Wednesday, 6 March 2013

What does "Rooting" your phone actually mean?



If you've done any Internet searching on the topic of Android, you've most likely run across either forums or articles discussing "rooting" your Android phone. While this article is not intended to show you how to root your phone nor to convince you to or not to root, it is intended to provide an impartial summary of the advantages and disadvantages of rooting an android phone.

What does "Rooting" your phone actually mean?

Android rooting is the process of allowing users of smartphones, tablets, and other devices running the Android mobile operating system to attain privileged control (known as "root access") within Android's subsystem.
Android is basically linux
Rooting your phone means giving yourself root, or superuser (think...admin) access, giving you access to system files and the ability to change things that normally are marked read only


This allows you to change all kinds of things that normally you wouldn't be able to, along with install custom versions of Android.

Rooting is often performed with the goal of overcoming limitations that carriers and hardware manufacturers put on some devices, resulting in the ability to alter or replace system applications and settings, run specialized apps that require administrator-level permissions, or perform other operations that are otherwise inaccessible to a normal Android user. On Android, rooting can also facilitate the complete removal and replacement of the device's operating system, usually with a more recent release of its current operating system.

As Android was derived from the Linux kernel, rooting an Android device is similar in practice to accessing administrative permissions on Linux or any other Unix-like operating system such as FreeBSD or OS X.

Once rooted, the Android phone owner will have more control over many settings, features and performance of their phone. Basically, "rooting" means to get to the root of the operating system and to have the ability to make global changes.

Disadvantages


There are two main disadvantages to rooting and Android phone;
1. Rooting immediately voids your phone's warranty-Once rooted, don't try to bring your phone back for service or warranty work. You are on your own!
2. Rooting involves the risk of "bricking" your phone-In essence, a "bricked" phone is no better than carrying around a brick in your pocket. The phone is dead when it has been "bricked."

Other potential disadvantages, though less severe, are still worthy of consideration;
1. Poor performance-Though the intention of "rooting" a phone is to give the phone more performance, several users have found that, in their attempts to speed up the phone or add additional features, that their phones lost both performance speed and features. Remember that when you "root" your Android phone, you are making changes to the stock operating system.
2. Viruses-Yes, even phones can get viruses. A common practice that people do with "rooted" phones is to flash their ROM's with custom programs. Whenever you make changes to the code of a software, you run the risk of introducing a virus.

Advantages


"Rooting" your Android phone does afford you numerous benefits, including;
1. Running special applications-Superuser is an app that can only be run on a rooted Android phone. This allows you to control which apps have access to the "root" system. Another popular application that "rooting" affords is the ability to tether a computer to your Android phone so that the computer can access the Internet using the phone's data connection. Another program can allow your Android to be used as a WiFi Hotspot without having to pay your provider for the feature.
2. Freeing up memory-When you install an app on your phone, it is stored on the phone's memory. "Rooting" allows you to move installed applications to your SD card, thus freeing up system memory for additional files or apps.
3. Custom ROM's-This is the most powerful feature of "rooted" phones. There are hundreds of custom ROM's that can do anything from speeding up the processing speed of your phone to changing the entire look and feel of your phone.

Summary


The decision to "root" your Android phone is one that should not be rushed into. Though the allure of having an unlocked phone is powerful, having a "bricked" phone is, trust me, not very much fun.


For rooting procedure of your Mobile / Tab follow the below link

How to root your Mobile / Tab










Enjoy!!!!!




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