All about Rooting

ETHICAL HACKING

Rooting guide

 Here's what you need to know about the rooting process, and where to find a guide for your phone.

What Is Rooting, Exactly?

Rooting, for those of you that don't know, means giving yourself root permissions on your phone. It's similar running programs as administrators in Windows, or running a command with sudo in Linux. With a rooted phone, you can run apps that require access to certain system settings, as well asflashcustom ROMs to your phone, which add all sorts of extra features. If you're on the fence about rooting, check out our top 10 reasons to root your Android phone for some motivation.

Top 10 Reasons to Root Your Android Phone

There are a ton of different Android phones out there, and while some rooting methods might work for multiple phones, there is no one-size-fits-all guide for rooting every phone out there. But, there are a lot of things you should know about rooting before you start, and this guide should help you out.

Frequently Asked Rooting Questions

People have a lot of questions about rooting, and we hear them all the time. Here are some of the most frequently asked, laid out so you don't have to ask someone else.

What's the difference between rooting, unlocking, and flashing a ROM? This can be confusing, since the three practices are often performed at the same time. We've detailed some of this above, but briefly: Unlocking your bootloader is usually the first step in the process and allows you to flash a custom recovery. From there, you can then give yourself root access or flash a ROM. Root access isn't required to flash a ROM, but almost all custom ROMs will come with root access built-in.

Note that when we say "unlock" in this guide, we mean unlocking your bootloader—not unlocking your phone to use a different carrier, which is a completely differentthingand doesn't always require hacking (since you can often purchase carrier-unlocked phones directly from Google or elsewhere).

Can I unroot my phone? Yes. If you decide you don't like being rooted, you can often find instructions on unrooting your phone as well. Usually it involves flashing an RUU, SBF, or something similar to return the phone to truly stock settings.

Is rooting illegal? No. Technically, it once was, but exceptions to the DCMA have made it legal for most phones (but not necessarily tablets). Either way, it's hard to imagine anyone actually enforcing this rule (much like ripping DVDs for your own personal use).

Will rooting void my warranty? Yes. Unlocking your bootloader will void the warranty on your phone, even if your manufacturer provides a way for you to do it. That said, if you need warranty service for a hardware issue, you can sometimes unroot your phone and take it in for service with no one the wiser. However, some phones have a digital "switch" that flips when you unlock your phone that is very difficult or impossible to revert, so do your research before unlocking if you want to preserve your warranty.

Could rooting brick my phone? It's possible, but pretty unlikely. As long as you follow instructions well, you probably won't brick anything (but we're not responsible yadda yadda yadda). Flashing custom kernels and radios is a little riskier than just rooting or flashing ROMs, but again, if you follow directions you should be okay. Keep in mind that bricking means your phone means it won't turn on or function at all—if you're stuck in a boot loop or boot straight to recovery, your phone is not bricked, and it can be fixed.

How Do I Fix My Bricked Android Phone?

Are any phones unrootable? This is a tough question. In the past, many manufacturers have tried to make "unrootable" phones with harsher protections (like the Droid X), but they're usually still rootable in some way, shape, or form. The more likely scenario is that, if you get a new phone or a phone that had a recent update, that a root exploit isn't available yet. In that case, you may have to wait a few months before you're able to root it. This is one of the reasons we recommendbuying a Nexus.

Frustrated by Android Fragmentation? Just Buy the Nexus

Will I still get over-the-air (OTA) updates? Will downloading them break my root? If you root your phone without flashing a custom ROM, then you will likely still get OTA updates from your carrier, and they will break your root. We highly recommendagainst downloading these updates, since you may not be able to re-root your phone for awhile after updating. Alternatively, you can use an app like OTARootkeeper that will help you keep your root access (though it doesn't work with every version of Android).

If you flash a custom ROM, you will not get OTA updates from your carrier. You may, howaever, get notifications for updates to your specific ROM. Those are safe to download.

Will rooting speed up my phone? Not on its own—all rooting does is give you root access. However, it does open up the possibility forother tweaks that can speed up an old phone.

How to Speed Up Your Old or Sluggish Android Device

Are Custom ROMs really necessary on a stock phone like the Nexus? Sure! ROMs are useful for more than just getting stock Android—they add a lot of useful features, get updates even if Google has abandoned your phone, and lots more. Check out this article for more.

Where to Find Rooting Methods and Tools

So now we get to the good stuff: actually rooting your phone. Unfortunately, every single phone is different, and rooting methods change every time that phone's software updates. With so many Android phones out there, it's become impossible for us to actually list rooting instructions here—especially because we only own a few different phones ourselves.

Luckily, now that you know a thing or two about rooting, you're in a much better position to understand some of the other instructions out there. So, here are a few places you'll find guides, ROMs, and other information about rooting your specific phone.

The XDA Developers forums are the number one place to look for information on your phone. This is where all the best hackers and tweakers gather to discuss phones, share links and guides, create rooting tools, and more. Head to the forums, find your device, and poke around the different subforums for your phone. You should find a number of threads that will direct you to information on how to root your phone, what ROMs and kernels are available, and more.

Created by rahul developers