Rooting an Android

Most of you would have heard the term Rooting maybe from a friend who is interested in techs or read it on the internet somewhere and would have wondered what is Rooting. Today i am going to clear all your doubts about rooting.

Rooting basically is the process of obtaining administrative privileges (Super User Access) on your device. As Android uses the Linux Kernel,(All about kernel) rooting an Android device gives similar access to administrative (Superuser) permissions as on Linux or any other Unix operating system. with these privileges/permissions you can overcome limitations that carriers and hardware manufacturers put on some devices.Thus, rooting gives the ability (or permission) to alter or replace system applications and settings, run specialized a applications that require administrator-level permissions, or perform other operations that are otherwise inaccessible to a normal Android user.

Various operations you can perform after rooting

1. Removing bloatware:- Bloatware are the unwanted software which are pre-installed by the manufacturer. Root access allows you to uninstall those apps.
2. Overclocking and underclocking your CPU:- All of you are familiar with terms CPU(central processing unit).
3. Flash a Custom ROM.
4. Using applications that requires administration permissions.

Overclocking

Now overclocking as the name suggests is the process of enhancing the clock speed of some Android devices from the stock clock speed. For example a device has 800 MHz clock speed then CPU Overclocking will be to increase this speed from 800 MHz to 1 GHz. It is also known as increasing the frequency of your device’s CPU. As the purpose of a CPU is to perform tasks on your Android device, higher is the CPU, faster it will perform the tasks and less will be the chances of lag. 

Advantages of overclocking

Overclocking is mostly useful on old devices having less CPU clock speed. If you wish to play 3D/HD games or you want to run the games / apps lag free you may Overclock your device’s CPU and it will work like a new device with higher clock speed.

Disadvantages of Overclocking

Overclocking your Android device will directly affect the battery life and will result in battery drainage. More burden you put on your CPU more battery it will consume. This can be tested only upon Overclocking an Android device that how much it battery it eats.

Underclocking 

Basically it refers to slowing down or restricting the speed of your device’s CPU to a lower number. Example:-, Let’s say a device comes with a processor having 800 MHz processing speed and you want to underclock it, you will reduce it’s speed to 600 MHz or 500 MHz.

Advantages of Underclocking

Underclocking is greatly effective as the battery life of your Android device is directly linked with the user of your device’s CPU, so in case you are not an Android freak and you don’t disturb your device much with gaming and other such processes, you can underclock your Android device to improve it’s battery life.

Disadvantages of Underclocking

Underclocking your device to the minimum lowest speed can result in sending the device to sleep mode. In that case you’ll have to pull the battery and put it back and then turn it on. So always restrict it to a suitable speed.

Flash a custom ROM

A custom Android ROM refers to a phone’s firmware, based on Google’s Android platform. Android is open source and therefore any developer can edit the code, recompile it, and re-release for a wide variety of devices. Users can install ROM's to change a device’s appearance and behavior.When you buy your Android device, it comes with what we call a “stock ROM” or the “stock firmware”. This refers to the preinstalled operating system. This ROM usually has limited functionality as defined by the phone’s manufacturer. By flashing a custom ROM, you can unlock extra features and sometimes improve the performance.

Using applications that require administrative permissions

There are a variety of good and useful applications which you are missing out on because you do not have the administrative privileges like Titanium Backup, lucky patcher, Xposed framework and many more.

Pros and Cons of rooting

Pros

Rooting frees your Android phone from the clutches of the mobile carrier where you got your phone from unless you got it unlocked. If that’s the case, rooting frees your phone from the restrictions of the Android OS.

Rooting allows you to install “unofficial” and advanced versions of the Android OS. Generally, Android OS are carried over-the-air by Google and selected carriers to their Android-released devices. And this usually takes awhile to happen. Luckily, there are developers who make this updates available and the only way you can install them is to root your phone.

Rooting allows you to uninstall stock apps which are most of the time useless and were pre-installed by the manufacturer or your carrier.

Rooting allows you to back up your phone’s system to an SD card so that you can try out custom ROMs and revert back to your old system.

Rooting allows you to move apps to an SD card instead of cramping your phone’s internal storage.

Rooting lets you overclock your phone’s CPU, making it performs faster than it was intended to perform by the manufacturer.

Rooting lets you fully personalize and customize your phone’s interface with cool themes, wallpapers, widgets and more.

Cons

Rooting voids your phone’s warranty.

Rooting can cause your phone to act abnormally, especially if not done properly.

Rooting renders your phone unqualified to receive OS updates through OTA. So you will be on your own to look out for valid sources. The good news is that your phone is probably running the latest OS after you have rooted it.

Rooting may make your phone perform faster but there are downsides to it specifically running too hot to the point of overheating your device.

A word of Advice

Rooting is an extremely dangerous process and might even brick your phone if not done correctly and it also voids your phone's warranty. So try rooting at your own risk. My advice try it on a old device first which has crossed its warranty period already.