Guide for Newly Rooted Android Users A free guide provided by the team at Rescue Root, the easiest way to root your Android device. First Few Steps From Root .................................................................................................. 3 Simple, Easy, Neat Apps ...................................................................................................... 4 Where to Find Apps ............................................................................................................ 4 F-Droid Free Open Source App Repository ............................................................................ 4 Ch1: The Bare Essentials .................................................................................................... 6 Manage Root User Apps Responsibly ................................................................................... 7 Superuser App ............................................................................................................ 8 Superuser Elite ............................................................................................................ 8 Super SU .................................................................................................................... 9 Super SU Pro ............................................................................................................ 10 Busybox ................................................................................................................... 10 Ch2: Before You Get Started .............................................................................................. 12 Things To Set Up Before You Begin ................................................................................. 13 Titanium Backup Pro ................................................................................................ 14 My Backup Pro ........................................................................................................ 15 Google Account ....................................................................................................... 15 Root Management ......................................................................................................... 17 Terminal Emulator.................................................................................................... 18 File Managers and Explorers ................................................................................ .18-19 Ch3: A Few More Things We Can Do With Root Access ......................................................... 20 A Rooted World of Apps................................................................................................. 21 Get Rid of Ads.................................................................................................... 22-23 Unmonitored Data Tethering ..................................................................................... 24 Speed up and Optimize ........................................................................................ 25-28 1 Improve your GPS speed ...................................................................................... 25 Speed up your internet connection ......................................................................... 26 Manage your CPU and Battery consumption ....................................................... 26-28 Change default look and feel ................................................................................. 29-31 Ch4: Custom Recoveries, Kernels and ROMs ........................................................................ 33 A Bold New World Of Customization ................................................................................ 34 Custom Recoveries ............................................................................................. 35-39 Custom Kernels ....................................................................................................... 39 Custom ROMs .................................................................................................... 39-42 Ch5: RooRootedted Apps That Deal With Custom Recoveries, Kernels and ROMs ............................... 43 Root Is Also Found On The Other End............................................................................. 44 ROM Manager ......................................................................................................... 45 Kernel Manager ....................................................................................................... 45 Mobile Odin ....................................................................................................... 46-47 Parting words ............................................................................................................... 48 2 The FFFirstFirst Few StStepseps FFFromFrom Root So, you've just rooted your Android phone. Now what? Explore the newly unlocked possibilities, of course! This is your A to Z guide, the newest eBook on the scene for you, outlining the latest trends, sifting through the apps, and going under the hood, overclocking to boost performance – the current leading resource on Android rooted. You are now rooted! Simply put, you have entered the status of being a true Android device user. Think of it as one bold step in becoming a black belt. Getting root access on your device is but a gateway to many opportunities. A whole new level of Android awaits you after you take that first step. Many people don’t know what to do when they finally get root access. There are those who simply rooted and don’t know what it really is for. There are also cautious people, who would want to know what they get for all the trouble of getting root access on their device. Whether you are rooted or not, this book will be you’re A-Z guide to the world of root access. Everything you need to know about messing with everything under the hood of your device. What are you waiting for? Let’s get started! 3 Simple, EasEasy,y, Neat Apps The most popular apps with the best support make you feel like you're getting a new phone. Mind the gap, please; there have been some traffic jams since the last rush of publications for a new Android release. Jelly Bean, Ice Cream Sandwich, Honeycomb, and Gingerbread entice with the possibilities of your own wild variations; this is your A-Z guide for trendy, dependable recipes from installing custom ROMs in a flash to the best part of owning a rooted phone: the apps! Thankfully, you have this eBook, helping you every step of the way with practical magic and context. Read on for the newest, most popular apps supported on your rooted Android phone. Where TToo Find Apps Blogs can help you match apps with your phone and Android version, as well as provide leads for the trending new mods as manufacturers roll out open source releases. You'll find leaked software and open-source app repositories among the chatter on developers' forums such as xda-developers.net. Of course, the Play Store also matches up compatible apps with your device. The Play Store has a filtering system that prevents your phone from seeing downloads for apps that your device or country does not support. Take note that some apps may not be available directly from the Play Store, and might only be available through the developer blogs and forums, as well as on 3rd party Android markets. FFF-F---DroidDroid Free Open Source App Repository F-Droid is one of the trendiest open source “competitors” to Google Play! If you are the type that likes to use free and open source programs, then you should take a look at their repository. A lot of useful productivity and rooted tools exist here, with ongoing development from open source advocates. 4 Some of F-Droid's highlights: • aNetMon: Network event logger • androidVNC: remote desktop viewer • Angulo: angle-measuring tool • aagtl: geocaching utility • Ardroid: remote control for Linux's Ardour Digital Audio Workstation – no longer will you be stranded at your computer while jamming or when recording synthesized music live. 5 6 Manage Root User Apps Responsibly These apps grant and manage the Superuser (also called the root user) permissions you've accessed by rooting your Android phone. A Superuser app provides a list to keep track of which root-only apps you've installed and have given root permission to. There are two ways to manage permissions. The most common way of granting permission is giving permanent permission, where your root apps are always allowed or denied access as soon as you enter the root app. You can also set it to always ask first, which is seldom used, but is great for those people who love full control of their device. This eBook begins with the Superuser apps often embedded as an essential part of custom ROMs (custom ROMs are covered later) and may sometimes come along with certain root methods. Certain root methods just asks you to install the Superuser app of your choice after enabling root. After you install a Superuser app, you'll be ready to start exploring the world of rooted apps. 7 Superuser App Superuser is recommended by blogs like Lifehacker and is often bundled into custom ROMs. With Superuser, you choose which apps have access to root (try typing “su root” into your terminal and you'll find the ubiquitous pound emblem). Superuser gives you all the security that Linux is famous for and helps you act with the minimum permissions you need at one time, which is the Linux design philosophy for security. The best part is, all this security and responsibility