What is Rooting in Android and Benefits

Hey folks, today we are going to write about what is rooting in Android as many people have heard about this term but they are not very sure about the exact meaning of it and we realized the same when we got few comment from beginners about rooting. As of now we have had few articles on rooting and updating firmware and after seeing viewer’s reaction we have decided to have an Android dictionary above in the navigation pane where we will update meaning of all the Android related terms which we are going to write as tutorial on this Android blog. So first of all we will cover all the articles on various terms as rooting, bootloader, Kernel, cyanogenmod, Custom ROM or in short all the terms related to Android and then we will move to the next level when we will be publishing articles only on Android news, updates, rooting, firmware updated and everything related to Android. So let us directly head over to the article on what is rooting in Android and then benefits of rooting your Android device.

What is rooting in Android

Many people think why should I root my phone? What is so special about rooting my Android phone or tablet PC? In a general term rooting your Android device gives you super user access and that means now you can do things with your phone which you were not able to do earlier. Let us also tell you that rooting your phone or tablet PC voids the warranty and in worst case scenario it might also brick your phone. Now you must be thinking what does bricking the phone means.

Meaning of Bricked Phone in Android

Let us explain this you in very simple terms, what do you understand by brick well you all know this and we need not explain this to you. When you root your phone it is quiet possible that it will make your phone like a brick which can be used as a paper weight and in future you will not be able use your phones because rooting has royally scrwed your Android phone’s software, however you need not be worried about this as this can happen only in one in a million times and even if you have bricked your phone, you may again unbrick it or make it like it was earlier.
Note : Rooting is nowhere related to updating ROM of firmware of your Android phone. It just gives you super user access and you can then update the ROM or firmware of your Android device.
Now coming back to the article on rooting Android, let us see what Wikipedia says about rooting Android below,

Rooting is a process allowing users of mobile phones, tablet PCs, and other devices running the Android operating system to attain privileged control (known as “root access”) within Android’s subsystem. Rooting is often performed with the goal of overcoming limitations that carriers and hardware manufacturers put on some devices, resulting in the ability to alter or replace system applications and settings, run specialized apps that require administrator-level permissions, or perform other operations that are otherwise inaccessible to a normal Android user.

Are you still confused? let us explain this is simple terms for you. Let us suppose you buy a new Samsung Galaxy S2, now you can not install or flash any new ROM in it and you must have seen, it is consuming a lot of battery but after rooting you get the super user access and you can run apps, latest themes, update ROM like ice cream sandwich, save battery and many more. Root term has come from Linux which means superuser access on the device and superuser can modify the codes lying in the Android phone and tablet PC.  Now I am sure you must have understood the meaning of Rooting now. We will also be explaining the benefits and drawbacks of rooting and it will clarify all your doubts.

Benefits of Rooting

Rooting can benefit you in many ways and let us them below,
You may install many ROM which are available to have better Android experience and update the latest ROM as well. ROM is software of your Android device which is at Read only memory of your phone. There are many ROM available everywhere for your phone and trust me they are far better than your current boring version of Android. Even if you are not clear about this then let us take it this way when you bought a new Samsung Galaxy S i9003 then it came with Android 2.2.1 Froyo but once you root your Galaxy S then you can update your Android version to any latest version of Android like 4.0.1 Ice cream sandwich.
Increase Battery Life
Rooting lets you have complete control of your Android phone and you can do a lot of things with it. You may even update Kernel after this which communicates between your hardware and software and with some tweaks you can improve the battery life.
Delete Stock Apps
Are you sick of apps which came with your Android phone and just want to delete but before rooting you would not be able to do it and one you rooted your Android device then you may delete it just by a tap of your finger.
Back up your phone data
After rooting you may back up your phone very easily and you may even back up the whole data on your SD card or on your desktop. CyanogenMod can let you save all the app and phone data on your SD card. You may do it easily by apps like ROM manager or Clockwork mod which can take back up your phone and flash new ROM if your phone is rooted.
Wi-fi Tethering
Rooting also allows you to have wi-fi tethering without the carrier knowing the data usage and you can use wifi via your phone however carrier may start charging once they get to know about some update on your phone.
Enjoy apps 
After rooting you may install many apps which can be used only after rooting or apps which can give a lot of access to your phone which will leave you amazed. We will shortly have various articles on these kind of apps on FreeApps blog.
Do let us know what do you feel about this article and do share your love with us.