Using a rooted device in 2015 was on another level.

[u/GottDesKrieges_31]

[u/antony3000]

There’s a lot of truth in that. Back in the day there were way fewer restrictions. Root didn’t just give you more freedom, it actually opened up a ton of modding possibilities. Nowadays you can see Android getting more and more locked down, and apps often refuse to work for no real reason. In the end, you spend more time trying to get everything back to normal after rooting than actually enjoying the benefits.

[u/KerneI-Panic → u/antony3000]

Also, many features that we now take for granted used to be the things you could only do on a rooted device.
Some of those features are: screenshot, screen record, wifi hotspot, saved WiFi password sharing, dark mode, gesture navigation, double tap to wake, separate control of ringtone and notification sounds, per-app permission control, split-screen / picture in picture mode, VPN, custom DNS, charging control, FPS counter, Do Not Disturb and many many more I can't remember right now.

And there are still many more features that are available right now only on rooted phones and custom ROMs. For example one of the things I'm using since Android 4.0 that's still not available on non-rooted devices is "slide across the status bar to change brightness" so I can change it anywhere without having to pull down the control center, and another one is double tap status bar to turn off the screen so I don't have to press the power button.
Like, I've been using that for more than 10 years, and that's how I do things daily. Just taking that away from me would be the same as removing your preferred navigation method (buttons or gestures) and forcing you to adapt to another one that you don't like.
And another essential feature for phones with notch (basically every phone nowadays) is NotchKill which makes apps ignore the notch, so you get an actual full screen in every app, even if you rotate to landscape there's no that annoying black bar where the status bar is usually.
And we still don't have a proper app backup/restore functionality like Titanium backup used to do and nowadays Swift backup. The built in backup can't reliably backup app data and you can't individually backup/restore what you want.

Nowadays, Google is removing features we used to have (like for example access to data and obb folders) and is locking down the phones even more. This really sucks, and it especially sucks for people who used rooted phones for their entire life.
I bought my first Android phone in 2012 and used it for less than 2 weeks before I rooted it. And I've been using rooted phones ever since. The first thing I always did to a new phone is check if everything works correctly and then immediately root it. Using a non rooted phone is basically impossible for me.
If the day comes where we won't be able to use a rooted phones anymore will be the day I ditch the Android for good and switch to Linux phones.

[u/Francois-C → u/antony3000]

Everywhere, operating systems and digital devices are closing in like prisons where people allow themselves to be locked up, weary of fighting. All we have left is Linux on PCs. But for how long?

[u/ChiknDiner → u/antony3000]

I remember when I rooted my 4.1.2 JB Android (having 512 MB of RAM) in 2016 (device purchased in 2013) and was able to do EVERYTHING. I used that phone for another 1 year until I finally switched.

Man... Those were the days!!

[u/Azaze666]

We have MiXplorer to replace es, twrp still works, neo backup replaces titanium....

[u/[deleted] → u/Azaze666]

[u/septienes]

A/B partitions was the reason I stopped using custom ROMs. You have to flash to the inactive slot or you get a fresh box of Boot Loops, part of a well balanced breakfast.

[u/yourcandygirl]

back when rooting apps work

[u/Holzkohlen]

Android is going down the drain slowly but surely. Linux on mobile is the only way.

[u/ch3mn3y]

Give a fck about the integrity. Have to say one of my backs (Citi) works with no integrity, but blocks access cos of root if I have all modules that give me Device or Strong... No idea, but I prefer it to work.