Rooting an Android phone simply means to gain administrative privileges
(or root access if you are from a Linux background) on the system. When
you buy a new Android phone, you are just a guest user on the phone.
You can use the phone, just as a guest would use Windows, but you will
not be able to make any changes to the system files.
However, after you have a root access over your phone, you could browse your Android root folder
and make any changes to the system files on your phone. And that’d mean
the ability to make all kinds of changes and install more powerful apps
that you can’t use on a non-rooted phone.
Flashify
Flashify is a simple root application that helps do a bunch of otherwise
tedious tasks. Using it, you can flash a variety of recoveries,
download ROMs, flash ZIP files, create full Nandroid backups (depending
on your recovery), and more. It also adds itself to menus so you can
select it as an option when trying to open ZIP files and the like when
using a file explorer. It’s simple but effective and easy to use.
Full!Screen
Next on our list is Full!Screen. This app takes away the soft key at the
bottom of your device as well as the notification bar. The reason for
this is simple. Without soft keys, the Galaxy Nexus screen was
4.65-inches. With the soft keys and the status bar, it was closer to
4.3. This app gives you that extra space back. When you activate it,
everything disappears and you get a back button on the bottom left and a
home button on the bottom right. Both of these buttons can be
customized a number of ways. You can add a pie menu, swipe gestures, and
long press functions to turn these two little keys into everything you
need to get rid of those top and bottom bars.
GMD Auto Hide Soft Keys
[Price: Free with in app purchases]
GMD Auto Hide Soft Keys is a direct competitor to Full!Screen and
another option for hiding your soft keys if you want them there. This
one has plenty of options and generally works by hiding the soft keys
for you. You can then retrieve them by hitting a pre-determined hotspot.
It’s a great way to enjoy full screen mode more often and it’s
definitely great for apps that don’t support the full screen option.
It’s free to try which is nice.
GooManager
Next up is the official app for
goo.im called GooManager. This app is a one way ticket to download and install anything you can find on
goo.im.
It has an easy to use interface and can help you find a lot of files
that you may otherwise have to Google Search to find. Some examples
include ROM and Gapps downloads for your device. You can also use it to
install TWRP Recovery if you need a custom recovery, and use the
interface to reboot to recovery or flash ROMs without using the
recovery.
Greenify
Greenify quickly climbed the list as one of those essential root apps
a long time ago. The app checks out your running apps and shows you
which ones are running, which ones run, how frequently, and how many
times each one wakes up your device. Using this information, you can
hibernate apps to prevent them from running in the background and drain
your battery. This is the only app that prevents Facebook from waking up
your phone 700+ times per day and it’s totally free.
Quick Boot (Reboot)
Quick Boot is an app that is both absurdly simple but absurdly useful.
In most versions of Android, you only get the option to power down your
device or reboot (sometimes you can hot reboot). With Quick Reboot, you
can reboot into bootloader, recovery, or download mode. It’s not as
convenient as having it built right into the power menu, but it’s a lot
easier than shutting down your device, holding the required buttons, and
rebooting again. It’s a must have and the free version works just fine.
ROM Toolbox Pro
This is one of the very few all-in-one solutions for root users. It
has a bunch of features that all root users could find useful and it’s
even designed with Android in mind. That means all you #holoyolo fans
will appreciate it. There are simply too many things this app can do and
we only have a limited time here so I’ll tell you the highlights. With
this you can download ROMs, install recoveries, manage your
applications, and it even comes with a built in root enabled file
browser. Count in the stuff for more advanced users like kernel tweaks,
and you have a valuable app for any root user.
Root Explorer
Root Explorer uses root access to let you browse files on your entire
device. For root users, this is an essential task. There are a plethora
of activities that require you rummaging through the system parts of
your device and Root Explorer helps you do it without being encumbered.
It has a clean interface, plenty of features, and is one of those
essential tools for all root users.
SuperSU
[Price: Free with in app purchases]
SuperSU by Chainfire is the de facto Superuser application available.
Most root methods have you installing this app anyway so most new root
users already have it. It’s a solid app and works great to be that front
door to root access on your device. It’s simple to use and frequently
updated to support new devices and changes in how root works. Also, it
helps that Chainfire is one of the most well-known developers out there
with a sterling reputation and a deep knowledge of Android and root
access.
Tasker
Eighth on our list is a very useful root app called Tasker. This
powerful application can make your phone do pretty much anything
whenever you need it to. It’s a vague explanation but pertinent because
it can really make your phone do almost anything. So here’s how it
works. You create a task or a scene, then you define what those tasks
and scenes do. It’s highly recommended to read the online FAQs before
attempting because there is a steep learning curve involved. A fun use
for this app is using the Tasker add-on that some NFC apps have to make
your NFC tags do things you created in Tasker.
Titanium Backup
Titanium Backup is a long time mainstay at the top of many root lists
and this one is no different. With this application you can uninstall
bloatware (a must have for many people), freeze apps (leaves them
installed but prevents them from ever running), and backup your
applications and application data. ROM flashers have sworn by this app
for years and it may very well be the most popular and oft recommended
root app of all time. If you have root, go get it immediately. Root life
just isn’t the same without it.
Xposed Framework
[Price: Free]
Xposed Framework has replaced installing ROMs for many as the default
root experience. Modules are created inside of the framework by many
developers that do various things like theming, UI and performance
tweaks, visual modification, button remapping, and much, much more.
Modules can be a tad difficult to find sometimes depending on your
device but there are plenty of universal ones that you can use and
enjoy. The button below will take you to the XDA thread where you can
download it.
