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ZDNET Highlights
- Rooting or jailbreaking a phone isn’t as hard as it used to be.
- There is considerable risk involved in this process.
- A few reasons might motivate you to try.
Many years ago, when I first heard about rooting an Android phone, the practice fascinated me. Rooting (Android) or jailbreaking (iOS) was a challenging task that some people did just because they could, and some did it because they had a very specific need.
One reason why rooting/jailbreaking is such a controversial topic is the risks involved. I’ve rooted a few Android phones over the years, and once I bricked a device (that is, it became unusable). Luckily, he had a spare test handset; My main phone was still available.
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Although the process of rooting an Android phone is not easy, it is much simpler than it used to be. Depending on your specific phone model, the process may vary, but the best method involves using the Magisk app. Here’s a quick look at the steps involved:
- Enable developer options on your phone.
- Install ADB and Fastboot tools on your computer
- Get your device’s firmware from your manufacturer’s website, a reputable community forum, or locate a specific ROM you want to use (such as lineageOsROM is essentially an alternative OS for your device.
- Connect your phone to your PC via USB cable.
- Open a command prompt or terminal in the folder where you installed the ADB/Fastboot tools.
- Reboot your device into fastboot mode using the command: adb reboot bootloader.
- Unlock the bootloader using the appropriate command.
- Install Magisk app on your phone.
- Transfer the Boot.img file extracted from your stock firmware to your phone’s storage.
- Open the Magisk app, choose Install, choose File and Patch, and select the Boot.img file.
- Magisk will create a new patched image file.
- Transfer the patched Boot.img file back to your computer (in the platform-tools folder).
- Make sure your phone is still in fastboot mode.
- Flash the patched image to your phone using the command: fastboot flash bootmagisk_patched_boot.img (file name may vary).
- Reboot your device using the command: fastboot reboot.
- Once the phone reboots, open the Magisk app to confirm the installation.
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In short, rooting a phone is much more complicated than installing an app from an app store and tapping a few buttons.
Is it safe to root and/or jailbreak?
This is a difficult question to answer because there is always some risk involved. This risk may be as painless as breaking your phone’s warranty, which is a good thing if you never have to rely on the warranty. But problems can arise if something goes wrong with your phone and you need to get it fixed.
Then there is a risk of your device getting damaged. If this happens then the phone dies.
Of course, whether or not you’re willing to take those risks is a personal decision. As I said, I bricked a phone while attempting to root; Once that happened, the phone became useless.
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Are you willing to take this risk?
As far as being safe goes, rooting your phone won’t automatically send your information to a bad actor. However, it is better to be safe than sorry. Rooting your phone allows you to install a different operating system. However, you may end up installing a malicious OS, which could result in your information being sent to a bad actor. You need to make sure that the OS you are installing is safe.
Reasons to root your Android phone
In short, you have to weigh the potential negative consequences against the positive consequences. What are those positive things? Here is a short list of reasons to root your phone:
- To remove bloatware that would otherwise be impossible to uninstall.
- Installing and using a different OS that is better suited to your needs.
- Customizing your phone in ways that the native OS doesn’t allow.
- To install apps that require special permissions that the default OS will not allow.
- To give you access to system functions that are not in the native OS.
- To get full control over your device.
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Reasons not to root your Android phone
As I already mentioned, you can have your phone turned off or your warranty voided. However, there are 10 more reasons not to root your phone:
- You may damage your device.
- You will cancel your order.
- Google Pay will no longer work.
- No more over-the-air updates.
- Some apps block rooted users.
- No more OEM support.
- Some vendors may prevent you from using a rooted phone.
- Increase in malware risk.
- Disabled security features.
- Vulnerability exploitation.
- Introducing the bug.
- Potential performance issues.
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If you compare and consider both the lists above, you will probably not be interested in rooting your Android phone.
One reason that will make me root my phone
If I had to say one thing that would motivate me to root my phone, it would be removing bloatware. Since I use a Pixel phone, bloatware isn’t an issue. However, if I’m connected to a different device that includes a lot of bloatware, I’ll probably want to root the device so I can uninstall those unnecessary (and often crappy) apps. This is often true when you purchase your handset from a carrier that loads its own apps onto the device. Most of those apps are useless and – at best – simply take up space or – at worst – can become a security liability.
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Bloatware becomes a bigger, more common problem on low-end and mid-range Android devices. I’ve also come across phones that include alternative app stores – and these should be avoided at all costs. If I were to buy a phone like this, I would immediately root it and remove all those apps. Without root, many of those bloatware apps can’t be removed.
Ultimately, the choice is yours. I buy phones I don’t want to root because A) the process is involved, and B) it’s risky. I wouldn’t want to end up with a $1,000 paperweight, and I’m sure you wouldn’t either.
