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What is rooting?
Rooting an Android phone is the same way as jailbreaking an iPhone which allows you to control what happens with your phone’s sub-system. After rooting your phone, you will be able to access the entire operating system to customize anything on your Android device, get rid of any restrictions that your manufacturer or carrier may have applied. You will be able to uninstall system apps such as call dialers, messaging apps, and so many default apps you have ever thought of.
Of course, these are some of the reasons why you would root android phone. To become
Why you wouldn’t want to root your android phone.
- Some manufacturers or carriers will void your warranty if you root your device, so it is worth keeping in mind. If you need to send the device back for repair, simply flash the software backup you made and it’ll be good as new.
- If something goes wrong during the rooting process, you run the risk of bricking your phone also known as corrupting your device. Make sure that the custom ROM you flash with your phone is specifically for it.
- Rooting introduces some security risks depending on what services or apps you use on your device; it may create security vulnerability such that certain malware take advantage of your rooted phone and steal data.
- Some security-conscious apps and services do not work on rooted devices and also financial platforms like Google’s Android Pay and all Mobile Banking applications do not support them. TV shows and movies, like Sky sport, Blitz may not start on rooted devices too.
Guided and secure steps to follow while rooting your android phone
Preparing for rooting
During this step, you must decide on the method you are going to use when rooting your android phone. Of course, we have got lots of methods here and there; however, we shall be specific on some methods in this tutorial. One of the easiest methods to root a phone is by using an app. Note that these apps are not available on the Google play store however many they are.
Find out your device compatibility with one-click rooting apps and other software that vary with the phone system. For more information about this part, visit XDA Developers Forum for compatibility details.
Back up all your important information, apps, and accounts that you may need after rooting plus your phone’s current ROM. And ensure that your device is fully charged and its battery is in a healthy state. Turn on USB debugging as well as OEM to unlock accessibility to the phone’s system through the computer.
Installing the Android SDK Platform Tools
Download and install the Android SDK Platform Tools on your windows computer or any other operating system you are using say, Mac, Linux, etc. Note that the tutorial is based on windows machines. Extract the zipped files. Make sure you remember the directory to which you installed the software.
Unlock your bootloader
You must unlock your bootloader before continuing such that your phone can reboot into the recovery mode easily. The bootloader in simple terms is a program that loads the device’s operating system and it will determine which applications run during your phone or tablet’s startup process. However, some devices such as Huawei cannot be unlocked whereas Sony LG Motorola, and HTC provide a key to unlock your bootloader which is done after registering for a developer’s account. Fortunately, you can use a third-party service like DC-Unlocker for Huawei and Honor
Once you have unlocked the bootloader, now it’s time to boot your phone into fastboot mode. This is done by restarting your phone and holding down the power and volume down button for at least 10 seconds. Now it’s time to look for the folder where you unzipped your Android SDK files. Open your computer CMD by holding Shift + Right mouse click.
Nexus phones use this command typed fastboot oem unlock
Pixel phones use fastboot flashing unlock
Motorola’ use oem unlock UNIQUE_KEY then replace UNIQUE KEY with the code you received from the developer’s official website, then type unlocktoken Unlock_code.bin replacing Unlock_code.bin with the file you received. Confirm the unlock and you’re one step closer to rooting your Android device. Now you can boot your device into recovery file over the unzipped file. You will wait for sometime while the phone loads the files and it will restart afterwards.
Other apps that root on one click
- Kingo Android Root
- Framaroot
- BaiduRoot
Undoing root android phone
SuperSU allows you to unroot phones with one click. Open the SuperSU app, go to Settings, and scroll all the way to the bottom until you see the Full unroot button. Click on it, hit continue and the unrooting process shall begin.