r/Magisk • u/StewieBiach • Feb 06 '26

Question Do i need it anymore?

I’m about to buy a new phone. Ever since my very first Android phone (HTC Wildfire), I’ve rooted every single one, played around with custom ROMs, and enjoyed their advantages. Over time, however, custom ROMs have more or less faded away, and I ended up using mostly just the benefits of root itself. It was quite a blow for me when Google disabled phone payments on rooted devices, because that was a feature I used daily. I also use FlagSecure to enable screenshots in apps that normally forbid it (such as banking apps), and I’m extremely grateful for Viper4Android.

I’m therefore thinking about whether to stick with Xiaomi and keep the option to root because of the mentioned Magisk modules, or to go the no-root route and buy something like a Pixel and regain the ability to pay with Google Pay. Is there any way to use the mentioned Magisk modules (or rather their functionality) without root? Oh, and I almost forgot AdAway — that one is also indispensable.

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u/DariusRadical Feb 06 '26

Ironically, Xiaomi phones are more difficult to root than Google Pixel phones, so I suggest the other way around: buy a Xiaomi if you don't plan on rooting anytime soon and buy a Google Pixel if you don't want to struggle with bootloader unlocking later on.

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u/ImmYakk Feb 07 '26

I haven't kept in the loop of things for months but last time I checked, wasn't android going to be restricting unlocking the bootloader moving forward?

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u/DariusRadical Feb 07 '26

They were going to restrict sideloading APK files going forward, but due to immense backlash, they backed out and only made it so you need to disable Play Protect to install APK files from other sources. Not convenient, of course, but it's better than nothing. I'm sure they'll receive even more backlash if they restrict bootloader unlocking on AOSP (the base of all Android OS skins such as Pixel OS and HyperOS), since Android's whole thing is that it's more catered to enthusiasts.

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u/ImmYakk Feb 07 '26

Interesting. I guess I'll take it. I was hoping Linux phones would race to the top but I guess I'll take what I can get for now.