Samsung Galaxy Tab A root?

[Mr Optimistic]

I have a 4+ year old Tab A and it's behaving oddly. Screen freezes, jitters, keyboard interspersing random punctuation marks between each letter etc. Samsung only give two android updates so it's stuck on Android 7.1.1. I could do a factory reset I suppose but have heard about rooting these things. Is that likely to offer any advantages? Any advice welcome, even guesses !

[Capn Bloggs]

Rooting allows access to the file system, installation of all sorts of extra apps that can do extra things and generally more control over the device. You can put customised versions of Android on (if one has been developed for it, of course; being a Tab A I would say there are a few out there). Rooting as always a bit of a brain-overload for me (early phones) and now I can't be bothered, but if you're techo-minded, it can be great fun.

For a misbehaving system such as yours, I'd just do a factory reset to start with. You can also boot into a really basic mode using a combination of the buttons (differs with each device) so you can clear various bits/caches of the OS.

[Mr Optimistic]

Rooting allows access to the file system, installation of all sorts of extra apps that can do extra things and generally more control over the device. You can put customised versions of Android on (if one has been developed for it, of course; being a Tab A I would say there are a few out there). Rooting as always a bit of a brain-overload for me (early phones) and now I can't be bothered, but if you're techo-minded, it can be great fun.

For a misbehaving system such as yours, I'd just do a factory reset to start with. You can also boot into a really basic mode using a combination of the buttons (differs with each device) so you can clear various bits/caches of the OS.
​​​​​​
Cheers. A factory reset would be the sensible first step I guess, I wondered if rooting allowed updates to android beyond what I am currently allowed. No idea where to download it from, but lack of facts and ability hasn't stopped me before.

[Capn Bloggs]

XDA Developers (https://forum.xda-developers.com/) is the place to go. Rooter's heaven! I've also just googled eg "Tab A root" and browsed the results. There are some great guides out there. You'll enjoy it if you're a bit nerdy!

[Mr Optimistic]

More reckless and over confident than nerdy but shall research. Thanks very much. Worst case is I get an excuse to buy a new one, although tablets seem to be so last Wednesday at the moment.