All About Rooting Android Mobile Phones and Tablets

If you are using an Android mobile phone, you might be aware of the term "Rooting". Many times when we search for apps, mobile firmware, etc on Internet, we come across this "Rooting" term. Many people regularly ask me various questions regarding rooting Android mobile phones. The most frequently asked questions include what is rooting, how to root Android mobile phones, what are the benefits of rooting, will it damage my phone, etc.

So today in this tutorial, I'm going to answer all these frequently asked questions regarding rooting Android devices. I'll try to make this topic an ultimate guide for rooting Android mobiles.
For readers convenience I have divided this guide in following categories:

• What is Android mobile phone rooting?
• What are the benefits/advantages of rooting?
• What are the disadvantages of rooting? 
• What to do after rooting Android mobiles or tablets?
• How to Unroot Android devices?

So without wasting time lets start the ultimate guide for rooting Google Android mobile phones and tablets:

1. What does Rooting an Android Mobile Phone Mean?

Rooting an Android device means gaining root (Superuser) permissions on your Android device. It can be considered similar to Using built-in Administrator account in Windows or root user (superuser) in Linux operating systems.
In Linux/Unix, "Root" is the user who has superuser permissions i.e. elevated user privileges in the operating system. Since Android is based on Linux kernel, rooting an Android device means the same thing. Once you root an Android mobile phone or tablet, you get root or superuser access on the files and programs in Android OS software.
In other words, after rooting an Android device you get full control on your device. All software limitations are removed and you get full access on Android OS.
Many people compare Android devices rooting with jailbreaking Apple iPhones as you are unlocking your Android device OS to obtain root access.

2. What are the Benefits/Advantages of Rooting?

There are many advantages of rooting Android devices and some of them are as following:

• You can access and modify system files and apps in the OS
• You can install many special apps from Google Play Store which require rooting
• You can flash custom ROM (i.e. install 3rd party firmware to enjoy latest Android version)
• You can remove preinstalled crapware i.e. useless OEM apps
• You can install carrier-blocked as well as incompatible apps
• You can unlock many hidden Android features which were blocked by mobile company
• You can increase device performance, improve battery life, etc using special apps

In other words, you become the boss of your Android device.

3. What are the Disadvantages of Rooting?

Everything has its advantages and disadvantages. If you are planning to root your Android mobile phone or tablet, you should remember following things:

• Rooting your Android device will void warranty
• You might not be able to receive OTA (over-the-air) updates from your carrier after rooting
• Rooting can brick your Android device i.e. it'll not turn on

Normally rooting doesn't brick your Android device but installing incompatible custom ROMs can definitely damage your phone.

 

4. Things to Do After Rooting Android Devices

Once you root your Android device, you must check out following useful apps for rooted mobile phones on Google Play Store:

• Titanium Backup
• Greenify
• Set CPU
• ROM Manager
• RAM Booster
• ROM Toolbox
• NoBloat

You can search on Play Store for many other useful apps specifically developed for rooted devices.
You can also try custom ROMs to change your Android mobile phone's look-n-feel.