Are you generally averse to messing with a device that delivers sometimes-important phone calls? Let us argue that the process is easy and the rewards are great. For G1 and myTouch owners, especially, there are noticeable stability and speed improvements, a few great backports of software and features from the HTC Hero and Android's 1.6 Donut build, a few unique and new features from the hacker community, and—oh, yeah, did I mention the speed and stability?
Our sibling site Gizmodo took the plunge into "rooting" an Android phone with one click, and reported back that, yes, it really is just a few clicks and not all that scary to do. The standard disclaimers about the worst-case scenario of a non-functional phone, and T-Mobile/HTC's dislike of you and your warranty, still apply, but this method involves a good backup, no typed commands to misspell, and relatively little time.
How is it done? Last night, I installed "Recovery Flasher" from the Android Market (while it was still up; if it's not, you can grab it here), downloaded the highly touted CyanogenMod ROM for U.S.-based G1 and myTouch 3G phones, copied the .zip file to my SD card, then hit the two buttons in Recovery Flasher that back up your phone and enable root (i.e. complete and total) access.
After that, it was a quick "recovery mode" reboot, done by holding the home button and powering on, then hitting the main caveat: hitting the Alt+W option to wipe my system. Your entire phone OS is still backed up, if you wanted to go back to it from this recovery mode, but you'll have to start over with your apps and settings in a new ROM, it appears. That wasn't a huge deal for me, so I did the Alt+W wipe, chose to "apply any zip from SD" and selected the Cyanogen .zip file, and then my phone was reborn, asking for my Google account credentials and gradually getting back up to speed.
The process is explained in more detail at the Android and Me blog, but it was easier than jailbreaking an iPhone, hacking a Wii, and many of the other "unlocking" capers I've pulled off in my time. The whole process took about 30 minutes, most of it indirect time waiting for a file to download or the phone to reboot—good thing, too, because I was supposed to be dog-sitting at the time.
Here are our five discoveries and suggestions for Android owners considering a root of their phones, and tips for those who already have:
Android, as an alternative, open-source smartphone OS, is pure geek bait, but the hardware it's been officially released onto so far, in the U.S. at least, has been hard to love. Pushing a button and having to wait even just a second or two for something, anything to happen is a buzz kill; having to wait a second for a virtual keyboard press to show up is just plain aggravating. Using the CyanogenMOD ROM on my G1, it's definitely a better experience—not perfect and instant, but my phone seems to be actively trying to do what I want now. New browser windows snap open, the multi-part home screen doesn't lag when swiping between screens, the top "window shade" and bottom app menu don't hesitate to show me what they've got—I've been using this phone for just a few months, but I could go on and on. Cyanogen's developer himself notes that his ROM actively works the processor, RAM, and memory partitions harder, so you may get (even) less battery longevity from your phone. Having spent a late night and excited morning with this ROM, I will gladly pack a recharging cord and accept the trade-off. Photo by NathanFromDeVryEET.
After installing your custom ROM, grab this android-wifi-tether app by heading to that URL directly in your Android browser (or using the Barcode Scanner app to pick up its QR code) and clicking the .apk link. The app will ask for root access to enable and disable itself.
Once it does, that's about all there is to it. Power up your laptop, connect it by Wi-Fi or Bluetooth to G1Tether (or your similarly-named ad-hoc phone connection), and you've got a data connection where none might have existed before. It will be slower than you anticipate, useful mainly for text-based email and browsing, and not something you'd want to use heavily, lest you tip off your cellular provider to your creativity. That said, it's not restricted to web traffic only, like previously mentioned PdaNet, and it's easy to use.
The standard Android keyboard has its issues, and leading Android phone maker HTC knows it. They made their own keyboard for the HTC Hero, and the CyanogenMOD makes it available in any Android phone. Enable it by heading to Settings, Locale & Text, then turning "Touch Input" on and adjusting its spell/suggest/feedback settings.
"Better" is this editor's own opinion, though Matt Buchanan from Gizmodo agrees: The keys are "puffed up" and easier to hit, the "long press" is faster than reaching for an Alt key, once you're used to it, and the auto suggestions and replacements are, if not subtle, generally helpful. What's definitely better is the responsiveness and snappiness, which is crucial when you're blazing through text and don't want to guess what three letters you last selected.
It's not as responsive as the iPhone's iconic pinch and expand capabilities, and the browser isn't as good at adjusting the page to meet your rapid zoom demands. That said, most folks would rather press their fingers once to get a bigger view on text than tap once, click + and - buttons to get the right zoom, then re-adjust their screen position. Until Google decides to go ahead and look away from Apple's patents, we can just hope that unofficial multitouch improves from version to version.
It's not as responsive as the iPhone's iconic pinch and expand capabilities, and the browser isn't as good at adjusting the page to meet your rapid zoom demands. That said, most folks would rather press their fingers once to get a bigger view on text than tap once, click + and - buttons to get the right zoom, then re-adjust their screen position. Until Google decides to go ahead and look away from Apple's patents, we can just hope that unofficial multitouch improves from version to version.
G1 users don't get the same built-in apps as myTouch owners, and myTouch fans can't grab all the neat stuff from the HTC Hero, not yet available in the U.S., or the Android Donut build not yet distributed by carriers. That's a strange condition for a phone built on openness. Cyanogen and other custom ROMs cherry-pick those neat exclusives and deliver them to anyone who wants them. The best of the pack, from a phone use standpoint, is the Power Control widget, which turns Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, data syncing, and screen brightness into simple toggles. Those bemoaning the lack of Microsoft Exchange support on G1s should check out Work Email, and anyone needing to do a little doc browsing can get it done with Quickoffice and PDF Viewer. There are other software goodies to geek out over—a full terminal emulator!—but those are the highlights. Original Post
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