In the mobile world , you have two types of
users :
1 – The type that takes things as they come ,
and is happy about it .
2 – The type that looks at bleeding edge
and still wants more.
Disclaimer: rooting your phone will void
your warranty, damage your reputation as
an upstanding member of society and
maybe even insult your family . In no way,
shape or form do we condone any action
that goes against the principles of any
agreement that you might have signed to
not modify your phone ’ s software . Read
further at your own risk .
Personally, I’ m an Android owner and
proud resident of group # 2. As such, when
I bought my Droid , it wasn’ t long before I
started looking into ways to modify the UI
and the phone ’ s software .
A friend of mine sparked my interest in the
practice known as rooting. If you’ re not
familiar , rooting your phone is the process
of flashing the phone ’ s memory to run a
(sometimes ) customized software . iPhone
users call this practice jail breaking , just for
clarification . There are some pretty huge
benefits , and that ’ s what we ’ ll talk about
today .
I won’ t go into details of how to root your
phone , as Google can quickly show you all
sorts of resources. Instead , I ’ ll just tell you
about the benefits and potential risks .
1 1 – – Improved Improved Performance Performance
One of the biggest issues for me, when I
got my Droid , was the performance. It was
quick, but not as smooth as I ’ d have liked .
Depending on the ROM that you choose,
the maker might have included some
performance tweaks including overclocking
the phone ’ s CPU. Alternately , there are
applications available in the Android
Market that will allow you to overclock, but
your phone must be rooted in order to use
them.
Obviously there are some risks here . If
your phone ’ s CPU gets clocked too high
you can experience damage , or even
outright failure , from overheating.
Approach any overclocking with caution .
2 2 – – More More Application Application Choices Choices
The Android platform can do a lot of
things. However , there are still some
limitations , imposed either by the
manufacturer or perhaps by your carrier . A
rooted phone will bypass those limitations
and allows you a wider variety of
application choices .
One of the most annoying limitations is the
lack of ability to take a screen shot . But a
quick search of the Android Market shows
applications ready to do just that … if you’ re
running a rooted device.
This is just naming one of numerous
examples . There are firewalls , backups,
cache file managers and many more.
3 3 – – Breaking Breaking the the Fragmentation Fragmentation
A major complaint of many Android device
users is OS fragmentation . Across all
users , there are many different versions of
the Android OS in use . Rooting a phone
will allow a user to use a ROM that includes
the latest features even if their own carrier
hasn’ t pushed that update yet .
There are limitations here . Some phones
are not capable of running the latest
editions and you will need to do some
investigation to find out what your phone
can handle . At the worst case scenario, as
long as you ’ ve done a backup prior to
attempting to root , all you’ ll have to do is
restore if things go boom.
4 4 – – Options Options
Maybe it seems like we’ ve already covered
this, but by that logic, this entire article is
about options . But in this case , I ’ m
speaking of some very specific ones.
I want the option to run custom ROMs that
I feel are a better match for my needs than
what the manufacturer or carrier have
provided. I want the option to run my
phone at its full speed . I demand the
option to have full access to a device that I
purchased .
This is the real strength of rooting. I keep a
couple of ROMs handy at all times: the one
that I prefer and a backup of Android 2. 1
with no modifications , in case I need it . I
toss them onto the Micro SD card in the
phone and I never have to worry if
something goes wrong with the software .
Having the option to change things that I
own at my own will is a pretty cool piece of
mind.
5 5 – – Because Because you you can can . .
Nope , this isn ’ t a cop- out # 5 reason and
no I didn ’ t run out of ideas. This is just a
basic fact. You own an incredibly cool,
highly capable device . Why wouldn ’ t you
want to see its fully ability ? Honestly,
following popular tutorials online will walk
you step by step through what is an already
simple process.
Now here ’ s another of those “ peace of
mind” things: if you screw it up, all you
have to do is load something different .
There’ s very little chance that you’ ll actually
break anything to the point that it can ’ t be
easily repaired .
So give it a shot , but be forewarned that
rooting will void your warranty . Of course,
stock ROMs are available for easy
download… you know …just in case .
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