Rooting my phone

This past weekend I decided to "root" my Android smartphone. Let me start by first saying I had no idea what I was getting myself into. In hindsight was the juice worth the squeeze? Or to phrase it a bit differently, would I do it again? Probably yes; but the whole process was much more time consuming, and at times frustrating, than I had anticipated (mainly because I had no idea what I was doing).

So what is rooting a phone? Well rooting your phone is literally gaining write access to the root directory of your phone.

So what does that mean? And why would you want to do it? Well the best analogy to use is that of a traditional PC. Your smartphone is basically a mini, portable, PC. And just like your PC it has an operating system. In this case, instead of using Windows from Microsoft, it uses Android which is distributed by Google (for free by the way). Now, do you remember the last time you bought a new PC? When it was shiny and new everything ran smoothly and your programs were responsive (hopefully). Then after a few years of use things started to get bogged down. Your PC accumulated additional software, the hard drive became fragmented, you unwittingly picked up some spyware, among other maladies. Soon you would click on a web-link, go get a cup of coffee, and the webpage you requested was still loading when you returned. Well, the same thing happens to Android smartphones. Android, as distributed by Google, is a reasonably efficient and responsive operating system. However, when you typically buy a smartphone from a major carrier (Verizon, AT&T, etc.) you're actually not getting the original Android operating system. What you get is a bastardized version that has been modified by both the cel phone manufacturer (Samsung, Motorola, etc.) and your carrier. The result is a bloated, inefficient operating system that is reminiscent of that two year old PC. And hence the beauty of rooting your phone. With root access you can now go and freely change your operating system ostensibly removing the layers bloat added by your phone manufacturer and provider.

Which leads me back to my smartphone, a Motorola RAZR HD from Verizon. It's a good phone but from day one it was a bit laggy/unresponsive and I always found that annoying. So, I thought to myself why don't I just root my phone and remove the layers of bloatware applied by Motorola and Verizon. So I did a Google search and found some Youtube videos that walk you through the process. To make a long story short, what should have taken thirty minutes took me over 6 hours over a period of three days. And that was with more than a few frustrating moments. For a period the GPS ceased to operate. At another point my phone was bricked, as in it wouldn't even turn on. I'm pleased to say that everything turned out OK. My phone is now rooted and working properly. It's moderately faster than the stock version which is good. And I now have access to useful apps that only work on phones that are rooted. But probably the biggest benefit of this whole endeavor is that I know how to root an Android phone which I will be doing on my next phone.