opportunity. For example, there are reports of flashing the wrong firmware (Galaxy Note) on a similar phone (Galaxy SIII) can lead to bricking touchscreen controller-
jbmorgado 10y ago
> "Any Nexus device can be reflashed to a custom Android build for example. Of course you void your warranty that way." Maybe in the USA you do (I'm not sure about consumer protection law there), but in the EU you certainly don't. The law states clearly that: It's up to the manufacturer to prove that the unintended software modification caused the hardware problem. So, if your software modification doesn't pose any problem, or even in the case it does, if it doesn't affect the part of the device you are asking to repair under warranty, then the manufacturer has to make the repair under warranty.

chx 10y ago

Of course we shouldn't forget little niceties like YouTube not being able to play background music. Only the paid YouTube Red service can do that which is simply not available in many countries -- but even in those YT won't play in the background. Unless, of course, you have xposed installed... So, as usual, controlling what you can do with your own device results in a) perceived gains for the rightholder b) pain for ordinary users c) nothing at all for the informed. If this resembles the DRM situation, it is.

tokenizerrr 10y ago
> Only the paid YouTube Red service can do that which is simply not available in many countries Oh yes, this. I pay for Google Music which is supposed to include that, but I do now have it by virtue of living on the wrong side of some border.
dingo_bat 10y ago
Just install Firefox and you're set.
zigzigzag 10y ago
What's that got to do with root access? If you can beat YouTube's DRM then you can just make your own player app. No need for root. If you can't then what makes you think you could defeat whatever checking for rooted devices YouTube would add to their app? Anyway, this sort of discussion is pretty pointless. The market has spoken. The number of people who care about root access is tiny compared to the number of people who want a safe device and app experience. Heck the entire iPad/iOS experience is pretty much "let's take a general purpose computer, make it do less, and it'll sell much better".
- chx 10y ago
  Um, how do you plan to install xposed if you are not root?
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - Dylan16807 10y ago
    You install your own player app. You don't need xposed. You don't need root. You do need to sideload because the app store forbids anything that annoys youtube.
kogepathic 10y ago
Just install NewPipe and you can download YouTube videos to your phone, or only download the audio. [1] Works fantastically. [1] https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdfilter=NewPipe&fdid=org.schabi.newpipe https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdfilter=NewPipe&fdid...
- chx 10y ago
  Oh. And how do you install F-Droid?
  - ce4 10y ago
    The process is called sideloading. Android offers it for free, whereas on iOS you need a developer license to do it. https://f-droid.org/forums/topic/how-install-from-f-droid/ https://f-droid.org/forums/topic/how-install-from-f-droid/
    - chx 10y ago
      Let's prod further. How do you sideload if you are not rooted? I can't remember what you can and what you can not do but I am reasonably sure you can't just adb install foo.apk if you are not rooted as the "untrusted sources" option won't be available.
      - detaro 10y ago
        It's explained (not well, but it is) in the link ce4 gave you. You enable it in the settings and and then just install packages. EDIT to match your edit: you remember wrong, the option is always there (unless there is some manufacturer out there that blocks it (Amazon maybe?), but most devices certainly don't)
      - ce4 10y ago
        Go to settings=>security and enable "unknown sources" (allow installation of apps from unknown sources). After that you are allowed to install .apk files (e.g. clicking the "download of xy.apk finished" notification or in a file explorer app). Edit: that setting is always there, it's only greyed out if you installed a corporate app that explicitly disables it (e.g. the "GoodApp" email/calendar/contacts suite).
shaggerty 10y ago
You can play YouTube audio in the background and with the phone locked if you use Firefox.

darklajid 10y ago

"Of course you void your warranty that way." Wait.. What? Why would that be the case? And .. why would you state that you'd lose your warranty and prepend 'of course'? As far as I'm aware you do NOT lose your warranty. That would be rather stupid (of course).

orf 10y ago
Because if you go about flashing your phone willy-nilly and some bad firmware bricks the phone, it's not the manufacturers fault is it.
- darklajid 10y ago
  I'd argue that you have a hard time bricking a phone. But even if you manage to do that somehow, that is a specific problem. Using a general statement like 'flashing voids your warranty' remains weird (and wrong imo). "Stuffing your phone in your pockets voids your warranty. Because if you stuff it in your back pocket and sit down on it, hard, it's not the manufacturer's fault if the screen breaks. Is it?"
  - justsid 10y ago
    But you _do_ void the warranty if you break your phone when sitting on it. It's a specific action that does that, and it's not as simple as "only rooting your phone voids the warranty"
    - darklajid 10y ago
      I.. think we agree? Are you just chiming in to support my position? Because I think that is what I wrote above. That was the point, I tried to answer the GP's 'if you brick it (by flashing it)..' line of reasoning with 'if you brick it (by sitting on it)..' and showing that there is no connection between flashing and bricking in general.
  - cfstras 10y ago
    There's plenty of opportunity. For example, there are reports of flashing the wrong firmware (Galaxy Note) on a similar phone (Galaxy SIII) can lead to bricking touchscreen controller-

jbmorgado 10y ago

> "Any Nexus device can be reflashed to a custom Android build for example. Of course you void your warranty that way." Maybe in the USA you do (I'm not sure about consumer protection law there), but in the EU you certainly don't. The law states clearly that: It's up to the manufacturer to prove that the unintended software modification caused the hardware problem. So, if your software modification doesn't pose any problem, or even in the case it does, if it doesn't affect the part of the device you are asking to repair under warranty, then the manufacturer has to make the repair under warranty.