What is recovery? and root Help am a noob.

[Slashyou]

i had an iphone

And i used to "jailbreak" it.

But i got a galaxy nexus on ebay for 140$ 2 days ago. and i was like am gonna root it.

And i saw all these wried things with boot and recovery and some stuff i never heard about. what is root? what is recovery? what is rom?

I though it was like evasion for iphone where you just click? and its jailbroken??

So i found cyanogenmod installer. ran it and got android 4.4.4 kitkat. is my device jailbroken now? or root or rom or recovery? and some cyanogenmod Things. and what things should i do now its my first android so i dont know what i should do now? help thx

 

[SpookDroid]

Hi Slashyou, and welcome to the world of Android!

First of all, let's get the simple stuff out of the way.
Recovery Mode: It's a mode all phones can enter before loading up the OS (at boot) and meant as an Emergency system where you can reset your device and load up either a certified system image or a factory one, which is preloaded in your phone. Unless you have root, in which case you can do so much more.

Root: This is essentially like jailbreaking on the iOS world. You gain access to the lowest system level, which can be a bliss since you can customize your phone even further, but can also be a risk. You now can write, and delete, stuff at will. You CAN screw things up and leave your phone in an unusable state if you delete the wrong file.

ROM: It's a custom system image for your phone. Android, as you may know, is Open Source and everyone can tinker with the code, adding stuff, removing stuff, making new UIs, etc. Think of how Android is still the same underneath, but a Samsung phone looks different and has different features than an HTC one; each phone has its own ROM. Developers can choose the device they're using and develop modified version of that system, thus, creating new ROMs for you to use.

Good so far? Great!

Now, unlike iOS, most of the stuff you get by jailbreaking its already there in Android without modifications. That's the beauty of it: Customization. But, if you like to further things, you can root your phone to install apps or modifications that give you some advanced features (for example, on a Note 3, the stock system only allows you to have a few select apps in MultiWindow mode. With root and a special modification, you can use any app in your phone in this way). So before doing anything like that to your phone, think about whether you NEED to or not. Again, most of the cool stuff you can do with Android, you can do without root.

Cyanogenmod is just a custom ROM, but they've tried to make things as easy as possible for you to install, so chances are, if you already have it installed, you're already rooted. The Nexus family are some of the most tinker-friendly phones out there, and basically you just need to root to gain access to everything else.

 

[anon8380037]

Award #2 for the best answers this week goes to @SpookDroid.



Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk Pro

 

[SpookDroid]

Award #2 for the best answers this week goes to @SpookDroid.



Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk Pro

Thank you Should I give a speech? Hehehe. Who got #1? It was Meryl, wasn't she?!

 

[anon8380037]

Thank you Should I give a speech? Hehehe. Who got #1? It was Meryl, wasn't she?!

@lizardchest beat you by 5 minutes.
http://forums.androidcentral.com/showthread.php?t=415529

Have to find Meryl now.

You can make a speech but then you're buying the drinks.

(there's a lot of us btw!)

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Slashyou]

So does the "Launchers" and file managers work without root?


And Does the good "CyanogenMod installer" work with any rom?

 

[Slashyou]

You guys seem very helpful and friendly here

 

[SpookDroid]

Launchers and File Managers do work without root. SOME launchers do require root for some features, but most of them don't. File Managers will also require root if you want full access to SD card, thanks to the new security features and SD Card limitations imposed on Android KitKat. But if you just want to browse and write 'safe' stuff, you can do without root.

I don't think the CyanogenMod installer works with other ROMs (especially now that Cyanogen has gone commercial), but I could be wrong.

 

[Slashyou]

Oh ok and i had to turn on root in settings. under Developer options

"Root access" Apps and ADB

And root checker says that i have root now but is it full root?

And what is ROM manager?

Any root apps you recommend?

 

[Slashyou]

Still learning the power of android

 

[Slashyou]

And can you download widgets?

 

[SpookDroid]

Widgets are usually a part of the app you download, but there are also 'standalone' widgets that add functionality or connect to other apps (like calendars, for instance). The safest place to find these is the Play Store, but you can also find good deals on the Amazon Android store (personally I use that one because they have a different paid app for free every day. Just this weekend they have 30 apps gone free, and some of them are actually useful).

The ROM Manager is just that, a way to manage the ROMs you have installed or downloaded. If Root checker says you're rooted, then you're fully rooted and good to go. Now be careful on what you modify, especially if it means rewriting system files or deleting stuff from hidden folders.

I wish I could give you pointers to cool root apps, but since I'm happy with the way things are with my phone and don't want to void my Warranty, I'm not rooted

 

[Slashyou]

And i installed google now launcher it is pretty nice

 

[Slashyou]

BTW you are really helpful

 

[Slashyou]

i,ll guess your phone is a note 3


And is there an DFU mode in android so if it bricks you can always restore like iphone?

 

[Golfdriver97]

Still learning the power of android

To aid Spook a little, here is some reading for you:

New to Android?: http://forums.androidcentral.com/general-help-how/399060-guide-getting-started-android-2014-a.html

http://forums.androidcentral.com/am...recoveries-versus-stock-there-difference.html
http://forums.androidcentral.com/am...-tos/365969-guide-rom-kernel-definitions.html
http://forums.androidcentral.com/am...-how-flash-custom-recovery-clockwork-mod.html
http://forums.androidcentral.com/am...00292-guide-how-use-your-custom-recovery.html

Other things that may be of interest..
Google Now: http://forums.androidcentral.com/ambassador-guides-tips-how-tos/300182-guide-google-now.html
Nova Launcher (my personal favorite): http://forums.androidcentral.com/ambassador-guides-tips-how-tos/299378-guide-nova-launcher.html

 

[Slashyou]

Thx as well

 

[VDub2174]

Loving everything about this thread

 

[Slashyou]

What do you love the most ?

 

[VDub2174]

What do you love the most ?

The helpfulness