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Root & JailBreak: What are they?

Hi Guys,

Smartphones now being so common in public. Many of the smart phone owners come across words like Rooting and JailBreaking. Today we will discuss about these.

What is Rooting?

Android OS users may have noticed that they don’t have all the necessary control on their device. For e.g. A ZenFone User may think that why can’t he have the features of another phone, let’s say Sony Xperia E3. Having the same Android version, it should be easy for ZenFone user to change ZenUI to Sony’s Xperia UI. But it is not the case. Due to the limitations set by the phone’s manufacturer, a user do not have complete control over his/her device.
The process of getting all the required necessary control of a mobile device via some exploits is known as Rooting.

What is JailBreaking?

iOS users (Apple’s mobile OS) notice this lack of control in a bitter way. They aren’t even able to change their themes, transitions, icons, etc. let alone the features. The process of rooting a iOS device through exploits is termed as JailBreaking.

What are the advantages of Rooting or JailBreaking?

  1. By rooting, we can not only increase our system stability and performance but also Increase our battery backup.
  2. Custom ROMs allow users to update to the latest version of the Android OS before they are officially released for their device, by their manufacturer.
  3. This is a great feature for those who are tech-savvy and want to stay on top of the latest and greatest software updates before it hits the mainstream crowd. This is also useful if one has an outdated device that is no longer being updated by its manufacturer.
  4. By rooting the device, we also gain the ability to unlock some features that the carrier might charge for. One main example is free WiFi and USB tethering, which many carriers charge money for. (I’m not suggesting you do this. But I just wanted to make you aware of the endless possibilities.)
    That goes same of the iOS users.

What are the disadvantages?Rooted Android

There are only 2 disadvantages of rooting or jailbreaking (fortunately both of them are curable, although are difficult to cure.)

  1. By rooting, you void your device’s warranty. This means, if anything goes wrong with the device, the manufacture won’t help you at all.
  2. Rooting allow users to view and edit system files, which creates the possibility of deleting any important system file. Thus, it can result in corruption of device, aka Bricking.You may ask your queries in comments below.

That’s all folks.

Image sources – http://jbenit94.deviantart.com/art/Android-Bot-Wallpaper-243883920 (Featured image) http://www.ivanbrooker.com/tag/android-robot-wallpaper (Image in post)
Author – Siddhant Baranwal
Co – Author – Swapnil Jha

Siddhant