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Sunday, September 29, 2013

What Is Rooting and What Are Its Benefits?

Many people hear smartphone geeks throwing around terminology that they seem to think everyone understands, and yet most people are left totally baffled. This is something of which I, myself, am guilty--on a daily basis, even! The biggest term that you may have heard being thrown around on cell phone blogs, or news sites, or forums, is "Rooting." What does that mean, and why would you ever want to do something to your phone that sounds like the horrible torture your mother used to inflict on unsuspecting weeds in the garden? That's what we're going to discuss.

At its most basic, "rooting" is the term widely used among computer and cell phone technicians alike to refer to the process by which one gains access to the administrative commands and functions of an operating system.

If you're thinking, "Hey that's no help, I'm still confused," that's normal. Even a simple definition of rooting seems complex at first. What it means when you root an Android phone, is that you give yourself, rather than Sprint/Verizon/T-Mobile/AT&T's software, the permission to act like the administrator of the phone. There are a ton of reasons why people want to do this--the biggest being either to install an updated version of the operating system, or to save battery life. The two more often than not go hand-in-hand.

There are other benefits of rooting, as well. When you gain access to administrative phone functions, it is simpler to freeze system processes that drain battery life. Among the smartphone geek crowd, applications like these are referred to as "bloatware:" they do nothing but bloat the software by existing as unnecessary applications.

Having a rooted Android phone is also beneficial because there are several Android applications which are extremely useful and also require root menu access. "Titanium Backup" is my personal favorite of these. It allows you to back up all your applications with their data on a regular basis, so that if you do install a new version of the operating system, or if you have to factory reset your phone, you don't have to go back and start Angry Birds all over again from Level 1. (And trust me, I've been there. I've felt that pain.) Other applications allow you to uninstall bloatware entirely, and so on, and so forth, from basic functions to extremely technical on a level that even I fail to entirely understand.

But like Uncle Ben Parker said in Spider-Man: "With great power, comes great responsibility." Benefits of rooting an android phone to gain access to the functions and menus normally inaccessible to the typical cell phone user are many, but rooting is not a process that should be taken on halfheartedly. These benefits come at a cost-- almost all manufacturers' warranties become void once you root your phone. So, either be prepared to accept that, or learn how to "un-root" in case of an emergency.

Do plenty of research--there are a ton of sites with how-to videos and device-specific instructions, because no two phones are rooted the same way. Ask plenty of questions--never assume you know what you're doing, because it's the best way to end up with a phone that's as useful as a paperweigt.


What AreThe Benefits Of Rooting? 

1. Custom Software (ROM’s)
If you have superusers rights means you can install Custom ROM’s on your android cell phone. Basically custom Rom is own version of Android, a new Operating System which is developed by developers. Using these ROM’s  you can alter your Smartphone experience, it changes the color of your icons, app dock, an app menu etc. With custom rooms you can uncap the full potential of your Smartphone which a normal user can’t get.
2. Custom Themes
After rooting your android device you get a full ability to customize every graphic on your device. There are  hundreds of custom themes over the web which you can load  to completely change the look and feel of your device.
3. Cool Applications
There are a number of applications which work only on a rooted android device like screenshot apps, Overlocking apps, ROM Manager, Wireless Tether for Root Users, Root Explorer, Titanium Backup and many more
4. Speed and Performance
We all know that kernels are behind the performance of the processor of your Smartphone. So if you change the kernel version, you can change your processor and that will also improve the speed and performance of your Smartphone.
5. Increasing Battery life.
There are many apps specially made for rooted devices which access system settings and increase the device’s battery life by optimizing it to a great extent.
6. Installing Unsupported apps
There are lots of apps which are not supported by your device, but after rooting your Smartphone you can install them by editing your build.prop file.
7. Backing Up your device.
After rooting your Smartphone you can also install a custom bootloader and perform an android backup of your device. It is a backup which when restored, restores your device to the same state as it was during performing the backup.
So these are the advantages and benefits which you are going to get when you root your Android Smartphone. But if you feel I missed any good advantage then feel free to share with us.

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