What Is Rooting? What Are Custom ROMs? Learn Android Lingo

Want to understand the absolute basics of rooting and custom ROMs? Lets go ahead and see what is Rooting the Android and the Custom ROMs.

Every profession or hobby creates its own own particular terminology for explaining complex concepts in an understandable manner. It is same for Android world too.

This article is for you if you’ve googled a problem with your Android smartphone or tablet and came across some terms. Such as “rooting,” “flashing a custom ROM,” “unlocking the SIM,” or anything similar that you didn’t understand.

This article is a guide for the beginner who wants to learn about all the terminology behind our Android nerdiness. Because Android experts likely already know what these phrases mean.

What Is Rooting?

Getting access to the system files on your Android device is what it means to Rooting the Android. No Android device comes pre-rooted by default. Therefore, it is probably not rooted if you recently purchased an Android device and did nothing to it.

Manufacturers do this because allowing everyone root access would cause several problems. You can access files on your device. If it deleted or altered incorrectly, it could damage your device.

But many people still decide to root their devices because it enables them to make a lot of good adjustments if they know what they’re doing. It should be noted that rooting an Android device would violate the warranty. Now you can understand Rooting the Android.

Every single model has a separate process for rooting your device. This can be a challenging task for some gadgets that requires going over the manufacturer’s security measures. Others may only need to plug their phone into their PC and press a button. For instructions for your particular device, you may always visit the XDA forums.

You won’t instantly notice any significant changes after you root the device. The fun is in what you can do with a rooted device. Then, you may utilize root-required apps, flash custom ROMs, modify specific features of your phone, and more. We will go into detail later.

For example, when unrooted, you can remove some bloatware, but rooting your device and using Titanium Backup or a root uninstaller required to completely remove it. Rooting the Android has more advantages.

What Is Unlocking?

Unlocking is a confusing term because there are different things you could unlock.

Unlocking the Network/SIM

A device that has been network/SIM locked usually purchase through a carrier or from a special carrier at a discounted price. Then he locks the phone so that you can only use it with them.

However, if you buy the phone and decide to change the carriers, the carrier should agree by law to provide you the unlock code (at least in the US and the EU). To obtain the code, simply get in touch with your current carrier.

We have a SIM unlocking guide because sometimes unlocking your phone is more difficult than that. Other times, you purchase an unlocked and no loan phone. You can use it with any carrier. 

Unlocking the Bootloader

Every time you turn on your Android phone, a piece of software called the bootloader launches. Manufacturer usually secure it. You are unable to root your smartphone if the bootloader is locked. The instructions for rooting your device also include information on how to unlock your bootloader.

What Are Custom ROMs?

ROM is read-Only Memory. However the term is somewhat misleading today because it has nothing to do with it. A ROM is the basic software that runs on your device, at least in the Android world.

Therefore, a Xiaomi smartphone looks and operates differently than a Samsung smartphone when you pick it up. Because  Xiaomi and Samsung may each create their own ROMs by altering the original Android code. Even though they both run Android, Xiaomi’s ROM and Samsung’s ROM are different from one another.

So a custom ROM is one that was created by a third party as opposed to the device’s maker. Sometimes it’s just one programmer with some free time and a desire for creating ROMs. Other times it’s a larger organization like LineageOS that has a team and specifically creates a particular kind of ROM.

You can flash a custom ROM once you’ve gained root access. In this context, flash basically refers to loading or installing. When you flash a custom ROM, the old ROM on your smartphone will entirely erase and replace.

The following are some names you might come across when looking for modified ROMs for your device:

Names for modified ROMs

• Pixel Experience: As the name suggests, the Pixel Experience has a ROM that is identical to that of Google’s Pixel smartphones. For good reasons, this ROM is now among the most popular custom ROMs available.
• LineageOS: One of the most well-known custom ROMs you’ll find is LineageOS, previous name is CyanogenMod. It has a fantastic feature set. In the past it served as the stock ROM for various manufacturers.
• AOSP: The version of Android that Google distributes to the public is known as Android Open Source Project. It also refers as stock or stock Android. You may hear individuals refer to their ROMs as being “based on stock Android” or “AOSP-based,”. It simply indicates that they took the AOSP code and modified it to their preferences.
• AOSIP: The Android Open Source Illusion Project combines features from a number of very well custom ROMs with AOSP ROMs.

However, don’t be reluctant to try ROMs with different names from less known people. There are other reliable ones apart from these. They’re simply the most well-known in general.

Other Useful Android Terms

Custom Recovery

You might find yourself spending a lot of time in the recovery if you want to play with your Android handset. It’s where you can perform the necessary heavy lifting, create backups, and flash ROMs.

You require a custom recovery because the stock recovery on your device is unable to do any of those tasks. For installing custom ROMs, TWRP is the preferred custom recovery. Team Win Recovery Project is referred to as TWRP.

Nandroid backup

Naturally, there are non-rooting methods to backup your Android smartphone, but a Nandroid backup is a full backup. It basically creates and saves a complete copy of everything on your device. This manner, you can always flash your Nandroid backup to get back to where you were if something goes wrong (because you have root access and that is feasible).

The name is simply a combination of Android and NAND (a class of flash memory).

Kernel

The kernel functions as the operating system’s engine. Although you can’t see it, it does all the hard work in the background.
You can flash a modified kernel if you like. These kernels are sometimes designed to maximize performance or battery life. Other times, they are just required to make a feature function properly. In either case, unless you really want to change it, no matter you keep with your standard kernel.

Brick

You can break your phone by bricking on it. You’ve bricked your phone if it isn’t working anymore. Generally speaking, you won’t be happy to hear this phrase.

• Usually, if a brick is soft, it can fix. It’s possible that you’re in a bootloop where your phone just keeps rebooting, or that when it does start up, it just fully illuminates half the screen. In most cases, you may escape that pretty quickly.
• A hard brick is when the device is toast. You messed with something at a system level that can’t be fixed, and your device is out of commission. Sorry. This is a rare thing to happen, but it can happen. You’ll see warnings everywhere that no one but yourself is responsible for bricking your device.

If you end up bricking your Android phone, try these steps to try and unbrick it.

How Do I Get Started?

Anyone planning to modify their Android handset should visit the XDA forums and search for their particular model. Everything you require will customize for your particular device, and possibly even the version of that device used by your carrier.

There are also disadvantages. Some apps won’t function if they detect that your device rooted, and if you’re not careful, you might potentially break your phone. But it might completely beneficial. When a device rooted, you have total control over how it functions, and sometimes the rooting and ROM flashing process itself may be very enjoyable.

A complete guide to setting up and using TeamViewer on Android>> Follow the Link

FAQs

How to Root your Android smartphone: Google, OnePlus, Samsung, Xiaomi, and others too?

For those who are unfamiliar with rooting, gaining access to root essentially gives you increased permissions. With root access, you may launch specialized programs that need administrator-level rights, change or replace system applications and settings, and carry out other tasks that are otherwise unavailable to regular Android users. See more

Flashing Magisk with TWRP without ramdisk?

When compared to Magisk-v6, v7 represents a considerable update. A lot has changed, new features have been added, and compatibility has greatly improved, particularly with regard to selinux concerns. The Magisk Manager is completely a different application comparing to the previous crappy app. It is now part of the core experience of Magisk itself. See more

Can I root my Xiaomi phone?

You can root only the phone’s Android OS not the actual phone itself. Since Android v6 Google’s AOSP has featured root functionality by default, however OEMs frequently remove this option for good cause.
Keep in mind that you may instantly add a temporary root to any Android OS-powered mobile device.

Read more:
What is Stock ROM? Its Advantages and Disadvantages