Taking Your Phone To the Next Level: An Overview on Rooting!

Finally, the much anticipated Rooting series has come to the blog! Over the past few months, more and more of you fellow Android owners have wondered just what "Rooting" is; what's it for, is it dangerous, why do it?  In this overview my goal is to clear it up as much as possible, and in future segments dive a little deeper into the subject. So, without further ado!

What is Rooting?

Well rooting your device gives you administrative control over your phone. You get access to the root directory and in doing so, have direct access to the system files that reside there. With this new found access comes the ability to install custom firmware, as well as modify anything on your phone. Not being rooted is akin to not having administrative access on windows, or having some parental controls on your web browsing. You can do a lot, but there are boundaries. When you root your device, you now have the ability to enhance, tweak, or bork your phone as you see fit.

What are the benefits of rooting?

As you know by now (I hope) rooting gives you administrative access over your phone. Some of the things you will be able to do are

- Upgrade your software to the latest version of Android (or a more recent one)

- Install custom firmware which comes with all sorts of new tweaks, enhancements, and features (for example Beats audio)
- Install new apps which allow you to tweak your phone (like being able to change the boot animation, installing fonts you wouldn't be able to normally, applying a theme otherwise unavailable, calibrate your battery etc...)

- Uninstall apps you don't want (like bloatware)
- Improve your phone's performance via Overclocking (speeding up the cpu in your phone to work harder and produce better performance)
- Improve battery life through underclocking and unvervolting (slowing down the cpu in your phone to a lower frequency which uses less battery power, as well as lowering battery output to save battery)
- Unlock tweaks that you would previously have to pay for (free wifi tethering)
- Enable functionality your phone initially did not have (For example screenshot for older devices)

Is rooting dangerous? Will I void my warranty?
Well as stated earlier, when you root, you have the freedom to make or break your phone really. Breaking your phone is called bricking it (because that's what it becomes when you mess it up that bad). Also as long as you are rooted, you are not covered under warranty. However, you can always unroot and return to stock to be covered under warranty again (Granted if you brick your phone, unless they use a special process called a J-Tag (which may or may not work) it's not like the carrier can know you were rooted anyway).

What are the chances of me bricking my phone?
In my personal experience the chance of bricking your phone is low, but it really depends on how well you can follow directions and read. Bricks are very real and can happen, but once you root, it is your responsibility to do ample research before you flash any new firmware on your phone. "With great power, comes great responsibility" definitely applies to this process. 

Is rooting my phone easy?
Some devices are easier than others. For example Samsung phones are well regarded as the easiest phones to root. Samsung will even attempt to restore your phone if you brick it (but won't replace it) and support the root community. HTC phones, Motorola phones, and phones on some carriers usually are harder to root because they come with locked bootloaders. When a bootloader is locked, you can't install customer firmware on the device. Therefore that's an extra step that needs to be taken in order to get the full root experience. Not to mention S-On and S-OFF (commonly found in HTC Phones) which prevents some changes from being made to the system partition. So yes, different phones come with different levels of root difficulty, and the older your phone is, the less available working resources there are to root your phone. Often times necessary files and applications will be long deleted if your phone is old or not very popular. With other phones, rooting can be as simple as one click. 

Will you root my phone for me?
I'd gladly walk you through the process and answer any questions you may have, but since rooting your phone is a big step and a big test of personal responsibility and accountability, I don't think it's wise to do the work for you, because eventually you're going to want to flash something else and I won't be there to do it for you everytime you want to try something new. You have to learn it on your own. (It's not hard though). 

All in all, I HIGHLY recommend rooting for all Android users who want to get the most out of their phones. High end stock Android phones are already better than iphones. Rooting your device makes them even better. With a rooted phone, you could essentially have a new phone every week if you chose. Don't like something? Uninstall it. Is there a process on your phone that's acting up? Freeze it. Not getting good cell service with the modem you have? Install a new one. The possibilities are absolutely huge. If you're responsible, understand that there will be a lot of reading and learning involved, and are ready to take your phone to the next level, I welcome you to the rooting community, and hope you enjoy the rest of the series that is to come!

Please leave any questions/comments/concerns/suggestions/observations in the comment box below! And don't forget to vote up top for which phone you think will be the top phone of 2012! Thanks for reading!