Rooting – uhh what!?

Root – The term itself sounds very sinister in itself! But wait…what is Rooting. The term Rooting means to give the user i.e. YOU, the access to the smartphone’s root permissions! It means giving the user administrative right over  the processes that can be performed by the phone,  just like “Run as Administrator” option exists in Windows or like the “sudo” command in Linux. Ever used an iphone..? You must have heard of the term JAILBREAK. Didn’t…?!! OK. Imagine a Jail, with it’s 4 walls with the iphone as it’s prisoner. The everyday iphone that everyone uses is just like THAT iphone, surrounded by limited access to all the core functionalities by limits imposed by Apple. Now imagine what would happen if these walls surrounding your iphone were to be broken and your iphone were to be set free? There would be no limits to the power and features you could add to your iphone and make it reach new heights, subject to the hardware constraints…obviously (can’t make a fingerprint sensor appear magically on an iphone 4 ;p). Of course Apple would void the warranty which covers the iphone, as you have  tampered with it! Similarly is the case with Rooting an ANDROID device. You get unrestricted access to your smartphone to do as you please, but the deed itself comes with some drawbacks. Let’s discuss them in some detail….

Pro’s and Con’s!

The PRO’s are :-

• Unlimited and Unrestricted root access.
• Install apps and features not available for your phone!
• Install Custom versions of Android – one which may not be available for your phone.
• This one’s Important….REMOVE BLOATWARE. Remember those stupid apps that come pre-installed by the Carrier or the phone manufacturer on your smatphone and which cannot be uninstalled by default thereby eating up a large amount of necessary storage space. These apps are called Bloatware and by rooting , you can even remove these! YAY!!
• Tweak your phone to suit your needs, be it changing the app opening or closing animations , or keyboard features or multitasking tweaks, YOU have the say!
• Unlock hidden features on your phone.
• Get access to software models before they are released to the public (may or may not be possible).

And the CON’S :-

• The Warranty of your phone becomes NULL and VOID. So no more free visits to the customer care centre or getting a brand new phone for free!
• Your phone may get BRICKED i.e. it may become unable to function at all , thus resembling a BRICK! However, the risk of that happening is very low. Phew!
• To lower the chances of you Bricking the phone , make sure you don’t root the phone which you use as your daily driver. Just use a spare phone to test it out first! Experienced Dev’s can go ahead without any worries!
• There may be problems with your phone’s battery life and general usability.

Just before we start…

There are a few Terms and keywords you should be aware of before you start rooting your precious android device and these are..

• ROM – It basically means a modified version of android, like a custom skin or even a newer, unreleased version of it.
• FLASH – the term means to install a particular piece of software on your smartphone, be it a custom ROM, or a kernel. The process of flashing may or may not require the use of a ZIP file.
• RECOVERY – The recovery is a software on your phone that let’s you flash ROM’s, install new kernels and perform other system-level tasks. The default recovery on your phone isn’t capable of doing much, but you can install a custom recovery software, like TWRP which can do the work for you!
• ADB – It means Android Debug bridge, the definition is in the name itself! It basically acts a a bridge between the computer and your smartphone and acts as as a command line tool.It is a part of the Android Software Developer Kit (SDK) .
• Bootloader – It is the lowest level of software on your phone, running all the code that is necessary to kickstart your Operating System!

Let’s start ->

The process of rooting consists of three basic steps :-

1. Unlocking the bootloader.
2. Flashing a custom recovery software.
3. Flashing a Custom ROM or Kernel
4. Make sure you have Developer options enabled in Settings and have switched “Allow USB debugging ” and “Allow OEM unlocking” ON.  

Unlocking the Bootloader

So, the first step to Root your smartphone is to unlock the bootloader. This process itself voids the warranty that your smartphone came with! Unlocking the bootloader varies for different manufacturers. Refer to your smartphone’s manufacturer’s site to unlock your bootloader.

Flashing a Custom Recovery software

Now, the software I’ll be talking about is TWRP. You can get the installation ZIP files of TWRP from the XDA developer’s site.

Flashing a Custom ROM

All left to do is to flash a custom ROM of your choice. It could be anything ranging from a different smartphone’s interface or an newer , unreleased version of android! Download a custom ROM, for example you can download CyanogenMod from here by selecting your particular handset configuration and model number.

Now that you have rooted your Android, you can enjoy your Smartphone to the fullest extent of it’s capabilities.

Enjoy!!!