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Hey
Im kind of behind with Smartphones because I had a Samsung D500 for several years, it was only a few months ago I upgraded and got myself a HTC Desire HD on Contract. Ive been using it completly standard, with all the official software etc..
Im beginning to get quite bored of it now though and I still have like 1 and a half years left on my contract.
All I seem to do with the phone is... standard SMS texting, phone calls, facebook, twitter and check a couple of websites every now and then.
I have read around and hear things about "ROMS" and "ROOTS", but dont really know what that means.
Im just wondering, if you had this phone.. What would you do with it exactly?
Something to make it look/feel like a new phone maybe..... I duno
Just want some opinions, recommendations really
Thanks
Custom ROMs
A stock ROM is the version of the phone's operating system that comes with your phone when you buy it.
A custom ROM is a fully standalone version of the OS, including the kernel (which makes everything run), apps, services, etc - everything you need to operate the device, except it's customized by someone in some way.
So what does the "customized" part mean? Since Android is open source, developers are free to take stock ROMs, modify them, strip them of garbage, optimize them, add things, and pretty much do whatever their imagination and skills allow.
Custom ROMs are oftentimes faster, more efficient, and use less memory because:
- the developer ripped out useless garbage, such as carrier installed apps or
- the developer optimized the kernel. For example, an undervolted kernel can provide a much better battery life than the stock one.
You can upgrade to a version of the OS that has not yet been released for your device, or never will be. This is possible in 2 situations:
- A leaked version of the new ROM showed up online, and the developer got on it like the fat kid chasing an ice cream truck.
- A ROM from another phone was ported by the developer to work on yours. For example, G1 and MyTouch 3G users may never see Android 2.1 officially released on their phones, but Cyanogen, one of the most respected Android developers, was able to create a custom ROM running 2.1 for those devices.
ROOTING:
Getting root or rooting your phone is the process of modifying the operating system that shipped with your device to grant you complete control over it.
This means you can overcome limitations that the carriers and manufacturers put on your phone, extend system functionality, and even upgrade it to a custom flavor of Android.
The name root comes from the Linux operating system world, where the most privileged user on the system (otherwise known as Administrator on Windows) is called root.
You have access to alter any system files, use themes, change boot images, delete annoying stock apps, such as Sprint's NFL Mobile live and Nascar Sprint Cup Mobile, and other various native applications that might drive you crazy (Footprints, Voice Dialer, etc).
On most rooted Android devices, you can back up your entire system to an SD card, much in the same way you can image a hard drive. This is great if you’d like to try a new ROM, as you can back up your phone, wipe it completely, flash the new ROM, and if you don’t like it, just restore from your backup to get your device back to exactly how it was before you wiped it.
The easiest way to do this at the moment is by using ROM Manager.
ROM Manager allows you to easily flash a custom recovery image which is what you will need in order to backup and restore your phone. The recovery image is a special program that can be booted into outside of the phone's main operating system, sort of like an OS recovery console on a PC. By default, the recovery image on most Android phones only gives you a few options, mainly related to wiping the phone. Custom recovery images expand upon these options and usually include scripts that can do things like backup and restore your system, fix file permissions, or allow you to flash custom ROMs that the normal recovery image would otherwise reject.
Normally, flashing a custom recovery image requires some command line work, either on your PC, or on a terminal emulator directly on the phone, but Koush's ROM Manager should automatically flash his custom recovery image (known as ClockworkMod Recovery) for you, provided you're on one of the supported phones and that it is already rooted.
Using ROM Manager is pretty simple. Download and install the application from the market, fire it up, and you’ll be prompted to allow the application superuser permissions - make sure you approve it.
The first thing you’ll need to do is flash the ClockworkMod recovery image that I mentioned earlier, which can be done right in the app (it’s the first option). ROM Manager should automatically find the latest version of the right image for your phone, download, and install it - the whole process is seamless.
After that is done, you can simply use the ‘Manage and Restore Backups’, and ‘Backup current ROM’ options to, well, backup your current ROM or restore from an existing backup.
Rooting Guide for Desire HD
Desire HD ROMs
If you're bored with the look and feel of the phone then by all means customize it. Custom ROMs etc can help with that, or even just trying another Launcher like ADW EX. Make it a project to do something creative and artsy and then post your work here. Rooting will allow greater scope of what you can accomplish, like changing the system Fonts, for example.
Really though, if you're not interested in that kinda thing, i'd suggest just doing more of what the phones are designed for in the first place, which is running applications. Perhaps you might edit your OP to request a list of entertaining apps so that people can throw out suggestions?
A few time killers that i enjoy:
IMDb (For watching trailers and reading about movies)
Cracked Lite (Funny and informative articles)
Amazon Kindle (Reading books on the go)
Wimp.com (Fantastic collection of videos. Think of it as youtube's greatest hits)
Heya thanks for that reply
Well I am interested in a custom ROM, it sounds cool. Especially if it removes crap I dont need to save my battery life etc
Id like to try a new ROM, I had a go last night and installed ROM Manager but it said something about it couldnt find superuser and told me to google it lol, so I went to sleep
Now I am awake I am willing to give it a bash and would like to do it
Dont think Id be much use trying to do my own though,would rather use someone elses if Im allowed too? A very fast/power efficient/nicelooking/stable one etc.. Any you recommend?
Just doing that successfully would be a big enough project for myself as its my first time Heh
Before I go ahead and break my phone, are these instructions the correct ones for me?
Shall I do what this says to setup superuser?
pocketnow.com/android/how-to-root-your-htc-desire-hd
Sorry I just noticed you have a big massive link with a guide for rooting my phone lol
I am going to do that now then thanks
As for ROMS, for my phone, is:
[ROM] MIUI 1.9.16 v.1: Freshly Squeezed Edition™ 16/09/11
The main custom ROM for me?
Would you recommend that one, from that link you posted, that one seems to be the only main one I can see
Need abit of help, got visionary on my phone. Ticked box r/w after boot or whatever and then when I click on Temproot now, it says rooting device etc.... but then it just goes to a black screen and stays a black screen.
Is this normal or is something going wrong?
- Apparently the latest firmware doesnt allow Visionary to work. I need to downgrade to an earlier firmware? How do I do that lol
Or should I just give up and stop now?
You have to downgrade to Froyo 1.3.2 first. Follow this guide.
Here's a guide for rooting, ENG and Radio S-OFF, Flashing radio and ROM
Flashing a radio?
Um this sounds abit to risky actually for my first time.
So from what I understand is, I could successfully flash my chosen custom ROM but the radio signal for phone calls/SMS texting and stuff.... could not work ?
I dont think I want to take that risk now Ive read that
dont flash any radios the one you have will work fine also have a look around in the dev forums.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=765
Im quite happy with what Ive done, someone mentioned to do it earlier on in this topic and its basically all I wanted, just a fresh look
I changed the HTC Skin to Slate, and then used the GO Launcher and using a green + black theme, done abit of customizing. Before all this I did a hard reset on the phone too, and using JuiceDefender. I like it, happy with it, feels fresh
Thanks for all the help and advice though I do appreciate
I don't want to know how to root, I can find my answer for that on Google, however what I don't get is what it does...
I know it unlocks the device somehow, but can't I simply access everything in the system if I compile android from source and install it on the device?
I have downloaded the android source and I believe I can access every possible thing, so why is rooting needed?
If I install an app as a system app, won't it automatically have the permissions to do what I need it to do?
AFAIK rooting is for the people you'd call the end user/consumer or whatever.
If you have a new phone and want to install one of the many custom ROMs around, you simply need a rooted phone.
A custom ROM is in easy terms a custom made User Interface for the phone.
There is lot more complicated stuff going on under the hood, but in general you change the look and feel of you phone's UI.
The phone has to be rooted, because the manufacturers and net providers around pack a lot of useless crap called "bloatware" (like Samsung Shop and Samsung Play and Samsung Sing and Dance and Music and whatnot) on your phone, which often makes it slower than it can be without it.
But naturally the big corps don't want you to be able to get rid of that **** too easily, which is why you don't have access to the system folders as a normal user.
I guess in your case it's possible that you (if you compiled android from source and installed it on your device) so to say have an already rooted phone, since Android itself is rooted by default. Like I said, the manufacturers are the ones to unroot Android in order to dictate which apps their customers might or might not use.
But I'm a noob and am not sure how you would install Android on your phone if it's new (and unrooted by default?) if you haven't rooted it before?
meh, hope that helped a bit at least...
root- you would love to do it after reading this..
Root? what is it?
it is what i call full access to our phone, flash new roms, have dual boot (example- you can have to os like ics and JB), can access the evasive /data folder which holdes the apk/setups of apps installed from playstore and many other things..
If you are concerned about warranty you can unroot your phone and give in your phone for warranty. i have given my phone for warranty like this.
The most important thing i like about root is that i can fix my phone myself (if it is a software problem). any other question please ask, and i will answer it.
Thanks if helped!
I don't have the time for development anymore. I used to play with stuff like that years ago, but life has taken me away from it. I'd still like to be able to access everything on my phone and play with custom roms, and root lets me do that. The end consumer comment is a good one.
As for to root or not root, I tell most people who ask me to root for them what they use their phone for and explain what they would get out of rooting, and explain the risks involved. Seems that people who understand what rooting does are able to do it themselves, and the ones that ask you to do it for them usually decide against it after hearing "there is a tiny chance that your phone could get bricked" lol
If you just want to play emulators etc, how would you benefit from rooting?
IMO rooting is very useful if you want to keep touching system things in a stock rom, optimizing and debloating it, installing other people ROMs, etc... I believe that if you compile your own flavour of android and find no restriction doing whatever you want, you don't need to.
Android phone without root is nothing
McFex said:
AFAIK rooting is for the people you'd call the end user/consumer or whatever.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
:good:
McFex said:
But I'm a noob and am not sure how you would install Android on your phone if it's new (and unrooted by default?) if you haven't rooted it before?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some phones can just be flashed (for example via usb) which gives you full control, others can be cracked.
Hello to all. I am new to the form and new to smartphones. I just retired my old Motorola flip phone and bought a used Samsung Galaxy S4 SGH-I537 with Lollipop 5.0.1 installed. I am 68 years young, enjoy learning and dislike companies that watch my every move and dictate what is installed on devices that I own. I build (assemble parts) my own computers and consider myself "handy" around computers but will stop shout of "tech-savvy".
I have been searching and learning and right now I am on overload with all the info / knowledge I have been reading. To the best of my knowledge this phone, mainly because of Lollipop is not root able at this time. At least not with automated software which I would prefer. Now my question which after searching I did not find an answer. Is there a PC installed software that allows control of this phone. I want to safely remove bloat ware, pack up and other related maintenance duties.
I have read, on this forum and others about all the apps I can install on the phone like SD Maid, Titanium, Root Explorer and so many more. I am reluctant to install all of those for two reasons. I am installing a bunch of apps to cleanup my phone, not sure if that makes sense, second, working with a small screen and small keyboard seems like a recipe for mistakes / disaster.
So, is there a PC application available (paid is fine) or not? I am running Windows 7 64
Thank you all.
Mike
hammyj said:
Hello to all. I am new to the form and new to smartphones. I just retired my old Motorola flip phone and bought a used Samsung Galaxy S4 SGH-I537 with Lollipop 5.0.1 installed. I am 68 years young, enjoy learning and dislike companies that watch my every move and dictate what is installed on devices that I own. I build (assemble parts) my own computers and consider myself "handy" around computers but will stop shout of "tech-savvy".
I have been searching and learning and right now I am on overload with all the info / knowledge I have been reading. To the best of my knowledge this phone, mainly because of Lollipop is not root able at this time. At least not with automated software which I would prefer. Now my question which after searching I did not find an answer. Is there a PC installed software that allows control of this phone. I want to safely remove bloat ware, pack up and other related maintenance duties.
I have read, on this forum and others about all the apps I can install on the phone like SD Maid, Titanium, Root Explorer and so many more. I am reluctant to install all of those for two reasons. I am installing a bunch of apps to cleanup my phone, not sure if that makes sense, second, working with a small screen and small keyboard seems like a recipe for mistakes / disaster.
So, is there a PC application available (paid is fine) or not? I am running Windows 7 64
Thank you all.
Mike
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sir..
First of all if you want to remove ur bloatware..etc then Root is must....
U can search the forum how to root ur device.. U will definitely find a way...
And the second thing if you want to control your device via pc... Like handling calls,msgs,data transfer...
Then Airdroid is the best option for you...
Hope this helps...
IF I HELPED U THEN HIT THE THANKS BUTTON
Hello guys, as you probably see I'm new at this forums, there's only one reason I joined and is because I own the BLU STUDIO X5 (S390U) since while ago.
I noticed that this phone has built-in somewhat thing of malware on the system APKs of it. What do I mean? Don't matter how many times you do a clean, use anti-malware apps, hard-reset, even flashing to a new stock ROM or a CROM made from the original one: The problem is going to persist.
So... Tell us, which would be the solution? Well I was analysing all the possibilities, even evolving a CROM of it, however this infection it seems to be part of other APKs components, as it is visible through Anti-MalwareBytes, that Settings.APK is corrupted with it.
The solution it seems to be easy but it could be complex, even knowing that other APKs could be infected but are not listed on the scanns: Erasing Settings.APK and try to replace it with a non-infected one, but this is complex as I said.
Before I continue I need to explain what this infection does: After you use the smartphone for first time (counting resets, flashes, etc.) the smartphone is just good, even if your not using internet.
After sometime you will notice some new apps installed on your smartphone, what this infection does is to install them under what it could be called a "Silence mode", PlayStore is not needed to download such apps, either a Web Browser.
But, hey, this doesn't sound bad as it just sounds annoying lad... Aye, this sounds as if the problem is only something redundantly annoying, but not is only that, this malware is found as a Hijack and doesn't sound bad too, however, if someone with enough knowledge knows how to manage a Hijack it can even steal info from your smartphone.
But probably you're thinking, well you can fix it not allowing Unknown Sources APKs to install on it, well...
This is what it takes me to the second point of it: This malware changes the settings of your smartphone whatever the times it wants by itself, don't matter which app you use to not allow this change by itself, it is going to do it anyway.
But why? It seems that the infection has Root Access, what this mean is that it has a higher level access (is running under an Administrator mode).
And we're back again to the solution, you'll think: Maybe if I root it and replace the Settings.APK is going to be fixed, well is not that easy, apart of wasting your time, the smartphone can be even more vulnerable and unstable.
The best solution that is going to work and that's why I posted this here:
To fix this the Stock ROM must be re-built from zero. I'd do this on my own, the problem is that I'm not an advanced user, and I still learning programming and coding at my degree, every help with this would be flawlessly.
SO! I've escaped the blue bubble cult! And even though I really enjoyed jailbreak tweaks (what are even the equivalent of tweaks on android? lol) and theming on IOS, I don't really even know where to begin looking for info on doing similar things with android, and more specifically my oneplus 6, I'm excited but it's all a bit overwhelming. Any help? Any recommendations on where to begin?
Spectr7615 said:
SO! I've escaped the blue bubble cult! And even though I really enjoyed jailbreak tweaks (what are even the equivalent of tweaks on android? lol) and theming on IOS, I don't really even know where to begin looking for info on doing similar things with android, and more specifically my oneplus 6, I'm excited but it's all a bit overwhelming. Any help? Any recommendations on where to begin?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly, the first step for you is to figure out what exactly you want to do. Jumping headfirst to things on this OnePlus 6 without a gameplan sounds like a recipe for hard brick.
tabletalker7 said:
Honestly, the first step for you is to figure out what exactly you want to do. Jumping headfirst to things on this OnePlus 6 without a gameplan sounds like a recipe for hard brick.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd just like to manipulate the UI, similar to some of the tweaks on IOS. I haven't used the phone enough to want to change much of its core functionality yet... So mostly surface level things for now. I also figure that would be a good place to start in terms of difficulty and knowledge as well.
Spectr7615 said:
I'd just like to manipulate the UI, similar to some of the tweaks on IOS. I haven't used the phone enough to want to change much of its core functionality yet... So mostly surface level things for now. I also figure that would be a good place to start in terms of difficulty and knowledge as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tweaking the UI is seriously as simple as going to the google play store and downloading a launcher. No need to do anything drastic yet buddy. If I may, I would recommend "Nova Launcher". The free version on the play store will give you plenty of options to change your UI and I have been using it for years on several different phones. Forgive me but I know nothing about IOS - a closed source operating system on an item I payed money and purchased to use for my own desires seems silly to me.
tabletalker7 said:
Tweaking the UI is seriously as simple as going to the google play store and downloading a launcher. No need to do anything drastic yet buddy. If I may, I would recommend "Nova Launcher". The free version on the play store will give you plenty of options to change your UI and I have been using it for years on several different phones. Forgive me but I know nothing about IOS - a closed source operating system on an item I payed money and purchased to use for my own desires seems silly to me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, it's one of many reasons I left after years. They made it increasingly more difficult to even sustain a jailbreak, on a device I overpaid for.. but I digress lol. Thanks for that tip, I remember using nova launcher years ago on one of my old galaxy phones, so I'll start there.
Spectr7615 said:
Yeah, it's one of many reasons I left after years. They made it increasingly more difficult to even sustain a jailbreak, on a device I overpaid for.. but I digress lol. Thanks for that tip, I remember using nova launcher years ago on one of my old galaxy phones, so I'll start there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While I will happily walk you through the whole unlock bootloader, install TWRP, and obtain root access process for this phone, if you have been away from android for a long time you will find it much more difficult than it was on your old galaxy phone, so why go there with no real reason behind it.
tabletalker7 said:
While I will happily walk you through the whole unlock bootloader, install TWRP, and obtain root access process for this phone, if you have been away from android for a long time you will find it much more difficult than it was on your old galaxy phone, so why go there with no real reason behind it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've just decided to pretty much go through my jailbroken phone and see just what I'd like to carry from that setup over into my oneplus 6. Fortunately, most of system tweaks I had made on my iphone are baked into android already, so it's really coming down to theming as I look at it deeper. However some tweaks I used to use might require (please correct me if I'm wrong). For example, I used a tweak on my iphone that allowed me to create gestures. Plugging in headphones would open my music app, double pressing the power button turned on my flashlight, it was highly customizable, things like that.
Honestly if you are rocking OP6 just root with magisk, grab TWRP and that's it. Then explore your magisk module options, add adaway for systemwide ad blocker, download magisk youtube vanced that blocks ads and let you download directly , what else.... Substratum for theming ....
As others are getting at, take it one step at a time. Android gives you more flexibility than your old phone did, so you'll enjoy that. Rooting will give you further options.. I agree with the poster who said to try launchers. You can change the look of your phone in pretty dramatic ways with them. Different ones have different benefits. I use Action Launcher most of the time. There are lots of them and they can change the look and feel of your phone a lot without doing anything permanent or potentially damaging to your device. Change launchers and whatever you did with the last one is no longer visible. Go back to the stock Oxygen one at any time if you like.
If you like gestures, Oxygen gives you some. Other launchers, including the aforementioned Nova and Action do, too, albeit not necessarily the exact same ones. GMD Gestures takes it much further, but that requires root. It used to be one of the first things I installed on my phones and tablets. Navigation Gestures uses a different approach, more limited, but it doesn't require root.
Rooting requires unlocking your phone and flashing Magisk. This is not hard to do, but you need to connect your phone to your computer and use a command line to enable some of it. The procedure is simple enough, but if you haven't done it, it might seem daunting at first. But you've jailbroken, so you will probably be fine with all this. There are pitfalls with each device, which you can read about at length here in this phone's part of XDA.
Read up, take your time, and if you do root, make sure to read the guides carefully and do all the steps. Missing things or doing them out of order can cost you sometimes.
youre in for a surprise, enjoy the ride
I'm going to echo what some others have said and suggest you take it slow. I was jailbreaking from the 3G days so I know what you're thinking about doing. My wife still has an iPhone, and trust me, there are great many things you can do in terms of tweaks and theming without ever thinking about rooting. I'm a Nova Launcher loyalist as well, but there are dozens of great launchers out there. Try a bunch out, play around with themes, wallpapers, and icons to get a look you like, then start thinking about rooting.
Unlocking and rooting OP phones is much more straightforward than any other Android phones besides Pixels, so when you're ready to start, it's not that challenging. However – especially if you're coming from Samsung – forget everything you think you know and start reading the guides posted here. There is unfortunately a fair amount of bad and less-than-ideal information floating around about this phone. I'd recommend starting with these:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-6/how-to/guide-noobs-guide-to-b-partitions-op6-t3816123
https://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-6/how-to/guide-how-to-install-official-twrp-t3801558
https://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-6/how-to/oneplus-6-unlock-bootloader-flash-twrp-t3792643 [note that some of the info in this thread is obsolete/incorrect, so refer to the two above in any conflicts, but it's good for the very basics]
There are pre-rooted boot images you can use to gain root without getting custom recovery like twrp. But you will need to unlock your bootloader first. Like everyone else said, Android is much more flexible compared to iOS when it comes to customization.
The main reason why I rooted in the first place was to get Adaway which removes ads from your phone. Also YouTube Vanced like someone mentioned which removes ads from youtube videos.
Systemless root like Magisk which does not touch systemfiles is the way to go if you are gonna root your phone in the future.
It is very, very easy to brick your phone if you are not careful. Read the guides here on xda, check what OxygenOS version you are have and so on. Do not try to flash a older version, that will brick your phone.
A small tweak you can try right now is to first enable developer options by tapping your Build number under About phone in settings. From there, scroll down til you see something about animation (should be under Drawing). Set the three settings to either off or 0.5. That should speed things up.
Maybe you should NOT root your device and stick with stock save us all some headaches.
I come from an Jailbroken iPhone as well. I can do pretty much everything I could on my iPhone except see the amount of battery cycles and current wear.
Xposed has more modules than you'll know what to do with.
Combine that with all the customizations you can do without root like launchers, full UI and app theming with substratum, custom ROMs, magisk modules, TWRP flashable zips for some mods, etc.
There's SO much stuff you can tweak
Xposed has more modules than you'll know what to do with.
Combine that with all the customizations you can do without root like launchers, full UI and app theming with substratum, custom ROMs, magisk modules, TWRP flashable zips for some mods, etc.
There's SO much stuff you can tweak
Cydia -> Magisk and optionally Xposed
Winterboard -> Substratum