Why Root My Android Phone?

A question I get probably at least 10 times a week is, “Why root my Android phone?”

First of all, what is rooting?

Rooting means you can get “full root access” to your Android operating system, allowing you to do whatever you want, install new ROMs, modify the operating system, and a whole lot more.

Why root does not come with phones?

Well, mostly because carriers (especially U.S. carriers like Sprint, Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T) want full control over their users, not the other way around. By locking down Android smartphones, carriers are able to do evil things like charge you twice for the internet you paid for already by introducing BS mobile hotspot plans that cost you $20-30/month extra.

Now, that’s probably one big reason to root your Android smartphone because you shouldn’t have to pay carriers TWICE for the same internet off your ONE phone! And this is just common sense but for those of you who have been paying for it for years you just don’t get it.

As an example, most countries other than U.S. offer mobile hotspot/wifi tethering as part of the phone’s feature, no extra cost added. In fact, America is probably one of the only countries in the world where your hard money goes into some idiot executive’s bank account.

There’s also many other cool benefits from rooting your phone such as being able to overclock/underclock your phone, get twice better battery life, enable Cisco VPN, connect USB peripheral devices such as your USB flash drive/hard disk, and its literally endless.

On the other hand, if you get an iPhone, you might be able to jailbreak it but you can get maybe 10% of what Android phones have to offer because Apple is a close-system where system code isn’t open source like Android is.

It all really boils down to whether you need those extra features and a lot of people simply root to get free tether. As for me, that’s how I got started, I wanted to tether my off my phone whenever I was going on a trip but I would never want to pay the extra monthly fees because I don’t go on trips all the time. Of course, there’s going to be people who abuse the system and download gigs of bittorrent off their phone’s internet connection but the point is, it’s not illegal nor is it illegal for carriers to charge you twice.

Anyways, just sayin’, rooting your phone can give you wings.

Have a question?

Please post all your questions at the new Android Rehab Center at HighOnAndroid Forum, thank you for understanding!

Join the HighOnAndroid VIP Fans List for free help from Max and discounts on Android accessories.

Max Lee

Max Lee is the founder of HighOnAndroid.com. Max makes Android tutorials and review videos for people who want to get high on Android over at his YouTube channel and Korean YouTube channel.