If you want to get the most out of your Android smartphone, there’s no getting around rooting it. However, the process also has disadvantages
These are the advantages of rooting Android
Rooting gives you the highest possible access rights to your Android device, which are otherwise blocked. You can apply these rights yourself or transfer them to apps that require them. This opens up a number of possibilities, including
- Personalize Android: Rooting allows you to customize the design of your smartphone to the extreme.
- Custom Roms: If you don’t like the installed Android, you can install your own custom ROM on your smartphone. Ideally, you can breathe new life into an old device.
- Remove pre-installed apps: In some cases, the manufacturer prevents the deletion of installed apps. You can get rid of these useless apps with root rights
- Better backups: Thanks to root, you can create complete system backups. App data and settings can also be easily backed up and restored.
- Effective ad blockers: Ad blockers such as AdAway remove unwanted ads from most apps and websites. Although there are also ad blockers without a root requirement, these must be set up as a local VPN and do not work with real VPN services, for example.
- Security-related advantages: You can see in real time which apps are using which authorization, when and why. If necessary, you can also revoke certain authorizations from an app more easily
- Better performance: Thanks to root, you can improve the performance of your smartphone both by removing bloatware and by accessing hardware settings. For example, you can adjust the CPU speed
These are the disadvantages of rooting
However, the advantages of a rooted smartphone do not come without side effects. Rooting itself is not always easy and if something goes wrong, in the worst case scenario the smartphone is unusable. And there are other disadvantages.
- Loss of warranty: Almost all manufacturers point out in their terms and conditions that the warranty on the smartphone expires after a root process
- Security risks: Integrated security systems are often deactivated during the root process and cannot be reactivated afterwards. You should also not give apps full access to your system without careful consideration
- Some apps no longer work: Rooting changes the system’s SafetyNet license, which means that some apps no longer work properly. This mainly affects banking apps or Google Pay. If you root with Magisk, you can hide the root status (MagiskHide).
- System updates made more difficult: After rooting, automatic system updates are usually no longer possible. If you want to update your rooted smartphone, you have to flash updates manually.
- This restriction often no longer applies to custom ROMs, as these have either been specially adapted or do not receive OTA updates anyway.
This is what you need to root Android
To root your smartphone, you usually need to connect it to your computer via a cable. Depending on the manufacturer, you may need your own software or root the device via the command prompt.
- As a rule, you simply flash a suitable root kit via a custom recovery
- A practical alternative is Magisk. Magisk offers the above-mentioned advantage that it attempts to hide root access from certain apps.
- If you do not trust yourself to use the methods mentioned above, you can in some cases also use “one-click root” apps such as KingRoot or TowelRoot, which you only need to install to root your smartphone. However, this only works on a few devices and often does not provide the same range of functions as other root methods.
- The SuperSU package was relatively well-known and versatile for a long time. However, this is no longer being developed further and is therefore no longer suitable for newer devices.
- In general, the rooting process on Android devices is often different. You should therefore always look for up-to-date instructions and the appropriate files specifically for your device. A good place to start is the online forums of XDA Developers.
