Have you ever wondered why some people get extra features on their smartphones while others are left behind with their stock features and nothing happens?
Rooting Android is one of the biggest unique selling points, as users of the Android OS mostly rely on its flexibility and malleability. While Apple’s iOS is workable right off the packaging, it is also more closed in than Android, which is why Google’s popular operating system [Android] has been such a hit among developers.
To truly understand just how much you can do with an Android, though, you have to root it. Well, it’s one of the benefits of rooting your smartphone. I know someone might still be asking “what is rooting?“
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In a simplified way, I’ll give you a heads-up on what rooting is all about. Rooting is the ability to gain full access to the Android system as a whole; it makes you the administrator of your phone and not just a user. Simplified right?!
Now some might be asking, “What are the benefits of rooting my Android phone?” and “How to root a Smartphone.“
Benefits of Rooting your Android Phone
- Rooting your Android helps unlock the full potential of your phone. You can use apps like Greenify to close useless applications automatically, effectively improving your device’s performance.
- Rooting gives you the privilege to stop applications that start automatically on boot (some Android devices have this feature preinstalled).
- With root access, one can flash custom recovery, thus enabling them to perform a full backup of the Android system.
- You can browse the Android root folder and make changes to the system files, which means altering and installing or removing some of the key elements of your phone.
- Most smartphones come with obsolete preinstalled apps that we don’t use. In fact, most apps take storage space and make our device run slowly. Rooting grants you the ability to remove this bloatware.
- Rooting brings more customization to your Android and allows flashing of custom roms—the reason lots of people even think of rooting.
- Battery optimization
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But you know what they say, “There is no advantage without a disadvantage.”
The cons of rooting your smartphone
- Bricking your device: Flashing custom roms is great, but flashing incompatible roms on your device can freeze it from turning on again (hard brick).
- Once rooted, never update your device via OTA or SDcard (stock recovery method) because this will result in soft-bricking your android.
- Interfering with wrong system file/apps can leave your device vulnerable to viruses, or might even lead to damaging some features.
- A good thing about unrooted Android devices is that the system update, no matter how late it comes, will definitely install and work well. The risk with rooted devices is that this may not happen. You may find that automated firmware updates may not be working. In some cases, updates will not install because of software modifications made during the rooting process itself.
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With that said, I think one has to be cautioned on things to do when having root privileges on their Smartphone. Rooting is great, only if you can do the right thing.
Now it’s about time I dropped the procedures for rooting. Grab your seat with a chilled drink; we’re about to TakeOff on how to root your device.
There are tons of tools for rooting Android, but the two most recognizable ones are the “KINGROOT” app or flashing “SuperSU”. For the last few years, however, the one-stop root solution for almost all Android devices has been Magisk.
Since Android 6.0 (Marshmallow), kingroot is no longer supported for rooting Android. Consider using Magisk.
Disclaimer: I am not to be held responsible if your device gets bricked in the process.
On most Qualcomm devices (Samsung, LG, HTC, etc.), rooting can be achieved by flashing SuperSu. Which is attainable via custom recovery [preferably TWRP]; you’re advised to unlock your device bootloader (which is found in developer options in Android 7.0 and later).
Download Kingroot here
Install the app and run it.
Firstly, it’ll check whether your device has root access. If it doesn’t, it’ll show you a message which says “Device not rooted yet, Try Root”.
Simply click on “TRY ROOT”.
Now is the time you relax back and let the app take care of your device. Once the root process has ended, it’ll show you a notification saying “Your device has been rooted successfully.” That’s all there is. Enjoy root access.
