Related
Well, I have been an iphone user for the last few years and finally made the switch. I customize everything, so I'm use to using Cydia and Winterboard. I have no idea if there is anything comparable.
So, my question is... As a beginner on this platform, where do I even start looking besides here to find out what I can do with rooting my phone, creating themes, or custom apps and tweaks.
Like I said, I'm very new too this, and have no idea where to look. I've tried searching, but some of the terms i'm not familiar with yet. The nice thing that I can see right now, is the reason's I jailbroke my iphone, the S3 does already, or I have figured out an easy alternative.
Any help in the right direction would be great! So far, I'm really glad I got rid of the iphone
splxtreme said:
As a beginner on this platform, where do I even start looking besides here to find out what I can do with rooting my phone, creating themes, or custom apps and tweaks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
XDA is probably the best source, but there are certainly plenty of other xda-like sites out there. RootzWiki is probably the biggest, but it seems like a handful of new ones pop up every day.
On top of that, I'd say try the obvious... google it! If you google something like "what can i do with my rooted android phone" you'll find a lot of good suggestions (articles by tech sites, as well as forum threads from people who have asked the same questions as you). Keep in mind though, Android advances pretty fast, and all phones are a little different so not everything you find may be relevant anymore. Example: You may find something that says screenshots are a good reason to root... but that's a standard feature now in ICS, and Samsung phones could do it all along. So just keep that in mind... some things you may find may be out of date.
Hey welcome to android. I too made the switch over a year ago and that's when I became a member here. I spent the better part of that sifting through all this site has to offer. I started with the captivate when the rooms for it were at their prime and I have upgraded to the s3. I don't know all there is to know about this stuff but I have not wrecked my phones yet. So with all that said I would recommend getting yourself familiar by reading the stickies. They some very nice tutorials. Also if your not sure about something qna section is good. Once you get the hang of all this you will see exactly why android is true open source. Jailbreaking for me got boring but rooting and flashing roms is always interesting. This site also has very friendly developers that love doing this stuff so that's also a huge help. Last but not least don't be afraid to ask. It may mean the difference between an awesome phone and nice looking paper weight from Korea
Sent from my SGH-I747M using xda app-developers app
The great thing about Android is because you can do anything on it right out of the box compared to you having to jailbreak an iphone. Id suggest just going through different apps and what not in the app store and see what catches your eye
Honestly, I would recommend that you spend some serious time getting to know android and understanding all of the capabilities of your phone before you even consider rooting it (not to mention flashing a new ROM.
I am a long time Android user that has rooted and flashed many ROM's over the years, but the S3 is so good out of the box (imho) that I personally have no need or desire to even root it at this point. That may change in the future, but that's where I stand right now.
I guess my advice would be ... don't be in a huge hurry to start making massive changes to the device until you understand what you have. No need to risk killing that shiny new toy (yet).
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
Welcome,
Another source to check out is YouTube.
You can finds videos on
How to Root, How to use Odin, How to Flash, How to use apps like Titanium Backup, Root Explorer, etc..
Also I made a reference guide in the S2 forum when I had it that explain some of the lingo around here.
Study it
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1394458
Powered by the SGSIII
Welcome. I think maybe figure out what you'd like to do that you haven't figured out yet and search on xda or even Google. Its possible you may not need to root to achieve it. I root only to restore app plus its data from one android phone to the next. Without root it only restores app so for example with games it won't restore where I left of in the other device.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2
Can somebody tell me about the pros & cons of rooting?
I am gonna root my Nexus 4.
Pros :
Full control over device
Opens a door into a huuuuuuuge library of mods.
Cons :
If you don't know what you're doing you **** up your device.
Read read read if you are unsure, ask questions, that's the only con. The perks to rooting and unlocking the bootloader are too numerous not to. I know its not much of an answer, and I mean absolutely no disrespect, but why get a phone designed by Google to basically allow complete control to the user if you weren't going to utilize that?
Tinkering at first is intimidating out of fear of damaging something, but with a lot of direction following and a little faith in yourself, trust me you won't regret it.:good:
Pros: Here are some of the pros that i personally have: More control and customization, adblockers, audio mods that give you beats or Sony audio, ROMs are updated everyday by patches or commits, root apps like TI backup for backing apps, some awesome mod features that aren't found else where, you can change boot animations, there are a handful of ROMs to try, and these are what I can think of right now. Oh and you get the newest android version first than others. If you're on stock on a nexus, you'll get the newest android version first than nexus users on other ROMs because the source code is usually released a month later, but even then when the code is opened (released) we will still get the newest android version since all of our sources are open sourced. Make sense?
Cons: None really. Only things that I can think of are flashing the wrong thing or doing something that you weren't supposed to. In that case your phone becomes paper weight. But if you know how to read and follow instructions, you're set to go.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
Eddy130306 said:
Pros: Here are some of the pros that i personally have: More control and customization, adblockers, audio mods that give you beats or Sony audio, ROMs are updated everyday by patches or commits, root apps like TI backup for backing apps, some awesome mod features that aren't found else where, you can change boot animations, there are a handful of ROMs to try, and these are what I can think of right now. Oh and you get the newest android version first than others. If you're on stock on a nexus, you'll get the newest android version first than nexus users on other ROMs because the source code is usually released a month later, but even then when the code is opened (released) we will still get the newest android version since all of our sources are open sourced. Make sense?
Cons: None really. Only things that I can think of are flashing the wrong thing or doing something that you weren't supposed to. In that case your phone becomes paper weight. But if you know how to read and follow instructions, you're set to go.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
benman715 said:
Read read read if you are unsure, ask questions, that's the only con. The perks to rooting and unlocking the bootloader are too numerous not to. I know its not much of an answer, and I mean absolutely no disrespect, but why get a phone designed by Google to basically allow complete control to the user if you weren't going to utilize that?
Tinkering at first is intimidating out of fear of damaging something, but with a lot of direction following and a little faith in yourself, trust me you won't regret it.:good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
exb0 said:
Pros :
Full control over device
Opens a door into a huuuuuuuge library of mods.
Cons :
If you don't know what you're doing you **** up your device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi All!!
First of all, thank you for your valuable suggestions.
I would like to ask two more things:-
1. Best ROM for nexus 4 (in terms of performance, battery life, visual effects etc.)
2. Is it possible to reverse the rooting means to unroot the phone??
D_RiDeRs said:
Hi All!!
First of all, thank you for your valuable suggestions.
I would like to ask two more things:-
1. Best ROM for nexus 4 (in terms of performance, battery life, visual effects etc.)
2. Is it possible to reverse the rooting means to unroot the phone??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1 : No such thing as a BEST rom.
2 : Yes. Possible.
D_RiDeRs said:
Hi All!!
First of all, thank you for your valuable suggestions.
I would like to ask two more things:-
1. Best ROM for nexus 4 (in terms of performance, battery life, visual effects etc.)
2. Is it possible to reverse the rooting means to unroot the phone??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. You have to decide which is the best in your own by trying them out. Everyone has a different opinion. Kernels is what you need for performance, battery life and such. Roms offer customizations and might contribute to some power saving.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
Hi all,
I once more turn to XDA gurus for some advice and also questions. Let me start with saying that I have very basic experience with android phones: my main phone is an iPhone but I love to play with Android devices to fill in the iOS blanks. I own a Samsung Infuse (with a custom ROM but very unstable) and briefly had an HTC One but returned it.
Anyway, I bought an AT&T S4; it's unlocked and works great. However I'm in Canada on Rogers and couldn't care less about the bloatware installed on it. Here come the questions:
- Does anyone know of a way to install the stock Rogers ROM on this phone (more like where to get it)?
- Alternately, would you recommend to install another ROM?
Here's the thing: a week after I bought mine, Google announced the Google editions; would have known I would have waited to get that.
- Would it be recommendable to flash the Google ROM on my phone?
- Would there be a way to install some of the Samsung SPKs on such a ROM (I could never seem to do it on my Infuse)?
I know how to flash a ROM, and it's well documented in the Forums. I'm more after opinions; my experience with flashing ROMs on my Infuse has been spotty at best. Seems like no matter what I did, the phone would become unusably unstable after a while. This scares me because it seems like the Infuse is one of the most modded phones out there... The S4 is very impressive and I don't want to hinder it's performance in any way.
If none of this is doable/recommendable, then I might sell this one and pay the extra $100 and get the Google edition.
I appreciate any input!
Thanks
Well, I know it's not polite to bump your own post, but I would really appreciate some feedback.
And actually I'll add a bit more to it: let's say I either try the Google ROM or decide to buy a Google Edition, there are some pretty cool apps included with the Samsung version (such as multi window and air gestures). Is it possible to have those available on the Google Edition/ROM?
Thanks and sorry again for my lack of knowledge in the area...
technosinner said:
Well, I know it's not polite to bump your own post, but I would really appreciate some feedback.
And actually I'll add a bit more to it: let's say I either try the Google ROM or decide to buy a Google Edition, there are some pretty cool apps included with the Samsung version (such as multi window and air gestures). Is it possible to have those available on the Google Edition/ROM?
Thanks and sorry again for my lack of knowledge in the area...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Consensus with the GE ROMs for the S4 are that they're WAY too stripped down in comparison to other AOSP options (of which GE is NOT, it's actually TW disguised as AOSP). I, personally, would avoid using GE and instead opt for something like AOKP if you want that same feel. I just flashed FoxHound and really like the hybrid aspect of it in the fact that you keep all the gimmicky TW features (the hover and voice stuff as well as multi-window), the menu structures are similar, but it brings all the bonuses that having an AOSP ROM does. There are some extra steps involved which @Axman has taken his time to explain (you have to manually input your APN), but the end result is worth it.
Good luck and read around.
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
well spoken my friend. Thanks
Thank you very much for the clarification. I was actually in the process of reading Axman's posts. To be honest I'm totally overwhelmed. I didn't imagine it to be so complicated; I'm really torn between ROM and keeping stock because of the TW cool stuff... I will keep reading around as all good n00b should.
Thanks!
technosinner said:
Thank you very much for the clarification. I was actually in the process of reading Axman's posts. To be honest I'm totally overwhelmed. I didn't imagine it to be so complicated; I'm really torn between ROM and keeping stock because of the TW cool stuff... I will keep reading around as all good n00b should.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's much less complicated than it seems, but you do need to follow the steps as outlined or you could end up with anything from a borked flash to a bricked phone depending on what you're trying to do. I recommend playing with a i337m ROM that is TW-based for your first, just to get the hang of things as it'll provide the least steep learning curve. Go for these steps at first:
1. Enable Developer Options (go to Settings/About/tap on build until it says they're enabled)
2. Run one click root/recovery from Adam Outler
3. Transfer and flash ROM of your choice
Just know that people flash for different reasons ranging from wanting less bloat to more battery life to a morbid case of flashaholism (such as myself and @TheAxman). There's nothing saying you have to go balls to the wall here and you may find yourself completely happy with the stock ROM and a better kernel. Just read up and it'll make perfect sense.
Last word of advice: have Odin and the stock ROM on hand so you can flash back to stock if necessary. Some ROMs don't play well when flashed on top of others, even if you do a full wipe.
Sent from my SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
I was actually in the exact same situation as you.
However, I decided to flash a TW based ROM to keep all the cool Samsung features.
I'd recommend any of the Stock Based ones here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2312444
Just do your research and look for the features you need.
Thanks a lot guys! I'll be doing some reading but at least I know where to look.
One last thing: I keep seeing this loki thing around. Since I'm on an att version I got that I need it, but what exactly is it and where can I get it? I see a lot of references to it, but I can't seem to find a download link or a tutorial on it...
Thanks again!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda premium
Don' t take the loki thing and run with it..if you are rooted and have recovery installed, flash the rom of choice and use a att kernel that already has been loki'ed.
Simple. That way you will never go wrong.
The Ax says this is my method of choice. Could care less about loki.
I recommend cm10.1 . It is aosp based, tins of features, fast, and just nice to use. I use it on my att sgs4 right now. It is nightly release but it is VERY STABLE. Ge is just tw with an aosp fanboy shirt on .lol.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda app-developers app
Hey guys, just a quick question. Please please excuse me for I am definitely a noob, but I've done some research about rooting and what it offers yet I still don't know how to use it. It feels much like learning how to drive a stick... understanding in theory, but difficult in application until practice. My note 3 is rooted, but I still have no idea what and how much I can do from here. Not to mention, while I'm doing research and trying to educate myself, there are some names and terms I do not understand. Anyway, let me just write some of the questions I have in a list:
1) Cyanogenmod. Is it available for verizon note 3 running 4.3? I keep getting search results that there are while the cyanogenmod website itself doesn't offer it? I also got a Nexus 7 to try to expand my knowledge in this field, and it does have cyanogenmod installed. Now, to my understanding, it runs side by side with the Android OS while it basically strips the device's bloatware, giving you the pure, simple, raw experience of Android OS. If I were to install cyanogenmod to the note 3, how would it affect the camera functions and the s pen functions? The reason why I ask about the camera is because using my Nexus's camera and looking at some youtube videos of note 2's with cyanogenmod, it seems like it would actually be a downgrade from the note 3's stock camera. And as far as the S pen goes, I've realized that I would lose the action notes, s notes, and sketchbook for galaxy apps, wouldn't I? How could I go around that?
2) Flashing ROMS. What exactly does this do? All I can find is that it allows me to customize my phone, but I don't seem to understand to what extent.
3) Kernels. What are these?
Lol, so sorry for such basic questions. But I would really really appreciate your patience and information!
CyanogenMod is unofficially available for the Note 3. Not everything works. CyanogenMod is a ROM that changes the software on the phone. It's a more customized version of Android, and very close to "stock". If you use CyanogenMod however, you will lose your S-Pen and it's features, along with all of the other TouchWiz features of the phone (gestures, split screen, etc.). The S-pen will act as a basic mouse pointer. CyanogenMod is not pure AOSP, it's quite far from it. It's similar, but very different from a pure Google experience. It's really a beast of it's own in my opinion, and is now a stand alone company that will seek to profit off of the ROM (likely by coming standard on some devices). That's not to say it isn't good, I run it on most of my other devices but on the Note 3, without the S-Pen it's just a big phone.
ROM's are customized versions of Android typically created by a developer or group of developers. The features of each ROM will change. A 4.3 TouchWiz rom might remove all of the carrier bloat (applications not likely used, but run in the background and offer little no actual use to anyone). They'll also provide enhancements and tweaks that make life a little easier like a quick-access flashlight tied to your volume up button, or the ability to remove certain icons from the notification panel, a batter percentage indicator in the notification panel, removing the exchange security permissions, or just general speed improvements over the factory settings. There are many advantages to a ROM and once you use them you'll likely never go back to stock. The ROM features are typically listed in the ROM's topic.
There are many ROM's out there for many different devices, so make sure you only install one that is made for your phone. You'll also hear about AOSP ROM's, these are stock or close-to-stock versions of Android, typically found on Nexus devices. The way Google intended Android to be used.
Android uses a Linux Kernal. It's a customized version of Linux. It's the base operating system behind Android. Similar to ROM's, different kernals can offer different levels of customization, however they won't be as prevalent as a ROM since they deal more with the core of the operating system. The Kernal will manage the drivers for all the different components of the phone, like your radios (how you receive a phone signal), your sensors, camera, CPU, etc. Be especially careful when changing Kernals, it can drastically affect your phone, and possibly permanently.
I'll put in the caveat that this is my understanding, and may not be 100% accurate. People are welcome to correct my mistakes and misunderstandings I may have =)
I hope you find it helpful!
Thank you for your response and information!
Okay, so I guess Cyanogenmod for the Note 3 is not an option for me since I enjoy using my S pen (I mean, why else would I have gotten the phone in the first place haha)
Could you direct me to some useful ROMs or recommend me some? The thing is, I had the Motorola Droid as my first smartphone and never really got into rooting or anything, and when I got the iPhone 4s, that's when I started learning about jailbreaking and got pretty good at it too. Now that I'm back to Android and learning about root, I've realized just how.. simple and basic jailbreaking is compared to rooting. So, would these ROMs be similar to tweaks you can get from the Cydia store in, let's say, behavior of the phone?
I don't think I would want to mess with kernels for a long while either, not until I get more acquainted with rooting in general.
ch0i said:
Thank you for your response and information!
Okay, so I guess Cyanogenmod for the Note 3 is not an option for me since I enjoy using my S pen (I mean, why else would I have gotten the phone in the first place haha)
Could you direct me to some useful ROMs or recommend me some? The thing is, I had the Motorola Droid as my first smartphone and never really got into rooting or anything, and when I got the iPhone 4s, that's when I started learning about jailbreaking and got pretty good at it too. Now that I'm back to Android and learning about root, I've realized just how.. simple and basic jailbreaking is compared to rooting. So, would these ROMs be similar to tweaks you can get from the Cydia store in, let's say, behavior of the phone?
I don't think I would want to mess with kernels for a long while either, not until I get more acquainted with rooting in general.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well first thing you need is safestrap so you can actually flash a ROM link here
This allows you to create limited size slots to flash a ROM to without effecting the stock ROM. There is a way around the size limitation of the slots, but I wouldn't worry about that yet. Just get a feel for it first before you risk bricking.
As for a ROM, head on over to the android development section and pick one. They all have great descriptions of what they have and what they don't. Personally I run hyperdrive and it makes a great daily driver. Still has enough of the original Samsung stuff to look like a Note 3 but allows you to tweak it much further. There are plenty others, and that's the beauty of safestrap, flash to your heart a content until you find one you like.
Kernals aren't something to worry about yet because the boot loader is still locked, limiting our ability to flash a kernal or a custom recovery at that. Unless something has changed that is... Has it? Did it get unlocked while I was asleep.
I you ever get stuck, search then ask. You might also want to read about ODIN here. since you're already rooted some of this doesn't pertain to you, but is still a good read as ODIN will help you recover from some problems.
Hope that helped.
blksprk said:
Well first thing you need is safestrap so you can actually flash a ROM link here
This allows you to create limited size slots to flash a ROM to without effecting the stock ROM. There is a way around the size limitation of the slots, but I wouldn't worry about that yet. Just get a feel for it first before you risk bricking.
As for a ROM, head on over to the android development section and pick one. They all have great descriptions of what they have and what they don't. Personally I run hyperdrive and it makes a great daily driver. Still has enough of the original Samsung stuff to look like a Note 3 but allows you to tweak it much further. There are plenty others, and that's the beauty of safestrap, flash to your heart a content until you find one you like.
Kernals aren't something to worry about yet because the boot loader is still locked, limiting our ability to flash a kernal or a custom recovery at that. Unless something has changed that is... Has it? Did it get unlocked while I was asleep.
I you ever get stuck, search then ask. You might also want to read about ODIN here. since you're already rooted some of this doesn't pertain to you, but is still a good read as ODIN will help you recover from some problems.
Hope that helped.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It did! Thank you very much!
ch0i said:
It did! Thank you very much!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only option with Safestrap and therefore on newer Verizon Note 3's is a ROM based on stock, so Cyanogenmod isn't an option at all.
I would consider Hyperdrive. Enhanced app windowing options, Xposed framework to get rid of earphone hearing damage warning and never ending reminder about how to clear default apps and tons of little customizations. Getting rid of boot sound is reason enough for me.
Other things on your checklist whether you get a custom ROM or not is Adaware, which you can download on xda to block ads. Need Titanium Backup to back up apps with data, something you can't do without root and very useful when switching ROMs or phones. Lots of other useful tools like Root Explorer on Google Play. If you stick with your stock ROM, do the mod to allow free tethering for Wi-Fi.
Since you like your S Pen, you need Pen Window Manager, available on Play to choose for yourself which apps can run in a pen window. That was one of the big reasons I wanted to root this phone.
By the way, once you find a ROM you like, it's best to nandroid back it up, backup the stock ROM for safety, then restore your custom ROM to the Safestrap stock slot. The ROM 1-4 slots have limited storage so not great long term solution if you have a lot of apps, etc.
Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk
Hey guys,
first of all I want to mention that I'm new to this forum so forgive me if I do or did anything wrong . Second I want to tell you a few things about me and my device so it's easier for you to provide efficient troubleshoot. I'm using a Samsung Galaxy Note 4 - N910F for since it's release so about close to 3 years now. I'm familiar with simple things like like rooting the smartphone or creating backups and stuff like that, but I'm sure I will be able to perform some harder things too since I'm working in the technical support team of Apple but since there is a huge difference between iOS and Android I would say I'm a noob here .
I already searched for a solution using google and the search function of xda but couldn't find anything so I thought it would be best to create a thread myself.
What I want to do is delete the OS of my smartphone entirely and download the original or maybe a custom OS (I don't mind) and install it on my phone. I want to do this because I think my phone got old and doesnt perform so well anymore in many points, also the battery consumption got higher with time.
Thank you in advance!
Try do a factory reset first. If it doesn't work then, download the latest ROM for your version of Note4. Odin it to your phone.