XDA Developers' Android Hacker's Toolkit

Chapter 6: You’ve Become Superuser: Now What?

In this chapter:

• Popular custom ROMs that will work on several devices

• How to tweak the kernel

• Applications that run at root level

So you’ve followed the instructions in this book and have obtained root access to your device. Congratulations! It feels good to be free, doesn’t it? But freeing your device doesn’t inherently give it any super powers until you start tinkering with root-level applications and other modifications.

For most, the first step after obtaining root access is to install a custom ROM. While most custom ROMs are specific to particular devices, several are widespread, cross-platform releases. Here, we present a couple of the most commonly used multi-device ROMs currently available.

After installing a custom ROM, many venture to install a new kernel. Alternative kernels offer many potential advantages ranging from overclocking ability, better battery life and performance, to more esoteric tweaks, such as USB host functionality and sound quality enhancements.

Finally, once the kernel has been updated, many people then install root-level applications that make use of the newly obtained superuser privileges.

The fun in device hacking does not end with simply obtaining root access. Once you achieve root, you have only begun your journey in optimizing your device to fit your needs. With the proper set of customized ROMs, aftermarket kernel tweaks, and root-level applications, you can create a device that is truly ...