I’m sure you, as an average Android user, know what rooting is. But just to revive your memory- rooting means getting extra permissions and rights to use the phone software. With extra privileges, you can load your own custom software in the phone and increase its performance. You can even install some software for free that would otherwise cost you money. So basically, rooting means hacking.
What you can do?
Get ROMs
Ever heard of people who load custom ROMs? ROM is actually software that helps in running your phone/tablet. It is a code segment stored in phone’s Read Only Memory. There are many ROMs on the internet that you can load in your phone, and change the entire look and feel. Let’s say you have an old Android device that has an old version. You can root it and install the latest Android version on it. Now your old device will be at par with the new and cool phones. There are many places from where you can find great ROMs.
Load themes
When your phone is rooted, you can control all aspects of your phone. You can control each icon individually. Or you can create your own themes and install. Such themes will change the entire feeling of the phone.
Increase battery and speed
You can get various custom apps and ROMs for the device. They will change the performance of your phone. The right ROM will not just change the look of phone, but will give much better battery performance and higher speed. Many developers tweak the system kernel. This increases the phone performance even more.
Get latest versions
Still running Froyo? Get the latest versions of Android. It isn’t possible unless you root your phone. If you are tech savvy and want to get the best and the latest, then rooting will help you stay on top. Also, you can get the latest patches and updates launched by Android community. You don’t have to wait for the manufacturer to send these updates on your device.
Improve call quality
When you root your device, you can update the Baseband. Baseband is something that controls phone radio. By updating Baseband, you can enhance quality and signal for your phone calls.
Backup
When you use the stock build, you will miss out the sweet backing up abilities of Android. With the help of rooting, you can backup all data and apps really easily. There are several backup apps available that run on rooted phones. You can use them and keep your precious data safe.
Well Android rooting sure sounds fun. But wait, here are the potential risks:
Bricking
If the rooting goes wrong somewhere, your software will be so badly corrupted that your phone will become useless. Then it will be as useful as a brick.
Security
You will also pose a big risk to the security of your phone. With rooting, there is a higher risk of malicious apps attacking your phone.
