Root Access WP8

[Steve Girard]

Hello all. I am new to windows phone. Have always used either android or iPhone. My androids were always rooted & modded, and my iPhones were always jailbroken & modded.
Is there such a thing on WP? I have spent hours on google & Bing and haven't found anything except something about a wp7 root toolkit, which obviously won't help me since I'm on wp8.
this phone has so much potential, Microsoft has it locked up too tightly.

thanks in advance for your answers/input

 

[Florin Anghel]

Why do you need it rooted? For Android people do that because it runs like sh*t with all the heavy firmwares made by Samsung, HTC, Sony, Motorola etc. and that's why they use custom firmware to make the smartphone run a little more smoother. And on iPhone only those who don't want to buy apps jailbrake their phone.
I don't see any reason to do the same on WP8, maybe only just for fun but you gain nothing in return.

 

[rockstarzzz]

Re: root access?

No there is thankfully no root or jailbreak for WP8 and I wish it stays that way.

If you have a student developer account (Free) or normal developer account $99/year, you can officially unlock the phone for development.

 

[iamtim]

And on iPhone only those who don't want to buy apps jailbrake their phone.

That's a gross assumption. There are many, many good apps available to purchase in Cydia. Most people who jailbreak their iPhones do it for customizations and control which Apple won't put in iOS or allow in the App Store.

 

[philpeeps]

That's a gross assumption. There are many, many good apps available to purchase in Cydia. Most people who jailbreak their iPhones do it for customizations and control which Apple won't put in iOS or allow in the App Store.

This...I have spent more in the Cydia app store than in Apple's as the Cydia apps/tweaks are a lot more useful!

 

[AccentAE86]

Re: root access?

ummm no, that is what android is for. The entire design philosophy of WP is to provide total simplicity to the user. That's like buying a Bugatti Veyron and not being happy that you can't get Pep Boys/Kragen/Canadian Tire to replace the muffler.

 

[Steve Girard]

Re: root access?

alright thanks for your answers!

 

[Steve Girard]

No there is thankfully no root or jailbreak for WP8 and I wish it stays that way.

If you have a student developer account (Free) or normal developer account $99/year, you can officially unlock the phone for development.

I will have to look into that, thank you

 

[Steve Girard]

I'm just looking for more customization. The phone runs beautifully, just kinda ugly. Just my opinion of course.

and philpeeps & iamtim i agree, cydia blows the apple app store out of the water.

 

[al DERY]

Re: root access?

ummm no, that is what android is for. The entire design philosophy of WP is to provide total simplicity to the user. That's like buying a Bugatti Veyron and not being happy that you can't get Pep Boys/Kragen/Canadian Tire to replace the muffler.

i dont think having root would take away from the beautiful simplicity that WP has i am coming from android as well and i am very happy with the phone. its just that when you come from android and you have root youre able to customize so much about your phone that coming to WP now we are left with a learning curve of trying to figure out what works how.

 

[Steve Girard]

i dont think having root would take away from the beautiful simplicity that WP has i am coming from android as well and i am very happy with the phone. its just that when you come from android and you have root youre able to customize so much about your phone that coming to WP now we are left with a learning curve of trying to figure out what works how.

Exactly. Though it didn't take more than a day to master every aspect of the phone. I just wish I could customize it more to my liking. Its just a tad too generic for my taste.

 

[palandri]

Threads merged. left redirect.

 

[Angry_Mushroom]

I'd hardly call the UI for WP devices "generic." Simple sure, but hardly generic. The world of icons has become gauche. I find BB10, iOS, and Android to be generic in looks.

 

[KorJax]

I personally went with WP8 because its even tighter and smoother and more elegant than iPhone but not as locked down and not as restricted. I didn't want android because its too open for me, the app standards are all over the place, etc. I want my PC's to be nice and open and let me do whatever, but I want my smartphones to be really good and solid at doing what they do best. To me windows phone does this better than anyone else. Its a perfect mix between openness of android (customizable tiles, SD card support, removable battery, hubs, etc) and the consistency of iOS (following accent colors, everything using the same standards, etc).

Plus, a **** of a lot cheaper than iOS too...

If I wanted to have ultimate control (at the expensive of a device that is focused, efficient, clean and consistent) then I would have gone with Android personally

 

[al DERY]

it would be nice to have root as well to keep personal stuff stashed away in a hidden folder somewhere with android it was extremely easy with root and a file browser to do this

 

[absonj]

Coming from android and a rootaholic as well, I can honestly say this phone (8X) and the WP8 system is just brilliant. I actually never plan on "rooting" this, even if it becomes possible. For the first time (and I know this is just my opinion) I have found a phone that just simply works, and the minor flaws don't deter this phone, because all the things it can do just blew every custom ROM I've tried out of the water. Once you really start to get into it and really begin to use it to its full potential, you wont miss rooting!
Sent from my wicked sexy HTC 8X windows phone using Board Express

 

[al DERY]

dont get me wrong wp is great just need some tweaks to it thats all, like say hold or double tap volume buttons to skip or rewind tracks instead of having to take the phone out of your pockets

 

[Florin Anghel]

al DERY true, it needs new stuff but that doesn't need you have to root it

That's a gross assumption. There are many, many good apps available to purchase in Cydia. Most people who jailbreak their iPhones do it for customizations and control which Apple won't put in iOS or allow in the App Store.

It may be partial true but I saw iPhones jailbraked that run way more slower than the ones that are not. So what do you gain with jailbrake? Some apps that you could live without and a slight laggy iPhone. I for instance wouldn't like this trade off. This is why I respect apple for, their iOS is simply fluid, no stutter. That's why they input restrictions so that the iOS works as it should.

 

[Dimitar Petkov]

Because not everything is the way I need it. There are comments about space on the phone labeled "other" - what you can do about it ? In most countries it's allowed to record a conversation if you are part of it or if you tell the other parties that you are going to record it. Can you block a certain number because you don't want that person be call you no matter what ? I can do both of them with phones that are not Smartphones, yet again now we call them smartphones we have less freedom. I want access to files I put in the phone and I want to be able to put there whatever I want - like flash drive. Just because there are a lot of people that care only if they can call someone or have Facebook, Twitter and everything is OK ? I want to be able to use my smartphone the way I want. I guess that you will say buy something with Android, well I don't like it, I don't like Linux I want to work with Windows. It's OK the phone to have restrictions for people who doesn't know what they are doing, but there are people who knows what they are doing and why. If I want just a phone then what's wrong with the phones made 5 years ago. Although even with some of them I can do more, there minus is the lack of power compared to the phones today.

 

[DaveGx]

Because not everything is the way I need it. There are comments about space on the phone labeled "other" - what you can do about it ? In most countries it's allowed to record a conversation if you are part of it or if you tell the other parties that you are going to record it. Can you block a certain number because you don't want that person be call you no matter what ? I can do both of them with phones that are not Smartphones, yet again now we call them smartphones we have less freedom. I want access to files I put in the phone and I want to be able to put there whatever I want - like flash drive. Just because there are a lot of people that care only if they can call someone or have Facebook, Twitter and everything is OK ? I want to be able to use my smartphone the way I want. I guess that you will say buy something with Android, well I don't like it, I don't like Linux I want to work with Windows. It's OK the phone to have restrictions for people who doesn't know what they are doing, but there are people who knows what they are doing and why. If I want just a phone then what's wrong with the phones made 5 years ago. Although even with some of them I can do more, there minus is the lack of power compared to the phones today.

I'm with you. The WP OS is way to closed, way too locked down. And its true, I could do alot more with Windows Mobile a few years ago than I can with WP.

And I find the excuses of being very secure and not wanting to be open to viruses to be weak and lame. If you have a Windows PC, that is open, should your PC be as locked down and limited as WP? If you are smart, use common sense, etc you don't need to worry about viruses.

Its annoying there is no file manager, I can only download a few types of files from email and browser. I'm limited to one keyboard, one real true browser, one main SMS app, etc. They should open up the OS more and let devs give us more options and features.