To Root a Samsung Galaxy S3 or not?

[bumblebee]

It appears Samsung are no longer updating the Android systems to their older models.  My phone is the SG S3, GT-19300 international model, sim free.  I have read that one way to get the latest android system is to Root the phone and take control of it myself.  I am naturally nervous about this as I don't want the phone to become an useless brick if anything goes wrong.

 

Any suggests regarding if I should try to Root it or just leave well enough alone and stick with the older version of Android?

 

Cheers chaps.

[donnykey]

You got a wife now BB.

 

Please you don't have to root your phone.

 

Cheers DK

[BigTel]

I say "Go for it" B B,  your phone is long since out of warranty so you don't have the issue of voiding you warrany when rooting it, even with that said, it is just as easy to unroot it .

                  You may have to flash a new ROM to it to be able to get the new Android M.  once you copy the APK root to your external SD card it is normaly just a matter of running it and jobs a good one.  That Samsung phone I showed you a couple of trips back on Jomptien Beach, I rooted when I got it back to the UK, worked a treat.

 

                              cheers

[sustra2]

i've done it on my old phone ....you can always reset the phone with factory data if there is something wrong....

[rxpharm]

Don't forget the obvious and back up all your data before rooting the phone, and that's not in the Biblical sense.

[bumblebee]

Thanks for all the helpful feedback gents.  So it's easy enough to do I guess.  It's a real bummer that Samsung hyped the phone so much 3 years ago, and now that there have been 3 newer models since they have forgotten all about it it appears.  I'll read up a bit more about the Rooting procedure before I take the plunge so i can get it right.

[Kahuna]

I didn't know what rooting a phone meant until you posted this...I thought it had something to do with pigs........I was wrong....

 

But i kinda sorta did learn a little bit about what rooting  a phone means and does and the advantages....

 

The articles all said learn as much as you can before you start...or  take the phone to someone who does that sort of stuff and let them do the rooting.....

 

I managed to change the operating system in my old phone from Gingerbread to Ice Cream Sandwich.........Even a moron like me figured out how to do it after 3 or 4 tries.....Made all the difference in the world in the operation of the phone...

 

Good luck BB...........

 

Happy and Safe Rooting

[Trenton42]

If it were mine, I would do it.

Although, one must remember that newer OSs may tax older processors.

[Torurot]

A couple of old links that may add some light.

http://rootzwiki.com/topic/29256-tutorial-rootrecoverybootloader-unlockicsjb-verizon-galaxy-s-iii/

[Up2me]

In Australia we refer to something that is broken, doesn't work, fucked etc as being "rooted". So before my last trip while i was looking to purchase a tablet i came across an ad for one that seemed real cheap however the ad mentioned that it had been rooted.

 

Total gadget novice me, messaged the dude selling it and asked what did he have to do to fix it after he rooted it and was it likely fuck up again down the track............i reckon that dude is still laughing at my expense!

 

Anyhow, after he explained it to me in plain english it turned out that by rooting it, you can plug in a flash drive or external hardrive and the device will read the contents of that external drive which makes it perfect for a movie library etc for those boring plane flights and for storing my Go Pro footage while on holidays. Needless to say i bought it, still have it and is the best rooted thingy i have ever purchased

 

I say go for it mate, rooting's been good to me

[bumblebee]

Thanks for the further input guys, much appreciated and no warnings not to do it which is reassuring.

[Torurot]

Forgot to add the other link to my previous post

Android Developers forum

forum.xda-developers.com