A lot of people have started to ask me about rooting an android phone so I decided to start a blog and direct them to this instead of looking for links of information from various sources.
Rooting is a process allowing users of Android smartphones and tablets to gain privileged control, known as "root access" within Android's subsystem. Rooting is often performed with the goal of overcoming limitations that the manufacturer and the carriers put on the devices, thus becoming the true master of your device. It is not illegal to do AND it is reversible. The process itself, over the years, has become a lot simpler, taking only about 5-10mins and some even being a one step process.
Advantages:
- Use apps from Google apps stores outside the US.
- Use apps that are more powerful than the "non-root" apps, which are also available in the app stores. Here are some of the ones I use:
- Root Explorer/ES file explorer which lets you access and edit system files on your phone.
- SetCPU which lets you speed up or slow down your CPU for more performance/battery life.
- StickMount which lets you connect to external usb hard drives and even connect to wired networks.
- AdFree which removes all those pesky ads on free apps.
- ROM Manager/ClockworkMod Recovery which creates nandroid backup files of your phone which are complete images of each and everythign on your device. Restoring a nandroid backup means going back to your previous configuration with nothing lost.
- Titanium Backup does a scheduled or manual backup of all your apps and its data so you can restore them when you do a factory restore or install new ROMs without having to download them all from Google Play store and set them all up again.
- Google Wallet. Stores all your credit/bank cards in your phone and you can just wave your phone to purchase things. This is currently blocked by my carrier. Not with my rooted phone!
- Use custom ROMs.
- Not satisfied with the stock configuration of your device? Don't like Samsung's colorful TouchWiz or HTC's Sense? Don't like all the bloatware that cannot be removed from T-Mobile/Verizon? No worries. You can replace them by flashing a custom ROM. These are heavily modified versions of Android OS which offer more features, better performance and even all new user experiences.
Disadvantages
- Voids warranty.
- If your carrier and manufacturer finds out that your phone is rooted, they will not repair or replace your device. It is your responsibility to take care of your device.
- May damage your device if managed improperly.
- Rooting gives you powerful options and if you don't keep in mind that "with great power comes great responsibility" you can end up "bricking" your phone. Bricked phone is a phone that's not recoverable, but to be honest, it rarely happens.
- The ability to accept OTA updates from your carrier.
- I never worry about this, only because I use custom ROMs. The custom ROMs usually end up being better updated version of the stock ROM anyways.
- Now if you do not plan on using custom ROMs, you can always revert back to a root/locked state and receive the OTA updates and root/unlock your device again.
Personal Experience
I rooted my Samsung Galaxy Nexus within the first week of ownership, which was the first week it came out for Verizon. I thought it would be a very complicated procedure and that I would brick my new shiny phone on the first try. But let me make it clear...yes, it is risk, but only if your'e stupid enough to not follow the guidelines. Now I can't live without a rooted android smartphone because I rely too much on the freedom it gives me.
Resources
These are the top two sites I use as resources for rooting, apps, ROMs, tips, and customization of rooted devices
