They say best things are always beneath, so is the case with Android devices. One of the most spectacular things about Android is the ability to do pretty much things that other devices can’t, but for doing those ‘pretty much’ things one has to be rooted. Rooting does not always mean installing custom ROMs, you may root your device just to have those extra good apps that can make your device more useful, powerful or beautiful. With root rights in your hand, you can manage to completely take over your device. In simple terms, root access can be simply defined as ‘access to system files’.
Are you lost? Dont know what rooting is? You may like to refer our detailed article on rooting:
Here I am presenting you a list of things you can do after having root access on your device. This mostly includes the apps because they are powerful yet easy to use.
First things first. You must have rooted your device for these apps to work, you know that already. What you need to know is if you have rooted your device correctly. There is this app called Root Checker on Google Play which examines your phone for appropriate root access. Get it and find out if you have successfully rooted your Android device.
[googleplay url=”https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jrummyapps.rootchecker”]
1. Superuser app
This is the ultimate root app, without Superuser app, there is no list of root apps actually. This application provides root access to other apps requesting it. It shows a prompt on screen when any of your app tries to have root access. This is the ultimate app which manages overall root rights. So this clearly is a must have app for rooted devices. This app is mostly installed automatically while rooting your device, many times it’s included in the root exploit toolkit. However, if you rooted your device and you cant find superuser in the menu, you need to iinstallthis app. It’s there on Google Play.
[googleplay url=”https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.chainfire.supersu”]
2.Install ClockworkMod recovery with Rom Manager
I mentioned above that rooting does not always mean installing custom ROMs, but in many cases, it does. This app will install a custom recovery on your device from which you get access to many more features which are not available in stock recovery, like flashing custom ROMs! Rom Manager will install the famous ClockworkMod recovery on your device. Get this app from Google Play, install it and it will let you know if your device is supported or not. Most devices are supported by ClockworkMod so it won’t be a big deal. Install the recovery and start flashing.
[googleplay url=”https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.koushikdutta.rommanager”]3. Block those annoying ads!
Sick of those ads popping up when playing your favorite game? Or while doing something on an app? Or do you even hate the advertises appearing on some websites in the browser? Then don’t you worry, as far as you have got root access you can overcome the ads. Google has recently flushed out all the adblocking apps from Google Play, but you can still download them from the internet. One of the adblocker I will suggest is AdAway. I personally am the user of AdAway and it works great. You can get it from the F-Droid’s website here:
Download AdAway!
4. Backup apps with Titanium Backup
Backing up apps is no big deal and you will say one can do it without root too. Yes, you are right. But what you cannot do is backup apps with their present state. That is with their cache. Titanium backup helps you in this task. It can save the whole app-state with the apk file. So when you restore your app, you get the same settings, same preferences as you had set earlier. For example, if you set your workspace and then backup your launcher with cache, next time you install a custom rom and you want to restore your workspace, just restore the launcher and you will get everything in-place like you had. Your launcher settings, icon positions, wigets position everything will be restored back. Titanium Backup is also used for bloatware removal. Get Titanium Backup right away from Google Play.
[googleplay url=”https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.keramidas.TitaniumBackup”]5. Get some extra juice out of your phone
One of the most searched thing about Android is how to have more battery backup. I don’t really want to make you sad but there is no exact way to do it. You will need to have some good habits about your phone, like: turning off wifi when no hotspot is nearby, turning off your 3G/data connection when you are not really using it,turning off GPS(potential battery drainer) when not using Maps, lowering down brightness when its possible, turning off Bluetooth, turn off vibration, etc. I don’t always recommend any apps for saving battery because sometimes those apps itself becomes the cause of battery drain, but an app on Play has really caught my attention and its worth giving a try, it’s called Juice Defender and it’s widely downloaded amongst users.
[googleplay url=”https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.latedroid.juicedefender”]6. Overclocking your phone
This one feature is bound to increase your phone’s overall performance. You might have heard of overclocking your computer’s processor or GPU. You can do the same with your Android devices too. Stock kernels does not allow you to overclock your phone, so in order to achieve that, one must have to flash a custom kernel which supports overclocking. Overclocking is a risky thing and can cause severe damage to your phone, one must not overclock it all the way high. After flashing a custom kernel, you must use any of the overclocking apps found on the Play Store. I will suggest using CPU Tuner. It’s free and gets the job done pretty easily, it can also help you underclock and can be a potential battery saver as well.
[googleplay url=”https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ch.amana.android.cputuner”]7. The ultimate after root utility- ROM Toolbox
The name must be familiar to you. This is the app which will really make you believe that you have rooted your device for good. It combines all the great root apps into one simple and easy to use application. It has a beautiful and easy to use interface and it nearly has every tool to make your device fast and customized to your taste. It has already been featured on various respected sites. Some of the features include: Installing ROMs, custom themes, taking ROM backups, app manager, freezing and defrosting apps, removing system apps, cache cleaner, root explorer, scripts and terminal emulator, system rebooter (recovery, power down, bootloader, restart status bar, etc.), boot animation changer, CPU tweaker, SD booster and many more! Features list can hardly finish here. I’ll recommend getting a premium version of the app so it will unlock many features which are not there in the free version. Highly recommended!
[googleplay url=”https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jrummy.liberty.toolboxpro”]8. Turn your phone into a WiFi Hotspot
Though this feature is available in some countries, some countries have banned sharing a user’s data connection with other users using WIFI hot-spot. If you are amongst the unlucky ones then you have a solution for this now. As long as you have got root access, you can share your data connection with others. You have to download a simple app called Wireless Tether for Root Users. App’s interface cant be easier than this. Get it already if you cant tether on your stock rom.
[googleplay url=”https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=og.android.tether”]9. Add true Linux commands to your device
‘Busybox’, is what I am talking about. This thing is often referred as, “the Swiss Army Knife of Embedded Linux”, because that’s what it really is. It’s not really an app but it installs the Linux/Unix commands in your phone. It achieves this by placing scripts in your phone. Unless you have installed Busybox, apps like Terminal Emulator are nearly worthless. This app is very useful for some experienced-advanced users.
[googleplay url=”https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=stericson.busybox”]10. Install various mods on your device
Being a rooted user, you have full access to Android system files. Hence, you can anytime play with system if you are an advanced user, or even if you are willing to be one. There are many mods available for you to start with. These mods modifies your stock ROM files so its important to backup your current ROM completely from a custom recovery. One similar modding/tweaking tool is available on XDA and it’s called PIMP MY ROM. This Tweaking app helps you do following tweaks on any ROM, be it stock or custom:
- Improvised multitasking
- Faster internet browsing speed
- Faster scrolling
- Long lasting battery life
- Better quality for JPG images
- Higher quality recording from the camera
- Extra themes for your device
- More responsive touch controls for your device
Pimp My ROM has shifted from XDA to Google Play. However, you may like to check out the brief description given on XDA:
and here goes the Play link:[googleplay url=”https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.androguide.pimpmyrom”]There are many developers who work really hard to port apps from various devices to many non supported devices. Ported apps gives you the ability to use features from other device manufacturers which they have put in their devices. Most common ported app is a Launcher. Launchers are the first impression when using a device. Several manufacturers like LG, Sony, Motorola, etc. have put much efforts to design brilliant launchers. We have collected them on our site and you may like to give them a try, be noted that these launchers listed below requires root access:
Install LG UI 3.0 Home Launcher And Weather Widget On Your Rooted Android Phone
Motorola Razr M Launcher with Circle Widget
You may even like to see some of our great launchers collection with detailed reviews and check out best ported apps here:
Best lauchers for Android devices
12. Expand your internal storage for more apps
This feature is a life saver for devices with low internal storage space like Xperia X8, LG Optimus P350, P500, etc. You can’t install more apps when your device has a low internal storage. You can overcome this by partitioning your SD card and moving apps from internal storage to partitioned SD card space with an app called Link2SD. This needs root and CWM recovery installed on your device.
- Reboot to CWM recovery
- Go to Advanced-> Partition SD Card
- You will be provided with the options to choose the size of the partition from 128,256,512,1024, 2048 and so on. Provided sizes are in MBs. Select your desired one, say 512. Then select swap size as 0.
- That’s all, it will partition your sd card, be noted that this will totally format your SD card so better take a backup before this process.
- After this, start-up your phone and get Link2SD from Google Play which is available for free.
- Start the app, it will search for the second partition on your SD card, choose ext2, ext3 or ext4(depends on what partition is it on your SD card). Now it will ask you to reboot your device.
- After rebooting, start the application and you can start moving your apps to SD card’s second partition which will also be considered as internal storage.
13. Clean those bloats!
This is a dream feature for rooted users. Having the bloatwares that comes pre-installed when you buy a new device can be a real pain. These bloatwares are not regularly installed apps, they are installed in system partitions which has read-only access and cannot be uninstalled using the normal uninstall procedure. When you are rooted, you get the power to clean the unnecessary, unused apps. Procedure is very easy, just install any of the root uninstaller apps and get those bloats removed.
[googleplay url=”https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rootuninstaller.free”] [googleplay url=”https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=name.dohkoos.rootuninstaller”]You may also like to read our similar detailed articles:
How to Delete/Remove Unwanted Stock/System Apps or Bloatwares from Android Phones
Easily Remove Stock Apps/Bloatware from Your Android Phone without Rooting It
14. Custom Kernels
Being a root user, you also get the ability to flash a custom kernel. A kernel is a set of instruction codes which links hardware of your device to the software. If you try to flash a kernel which is not created for your device, you may brick your device. Kernels have the ability to limit or extend the physical performance of your device.
Kernel has the ability to determine the brightness of your screen, frequency of your processor, working of sensors, audio, video and many more things.
Installing a custom kernel gives you the ability to overclock or underclock your device. You also get access to other advanced features such as Governors, tweaks and other mods which can result in an improved performance.
15. Custom ROMs
And the last but not least, custom ROMs are the reason 90% of users get rooted for. This is way too much power you get after getting rooted and installing a custom recovery. Custom ROMs can totally change your smartphone’s experience. Right from looks, interface to incredible performance, everything can be achieved with a good custom ROM. Most popular custom ROMs like CyanogenMod or MIUI brings tons of features to your device, features like DSP Manager, Themes support or Browser Incognito mode can make your smartphone extra smart. It’s bound to add hundreds of tweaks to your device. So if you are not on a custom ROM, I’ll really say you are missing out on things. Awesome things!
Check some of our detailed articles on custom ROMs:
The list does not stop here. There are probably endless possibilities one can achieve after rooting their devices. This is just an attempt to highlight the most popular things after root. If you have some interesting things to suggest us after rooting, the comments section is all yours!
You forgot apps like SD maid ! very useful ! (:
well, there are a large number of good apps for root users as stated in the end of the post, you cannot expect each of them to be covered mate (: