February 28, 2011 at 17:05Root or not Root, that’s the question
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If you are the owner of a device with the Android operating system, then you have probably heard about such a procedure as rooting (from the English Root) - getting full control over the software and operating system of the device.
There are pros and cons of rooting your device. This article will try to help you with the answer to the question whether you should get full control over your Android device or not.
If your device is under warranty and it starts to overheat, or often reboots, or any other malfunction is detected, you can give your device for warranty repair or replace it.
However, if you root your phone (or, for example, if you installed another version of the Android operating system on your device, as most of those who root your device do), you will void your warranty and the device manufacturer will give you a refusal to repair, if required by your device.
Yes, of course, you can remove all traces of rooting so that no one can find out whether you performed this operation or not.
If you do not exactly follow the rooting instructions, then you can turn your device into a brick - make it completely unusable, so the device can become nothing more than an expensive, shiny "brick" for you.
Rooting is not a complicated procedure and can be done in a couple of minutes in a couple of clicks. As long as you are careful with this procedure, you should not worry about anything. But the potential risk, if you do something wrong, is huge.
From time to time, your device receives updates for its version of Android: it may be small bug fixes, or large updates, such as updating the operating system version from Eclair (Android 2.1) to Froyo (Android 2.2).
If you root your device and then try to install any OTA updates, you will lose root access to your device and will not be able to repeat the rooting operation again until someone finds a way to gain root access for the new updated version of the device.
Rooting allows you to install a third-party ROM - another version of the Android operating system on your device. For example, it is possible to install the HTC Sense user interface on a Nexus One phone.
Some developers offer their own versions of ROM, such as CyanogenMod . Other developers offer their own themes for ROM, which can completely change the look of your Android operating system, how the system works and change other functions. Basic functions allow you to just change the operating system to your needs, however, rooting your device will raise your configuration options to a higher level.
Various modifications of the Android operating system have their own advantages. For example, CyanogenMod is focused on improving performance, which optimizes your device for the fastest and smoothest work possible. Oxygen , on the other hand, helps you save the life of your battery.
Once you have root access to your device, you can configure, for example, the frequency of your device’s processor using applications such as SetCPU . It will adjust the frequency of the processor under certain operating conditions, for example, when the battery runs low or reduces the power consumption of your device at night when not in use.
You can move absolutely any application to the SD card, including their cache, while leaving more space on the phone’s internal memory. Also, you can install and work with applications that can take screenshots directly from the current screen of your phone (usually this requires connecting the phone to the computer and using debugging programs)
When you go online, your phone starts checking for updates, downloading information for applications, updating the weather, and uses a lot of Internet traffic. To prevent this, you can put Firewall on your phone, for example, Droidwall , which will limit programs to access the Internet, which is very useful if, for example, you have high prices for Internet traffic via 3G.
Now you know why you need rooting devices running the Android operating system. It is up to you to complete this procedure or not. And remember - you may lose the warranty on your device after the rooting procedure.
ROM stands for Read Only Memory. In Russian, there is a similar abbreviation - ROM, Read Only Memory.
Root (from the English root - root; read "root") is the main account on UNIX systems (has UID 0 - user ID). The root user (superuser) has all the possible rights in the system, which allows him to execute any commands, change system parameters, etc.
OTA - (abbr. Over-the-air) - Updates directly from the phone
If you are the owner of a device with the Android operating system, then you have probably heard about such a procedure as rooting (from the English Root) - getting full control over the software and operating system of the device.
There are pros and cons of rooting your device. This article will try to help you with the answer to the question whether you should get full control over your Android device or not.
The arguments against rooting
You void the device warranty
If your device is under warranty and it starts to overheat, or often reboots, or any other malfunction is detected, you can give your device for warranty repair or replace it.
However, if you root your phone (or, for example, if you installed another version of the Android operating system on your device, as most of those who root your device do), you will void your warranty and the device manufacturer will give you a refusal to repair, if required by your device.
Yes, of course, you can remove all traces of rooting so that no one can find out whether you performed this operation or not.
You can turn your device into a brick
If you do not exactly follow the rooting instructions, then you can turn your device into a brick - make it completely unusable, so the device can become nothing more than an expensive, shiny "brick" for you.
Rooting is not a complicated procedure and can be done in a couple of minutes in a couple of clicks. As long as you are careful with this procedure, you should not worry about anything. But the potential risk, if you do something wrong, is huge.
You will lose OTA updates for your device.
From time to time, your device receives updates for its version of Android: it may be small bug fixes, or large updates, such as updating the operating system version from Eclair (Android 2.1) to Froyo (Android 2.2).
If you root your device and then try to install any OTA updates, you will lose root access to your device and will not be able to repeat the rooting operation again until someone finds a way to gain root access for the new updated version of the device.
Arguments for rooting
You will have the opportunity to more complete and advanced device settings
Rooting allows you to install a third-party ROM - another version of the Android operating system on your device. For example, it is possible to install the HTC Sense user interface on a Nexus One phone.
Some developers offer their own versions of ROM, such as CyanogenMod . Other developers offer their own themes for ROM, which can completely change the look of your Android operating system, how the system works and change other functions. Basic functions allow you to just change the operating system to your needs, however, rooting your device will raise your configuration options to a higher level.
You can increase the performance or battery life of your device
Various modifications of the Android operating system have their own advantages. For example, CyanogenMod is focused on improving performance, which optimizes your device for the fastest and smoothest work possible. Oxygen , on the other hand, helps you save the life of your battery.
Once you have root access to your device, you can configure, for example, the frequency of your device’s processor using applications such as SetCPU . It will adjust the frequency of the processor under certain operating conditions, for example, when the battery runs low or reduces the power consumption of your device at night when not in use.
You will have more opportunities
You can move absolutely any application to the SD card, including their cache, while leaving more space on the phone’s internal memory. Also, you can install and work with applications that can take screenshots directly from the current screen of your phone (usually this requires connecting the phone to the computer and using debugging programs)
You can put a firewall on your Android device
When you go online, your phone starts checking for updates, downloading information for applications, updating the weather, and uses a lot of Internet traffic. To prevent this, you can put Firewall on your phone, for example, Droidwall , which will limit programs to access the Internet, which is very useful if, for example, you have high prices for Internet traffic via 3G.
The choice is yours
Now you know why you need rooting devices running the Android operating system. It is up to you to complete this procedure or not. And remember - you may lose the warranty on your device after the rooting procedure.
Little glossary of terms
ROM stands for Read Only Memory. In Russian, there is a similar abbreviation - ROM, Read Only Memory.
Root (from the English root - root; read "root") is the main account on UNIX systems (has UID 0 - user ID). The root user (superuser) has all the possible rights in the system, which allows him to execute any commands, change system parameters, etc.
OTA - (abbr. Over-the-air) - Updates directly from the phone