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A bunch of Android info for you guys
I actually wrote this for another forum, but sharing is caring, right? I hope you like it
Rooting:
Rooting is essentially the act of giving yourself admin access to your own phone. When you buy an Android phone, you're not exactly the admin of your phone, you're a user. This limits you in a few ways, so you might want to root your phone in order to give yourself FULL access to your device. Once rooted, you can really do whatever you like with the phone. Don't like having to press the power button to wake up your phone? Change it. Little things like that.
One thing to remember, though - rooting voids your warranty. On the other hand, the tech guys at MTN/Vodacom probably don't know a thing about Android OTHER than how to update the software, so I doubt anyone will know anyway.
The upside, however, is that you can just "unroot" if you need to take your phone in, so in the end, you don't really have anything to lose.
Each phone is rooted in a different way, so there isn't a "one-size-fits-all" rooting guide, but here are guides for a couple of phones:
HTC Dream/G1
HTC Tattoo
Nexux One
HTC Desire
SE Xperia X10
Motorola Milestone (Droid)
Those are just a few
Before I forget, this first thing I recommend doing once you've rooted, is download and install an app called "ROM Manager" from the market. In this app, do a "Flash Recovery". This installs a recover mod to your memory card, and with this mod, you can flash to different ROMs on the phone itself, with no need for a PC. You can do nandroid backups here too.
ROMs:
A ROM contains the OS that's on your phone. By changing ROMs, you change the Android OS that's on your phone to another one that's either a different version, or has specific apps installed, or is optimized for a certain use, etc. The stock Android version that comes on your phone is made for a vast array of people, so it'll almost certainly include a whole lot of stuff you don't care about. By downloading and installing a custom ROM, you can have what YOU want from your Android phone.
GoldCard
A GoldCard is a modified SDCard which allows you to put the original unbranded ROM on a career branded phone (installing the original HTC Desire ROM on an Orange HTC Desire). Normally, if you try to execute a HTC ROM updater with a Orange phone, you'll be stuck after 4 or 5 clicks on next. With a Goldcard in your phone, you can archive the process.
You can't install a ROM built for an other device just using a GoldCard (installing a Nexus One ROM on a Desire is not possible).
GoldCard is only needed if you have a carrier-branded Desire, even for rooting process. Unbranded phones never need it.
Be sure to keep your GoldCard because it will be needed for each ROM modifications. You can use a GoldCard as a normal SDCard without problem. However, if you create new partitions for app2sd, your GoldCard will ruined.
Functionally :
Create a GoldCard is easy. It will take you 30 minutes. Not all SDCards work to create a GoldCard.
Instructions can be found here
(Took the goldcard section from XDA. I didn't write this part)
Managing an Android phone's bandwidth usage:
The beauty of Android is it's web integration. Google, Facebook and twitter are so closely tied with the phone and that's amazing. The problem, however, is that this EATS bandwidth. And here in SA, Bandwidth = money, lots of money. So what I've done is stop my phone from using bandwidth when I'm on the data connection, but go crazy on the WiFi connection. Since I have WiFi here at home, that works out pretty well for me. So here's what you do. Jump to Settings-> Wifi and networks -> Mobile Networks, and uncheck Enable Always-on. Then, I suggest you create a shortcut on your homescreen somewhere to Settings-> Accounts and Sync so that you can easily disable background data. Furthermore, I would recommend disabling notifications your facebook and twitter apps, and manually update those things. Doing this, you can save yourself a fair bit of cash. On a few occasions, I had enabled my data connetion and within a few minutes, my phone had downloaded 10MB, sometimes even 15MB. That's 30 bucks, and that was probably for facebook profile picture updates.
Recommended apps
For starters, here's a list of apps that I feel are absolutely mandatory for Android users:
SetCPU for Root Users
- This app can be used to govern your CPU. For example, when my phone's screen is off, the CPU is not allowed to go faster than 384Mhz. This save battery power.
Brightness Level
- Another battery saver. You should have your screen's brightness as low as comfortable in order to save battery power. This is a quick switcher for when you need your screen brighter.
Dolphin Browser HD
- Significantly better than the default browser.
LauncherPro Beta
- Replacement launcher, and easily my favourite Android app. Lightning fast, multiple docks, etc. Can't live without it.
APNdroid
3G Watchdog
- Use these two guys together to save yourself from suicide. You can set your phone to disable the data connection once it's gone over XMB.
Extended Controls
- Paid app, but totally worth it.
ASTRO File Manager
- You need a file manager
Those apps, in my opinion, are pretty much mandatory for any Android user.
I actually wrote this for another forum, but sharing is caring, right? I hope you like it
Rooting:
Rooting is essentially the act of giving yourself admin access to your own phone. When you buy an Android phone, you're not exactly the admin of your phone, you're a user. This limits you in a few ways, so you might want to root your phone in order to give yourself FULL access to your device. Once rooted, you can really do whatever you like with the phone. Don't like having to press the power button to wake up your phone? Change it. Little things like that.
One thing to remember, though - rooting voids your warranty. On the other hand, the tech guys at MTN/Vodacom probably don't know a thing about Android OTHER than how to update the software, so I doubt anyone will know anyway.
The upside, however, is that you can just "unroot" if you need to take your phone in, so in the end, you don't really have anything to lose.
Each phone is rooted in a different way, so there isn't a "one-size-fits-all" rooting guide, but here are guides for a couple of phones:
HTC Dream/G1
HTC Tattoo
Nexux One
HTC Desire
SE Xperia X10
Motorola Milestone (Droid)
Those are just a few
Before I forget, this first thing I recommend doing once you've rooted, is download and install an app called "ROM Manager" from the market. In this app, do a "Flash Recovery". This installs a recover mod to your memory card, and with this mod, you can flash to different ROMs on the phone itself, with no need for a PC. You can do nandroid backups here too.
ROMs:
A ROM contains the OS that's on your phone. By changing ROMs, you change the Android OS that's on your phone to another one that's either a different version, or has specific apps installed, or is optimized for a certain use, etc. The stock Android version that comes on your phone is made for a vast array of people, so it'll almost certainly include a whole lot of stuff you don't care about. By downloading and installing a custom ROM, you can have what YOU want from your Android phone.
GoldCard
A GoldCard is a modified SDCard which allows you to put the original unbranded ROM on a career branded phone (installing the original HTC Desire ROM on an Orange HTC Desire). Normally, if you try to execute a HTC ROM updater with a Orange phone, you'll be stuck after 4 or 5 clicks on next. With a Goldcard in your phone, you can archive the process.
You can't install a ROM built for an other device just using a GoldCard (installing a Nexus One ROM on a Desire is not possible).
GoldCard is only needed if you have a carrier-branded Desire, even for rooting process. Unbranded phones never need it.
Be sure to keep your GoldCard because it will be needed for each ROM modifications. You can use a GoldCard as a normal SDCard without problem. However, if you create new partitions for app2sd, your GoldCard will ruined.
Functionally :
Create a GoldCard is easy. It will take you 30 minutes. Not all SDCards work to create a GoldCard.
Instructions can be found here
(Took the goldcard section from XDA. I didn't write this part)
Managing an Android phone's bandwidth usage:
The beauty of Android is it's web integration. Google, Facebook and twitter are so closely tied with the phone and that's amazing. The problem, however, is that this EATS bandwidth. And here in SA, Bandwidth = money, lots of money. So what I've done is stop my phone from using bandwidth when I'm on the data connection, but go crazy on the WiFi connection. Since I have WiFi here at home, that works out pretty well for me. So here's what you do. Jump to Settings-> Wifi and networks -> Mobile Networks, and uncheck Enable Always-on. Then, I suggest you create a shortcut on your homescreen somewhere to Settings-> Accounts and Sync so that you can easily disable background data. Furthermore, I would recommend disabling notifications your facebook and twitter apps, and manually update those things. Doing this, you can save yourself a fair bit of cash. On a few occasions, I had enabled my data connetion and within a few minutes, my phone had downloaded 10MB, sometimes even 15MB. That's 30 bucks, and that was probably for facebook profile picture updates.
Recommended apps
For starters, here's a list of apps that I feel are absolutely mandatory for Android users:
SetCPU for Root Users
- This app can be used to govern your CPU. For example, when my phone's screen is off, the CPU is not allowed to go faster than 384Mhz. This save battery power.
Brightness Level
- Another battery saver. You should have your screen's brightness as low as comfortable in order to save battery power. This is a quick switcher for when you need your screen brighter.
Dolphin Browser HD
- Significantly better than the default browser.
LauncherPro Beta
- Replacement launcher, and easily my favourite Android app. Lightning fast, multiple docks, etc. Can't live without it.
APNdroid
3G Watchdog
- Use these two guys together to save yourself from suicide. You can set your phone to disable the data connection once it's gone over XMB.
Extended Controls
- Paid app, but totally worth it.
ASTRO File Manager
- You need a file manager
Those apps, in my opinion, are pretty much mandatory for any Android user.
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