Back in the day - rooting Android phones and installing custom ROMs were such a big part of Android. I remember so well using titanium backup and Greenify and Cyanogenmod and the list goes on.
Is it still necessary to root in 2023 though?
I have been on vanilla Android without root access for the past couple of years and at this point most root features have made it into the vanilla Android OS. What are your thoughts?
Essential? no.
Worth it? maybe.
Nice to have control of your own device? absolutely.
I have two devices, primary with root (through Magisk as KernelSU still has some issues for me) and secondary without root. Anytime I have to do something more demanding on the unrooted device I really wish I had root. Local terminal access, ability to disable some annoying “features” (verified app links) and multiple other things I use daily make it worth it for me.
EDIT: I saw mentions of custom roms in other comments. I have a custom rom installed (AOSP based). If I was on a stock rom (or god forbid something like MIUI) root would be a must for me.