Why you should do rooted?

Rooting: What is it?

In the simple words, by rooting your android device you get the administrator control (also known as root access) over your phone. With root access, you truly own the android device and can do whatever you want with the software. This is same as getting administrator control over a windows machine.

Rooting: Why you should do it?

Here are some of the main advantages of rooting:

1) Ability to get rid of the bloatware:

A lot of mobile phones come with pre installed heavy softwares from manufacturers or carriers which cannot be uninstalled. These are known as bloatware. Not only are most of these softwares useless but they also make the Android device extremely slow and sluggish. With root access, you can get rid of all the bloatware installed on your Android device and thus you can speed up your device to a great extent.

2) Ability to customize:

With root access, you can customize your android device to a greater extent. You get the power to completely change your device’s current ROM and install a new one (provided that it is supported by the device).  These custom ROMs (versions of the OS made by developers) are developed by Android developers and enthusiasts and can completely change your Android experience by changing the skins, themes, app docks etc. Here are some examples of the kind of customization you can achieve with custom ROMs:

3) Ability to remove manufacturer skins:

Almost all major Android device manufacturers install some kind of skins (Samsung’s TouchWiz, HTC’s Sense UI etc) on their devices. And while these skins and themes are great to look at, they are extremely bulky and will slow down your Android phone. There’s no way to get rid of these bulky skins other than rooting and installing a custom ROM. Most custom ROMs from trusted developers run on clean and stock Android which speeds up the device.

4) Access to great apps and features:

A rooted device opens the door to many great features which would have been impossible without root access. You can make your Android device a wireless hotspot with root access, overclock the CPU to achieve greater speeds and completely banish advertisements. There are a lot a lot of great apps (the play store is filled with them) which need root access to work. An example of this is Titanium Backup which can backup entire contents of the phone including apps and even personal settings. SetCPU is another app which can overclock or underclock the CPU to boost performance.

5) Faster updates:

Most phones receive software updates months after it is released. Most manufacturers take a lot of time to customize the OS update according to the mobile. However, with root access, you can install a custom ROM from several developers (also known as “flashing”) on your phone and enjoy the latest OS update.

The list doesn’t stop here. There are many more advantages of rooting. These were just some of the biggest ones.

Some risks you should know of before rooting:

With all advantages, there are a few risks associated with rooting as well.  Here are the two major ones:

1) The warranty gets voided:

You lose the phone’s warranty once you root your phone. This means that the service center won’t be able to help you in case the phone gets damaged and needs repairs. However, you can restore the phone’s warranty by flashing the stock ROM (the original ROM with which the phone was released).

2) You risk “bricking” your phone:

The process of rooting can be baffling for beginners and you can be left with a “brick” of a phone if you fail to follow the instructions carefully. A bricked phone becomes useless and the only way you can use a bricked phone is by using it as a paperweight. The only way to avoid “bricking” is to follow the rooting instructions carefully.

The final word:

Root access is a great thing to have if you really want to go a step ahead and truly own your android device. The advantages are great. Just make sure to read and reread all the steps carefully before rooting. You wouldn’t like a bricked android Smartphone very much.

Stay tuned for the next segment where we’ll get to know more about these mysterious“Custom Roms”.