Mat Tech

Rooting is useful on Android, but if you're looking to sell your device, or simply want to revoke your root privileges, it's useful to know how to unroot. Read our guide on how to unroot your Android phone or tablet. Having root privileges is the equivalent of administrator privileges on a desktop PC. It just enables you to fully access and change things on your Android phone. However, some find the extra functionalities dangerous or want it disabled due to certain functions and apps not working. Niantic, the creators of the vastly popular Pokemon GO app disabled the use of rooted Android phones and jailbroken iOS devices. You might also want remove root in order to receive official software updates, where some phone manufacturers prevent OTA updates if you're rooted - understandably you might want to permanently unroot your Android phone or tablet, so here's our guide. To check if you've got root, we recommend downloading Root Checker for free on the Play...

One of the main reasons many people root their phones is to install custom ROMs. These are replacements for the operating system on the devices, and are often updated versions of Android that the manufacturers haven’t made available. The most famous ROMs are Cyanogenmod and Paranoid Android, both of which offer excellent alternatives to the bloat heavy offerings of many mainstream Android flavors. Installing a custom ROM is another risky venture, which should again only be undertaken with the knowledge that problems could occur. Non optimized ROMs could cause hardware issues, drain the battery quicker, and mean some apps don’t work properly anymore.  Then of course there’s that old ‘brick’ issue.  Usually before you install a custom ROM you’ll need to create a Custom Recovery. This will allow the device to make a backup of your system, install ROMs, and provide a way to get going again if things go wrong. The most common types are Standard Recovery (this is a part of every ...

Android is a wonderfully open platform, with Marshmallow and Lollipop being excellent examples of how far the OS has developed. There's even more potential under the hood though, and our beginner's guide to rooting your phone or tablet shows you how to get the most from your Android device. To root Android you'll need to enable Developer Mode and USB debugging on your device, then connect it to your PC. Free third-party software such as OneClickRoot can simplify rooting your Android phone or tablet, but alternatives are available. You can also root your phone or tablet without a PC using Stump Root. We'll explain all this in our guide to rooting Android below. In-depth guide One of the biggest advantages of the Android platform over its rivals is how users can customize devices to their personal tastes and requirements. The ultimate expression of this is rooting a phone. While Android is customizable, the layers of software that manufacturers often put on top o...