Android Magazine 58 - 2015 UK

DroidSuppor t

Can I root

my budget

tablet?

IhaveatabletthatIneedtoroot,but

itwon’tevenletmewritetothe

external SD card. I have done a lot of

Googling, but no joy. Any advice

wouldbemuchappreciated.Model:

IT-1101-QUAD, Android version: 4.4.2.

Phil Davidson

A

Hi Phil. We searched

and searched for

information on how to

root this tablet, but it was a

struggle to even fi nd this

particular model listed

any where. The problem with

budget tablets is that they are

often built to a price, which

means that the hardware is

behind what you may expect

Howsafeis

Android?

Ihavejustboughtan

Android phone and am

worried by all of the

scarestoriesIhavereadon

the web. Are there really

thousandsofappsthatcan

stealmydataandisthe

platform safe in general? I am

starting to wonder if I would

be better off using an iPhone,

so some convincing words

wouldbenicetohear.

k

Marie.We c a n

derstand your

cerns because certain

ts of the press seem to

e w riting about

droid security issues,

the reality is that you

efullcontrolover

w secure your phone is

dGooglehasdonealot

work making the

droidplatformassafe

possible. We will

hlight some of the

ys you can ensure that

rdataissafeatall

es and because most

is common sense,

should not have to do

ch work to ease your

ries. Android is open

form, which is why it

o customisable and so

lsuitedtomillionsof

ple,butthisdoesnot

etomeanthatitis

afeinanymajorway.

ou treat your device

h the same care as

would any other

mputer, you will know

ctly what to do and

at logical precautions

akewithyourdata.

A

today and, consequently, they

tend to have an older version of

Android loaded. A preference to

bundle a bespoke app store is

also common which causes all

sorts of other problems and so

all of this comes together to

make it much more diffi cult to

customise the dev ice. For once

we are stumped and while it is

likely technically possible, the

potential downsides are great

without full knowledge of the

device in question. Our advice

would be to purchase a branded

tablet if you can.

Android Pay

and the

Moto X Play

I need to upgrade my Nexus 4. I

would buy the Moto G 2015

tomorrow. But no NFC! I would buy

the Wileyfox tomorrow. No NFC! No

I fi nd I am so torn between the Mot

X Play and the Nexus 5X. Just one

question for you, if I buy the Moto X

Play, will Android pay work without a

fi ngerprint scanner?

Harry Francis

A

Hi Harry. Good news!

You do not need a

fi ngerprint scanner to

use A ndroid Pay because you

can also use a PIN code, patter

or password to authenticate

who you are. Prov ided you hav

an Android phone that is

running at least version 4.4

and has NFC, A ndroid Pay wil

work exactly as you want it to

so it’s possible that this will

increase your phone purchas

options. It uses tokenisation

ensure top-notch security an

the rest will be down to you

to ensure that nobody is

aware of your security setup

and that they do not get hold

of your phone. Choosing

bet ween the Nexus 5X and

the Moto X Play is likely the

hardest decision you will

face here, but as they both

have NFC and can run

A ndroid Pay, you will be

upgrading your Android

experience in a big way no

matter which one you choose

s safe provided you

right precautions

You can’t root every Android device, at

least not easily and without risk

Take a look at our review of the

Nexus 5X in this issue and

hopefully it will give you some

pointers as to which device is

best for you.

Android Pay works on many different

devices, even without a fi ngerprint scanner

“You will

know exactly

what to do?”