**Getting Root on Your Phone: A Comprehensive Guide**
First and foremost, I want to tell you a little bit about how you get root access on your phone before we dive into the details. Unfortunately, not all phones come with root access built-in, especially those from popular manufacturers like Samsung or Google. However, there are ways to obtain root access, which I'll outline below.
**Method 1: Unlocking the Boot Loader and Installing Super User Binaries**
One way to get root access is by unlocking the boot loader on your phone and installing the Super User (SU) binaries. This method is relatively easy and straightforward. You can unlock the boot loader and install the SU binaries using a custom recovery like TWRP or CWM, which are available for most Android devices. Once you have these tools installed, you can access the root shell and gain elevated privileges.
**Method 2: Installing Android with Root Built-in**
Another way to get root access is by installing a version of Android that has root built-in. For example, the CyanogenMod (CM) version of Android has root access enabled by default. If you're using this version of Android, you can simply follow the instructions on the CM website to install it on your phone. This method requires some technical know-how and a stable internet connection.
**Method 3: Exploiting Vulnerabilities**
The third method is more complex and involves exploiting vulnerabilities in the Android system to gain root access temporarily. Every program, including those used by space agencies like NASA, has bugs or vulnerabilities that can be exploited. These exploits are essentially pieces of code that take advantage of these vulnerabilities to gain unauthorized access to a system. Root systems often use these exploits to gain elevated privileges.
In this method, you need to find a vulnerability in the Android system and create an exploit for it. This process requires technical expertise and knowledge of programming languages like Java or C++. Once you have created an exploit, you can install it on your phone and gain root access temporarily. However, this method is not recommended as it involves running code that may be malicious or unintended.
**The Trust Issue**
When considering these methods, there's a significant trust issue at play. You're essentially giving someone with no proven track record the ability to modify your system and potentially cause harm. This raises questions about who you should trust when installing root access on your phone.
**Conclusion**
In conclusion, getting root access on your phone is possible through various methods, including unlocking the boot loader and installing Super User binaries or exploiting vulnerabilities in the Android system. However, these methods come with risks and require a significant amount of technical expertise. It's essential to weigh the benefits against the potential risks before deciding whether to pursue root access.
**Stay Connected**
If you have any questions or comments about this article, please feel free to reach out to me on the Android Authority forums. I'll respond to your queries at least once a day, and if you'd like to discuss the topic further, you can also join our community of Android enthusiasts. Don't forget to subscribe to the Android Authority YouTube channel for more in-depth analysis and guides on all things Android.
**Stay Tuned**
As always, stay tuned to Android Authority.com for the latest news, reviews, and guides on Android devices and related topics. We're your source for all things Android, and we'll keep you up-to-date with the latest developments in the world of mobile technology.
"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhello there my name is Gary Sims from Android authority now maybe you've heard the term root or rooting your phone or maybe an app that needs root access and you're not quite sure what it means well let me explain now all operating systems have the idea of system privileges that's a set of privileges that allow certain users or processes to perform tasks that are reserved for system administrators you don't want normal users doing certain things they are reserved for those who have the authority to do those things now on some operating systems this uh system set of system privileges are fine grained there are many many levels but on Linux and most Unix typee operating systems it's very black and white you are either a normal user or you are a super user who can do just about anything now traditionally the account for a super user on Linux and Unix like operating systems is root and that's where we get the term from root is basically a super user the system administrator who can perform any task now the thing about root is that once you have access to the root account you can do just about anything you like on the system you can change the system files you can change the system configuration and you can read all the data that belongs to other users on the system so if I'm on a multi-user Linux system and I have my email account and I have my personal data root can access all of those whereas normally I couldn't access what's going on in the account next to mine or another account on the system whereas root can see and read everything as it was once said with great power comes with great responsibility so of course you don't want to give root access to just about everybody and therefore on a Linux system there are a couple of mechanisms that exist to limit who has access to the root account and they are called Su which stands for substitute user or Su do now Su or substitute user basically allows a process or a user to change their user ID to that of root and when they do that they gain the Privileges of that root account now Su do is very similar what that does is it allows you to execute one command with a substitute root user so in other words it's kind of do as root or root do but they call it Su do for substitute user do connected with that original Su command now depending on which Linux system you're using and depending on how that is configured there are different ways that the authentication occurs to make sure that only those allowed to do those commands uh get the right to do them so for example on a system that uses just Su you need to know the root password uh to get into the root account on other Linux systems that use more the Su do command then maybe you need to be an authorized Su doer and maybe you need to know a password not necessarily the root password but probably your account password and those two systems mean that only those who have the privilege can execute super user commands Okay so that's the world of Linux and let's move quickly into the world of Android Now Android is built on a Linux kernel and therefore the ideas of root and of super users and normal users exist on Android as much as it does on any other Linux system now as you can imagine Google do not ship Android with root by default there is no root access for any apps because the moment an app has root access it can change the system configuration it can change the system files and it can read all the data that's associated with any app installed on the system but if you want to actually modify any system files or read the data of other apps then you need to have root access now this can be a very good thing for example there is a very popular app on the Play store called Titanium Backup rout and that is a program that allows you to back up all of your your apps onto an external SD card now it can only do that because it requires root access and once it has root access super user access it's allowed to read all the data and all the files associated with any uh app on the system including system apps if it didn't have root access it would not be able to do that so there is a positive side to having root access on your phone however there's also a negative side I could write a free game I could put it up on a play store somewhere and on a non-rooted system this game could just act quite normally but when it detects that root is available I could maybe bring up a message saying please give me root access because I need to improve the performance of the game and it will happen if you grant me root access or please grant me root access so I can upload the scores or download an update or just basically a lie that convinces the user to give that app root access and once it has root access then everything on your phone is available to that app app your PayPal account your banking information your email addresses your email password your or anything else that you've got on that phone is available and my little game could then start sending that information up to a server which I could then collect in and use for whatever purposes I want to so the fact that you have opened the door to allowing root access on the phone means that you've left a in the armor for people who want to write malware to get access to your data so of course there is an argument is root a good thing or a bad thing those that like AP like titanium uh backup root they say root is essential those that are more security conscious who realize that opening the door to root access can open the door to security breaches say root is not a good idea I wonder where you are in that debate now before we go on any further I want to tell you a little bit in a moment about how you get root on your phone but before we go any further I just want to mention that if you want to connect to me and talk to me about any of the subjects that I covered in my videos then there is a link here that you can use to go to the Android authority forums and I check that daily and I'll connect with anybody there that asks me a question about the videos that I've been doing so now let's move on how do you get root on your phone well basically there are three different ways your phone doesn't come with root OCC there might be a phone that comes out of China that has root access built into it but by default the vast majority of phones do not come with root access how do you get it well one way is you can just unlock the boot loader and install the uh super user Su binaries that need to be installed on your phone and that's quite easy another possibility is to install a version of Android that has root buil into it for example Cogen mod has root built into it already so if you can find a version of that for your phone you you can follow the instructions on their website and you can install uh Android on there with root pre-baked into it or the third possibility is you need to exploit a vulnerability in uh Android that gives access to root temporarily so that then the various binaries can be copied onto your uh phone so just let me tell you about that third one for a second basically every program in the world has bugs in it even the programs that send that they write for NASA that sends spaceships up they all have bugs in them there's nothing we can do about that we haven't found a way of fixing that yet as mankind so all programs have bugs it including Android including Windows including Linux including iOS everything's got bugs in it now sometimes those bugs can be serious and allow people to get into the system through a way that they shouldn't be allowed to get in now that's called a vulnerability now when a vulnerability allows for a program to get root access when it shouldn't have okay then people can use that to gain elevated privileges now what happens is once a vulnerability is a theory look we found this bug in this program and there's a thing called an exploit which is when someone actually takes that theory and turns it into real code that can actually use that vulnerability and many many root systems actually what they do is they take a bug in the uh Linux kernel or in the Android system and they find a way to get elevated privileges through a way they weren't meant to who threw a bug somewhere and then they write an exploit now normally of course when Google finds out about these exploits when Google finds out or Samsung finds out about them they patched them up in fact it's interesting because in the current news at the moment the FBI are trying to get access to an iPhone and I read this morning that uh they've already gained access using a third party who showed them a way to get in there and Apple's response was please tell us what is that vulnerability because they want to fix it so it doesn't appear in future iPhones and this is a ongoing battle those follow security issues this literally is happening every day with all the operating systems across the world so one way to get root is to exploit a vulnerability of course the question is do you really want to run software intentionally on your phone written by somebody who's going to intentionally break your system so they can get elevated privileges now they say they're doing it so they can install root for you but are they or are they doing something else that's a matter of trust and to trust somebody you've never met who lives halfway across the the world that could be quite difficult it certainly is for me and so there you have it my quick overview of what root is on Linux what root means to Android and how you get root on your Android phone well my name is Gary SIM from Android authority and I hope you enjoyed this video if you did please do give it it a thumbs up as I mentioned earlier there is a place over on the forums you can use this link here to connect to me over on the forums I'll read that at least once a day if You' got anything you want to ask me about the videos that I do please come over and have a chat with me there also don't forget to subscribe to Android authorities YouTube channel you can also follow me on Twitter and on other social media accounts also there are the the comments here below both on the Android Authority website and on uh YouTube where you can tell me your experiences with root what you think about root which side of the fence do you stay on the root nonroot argument and finally please do stay tuned to Android authority.com because we are your source for all things Android\n"
