Determine if running on a rooted device

Question

My app has a certain piece of functionality that will only work on a device where root is available. Rather than having this feature fail when it is used (and then show an a

Answer 1

Indeed it is interesting question and so far nobody has deserved award. I use the following code:

  boolean isRooted() {
      try {
                ServerSocket ss = new ServerSocket(81);
                ss.close();
                                    return true;
            } catch (Exception e) {
                // not sure
            }
    return false;
  }

The code is certainly not bulletproof, because network can be not available so you get an exception. If this method returns true then 99% you can be sure, otherwise just 50% that not. Networking permission can also spoil the solution.