Android Magazine UK - Issue No. 49

A

syoumighthavenoticed,technology

developsprettyfast.It’s entirely

possible that that high-end smartphone

ortabletyouboughtayearagoisstartingto

creakalittlecomparedtonewermodels.But

insteadofchuckingitinthebininastropand

going out and buying another model, why not

trysuperchargingitwithsomeofthesehacks.

You’ll need root access and a little bit of

technologicalknow-howtoperformthem,but

with a few tweaks and pokes you’ll be able to

getsomeofthehiddenpoweroutofyour

Android phone or tablet. Over the next few

pages we’ll explain how to overclock your

device,enablingyoutogeteverydropofjuice

outofitsprocessor,talkyouthroughsomeof

the fastest ROMs available and show you how

to tweak the graphical settings of your phone

or tablet to give games a little more zing. We’ll

also walk you through some of apps that you

need to have installed if you want to get the

best performance out of your device and show

youhowtomakesurethere’snothinginthe

backgroundthat’sslowingdownyourtasks.

Hacker Zøne

Top mods and

tweaks for your

rooted device

OS

Short for ‘operating system’. Often the Android ROM will

be referred to as the OS – this just means the system

fi les on the Android device that make up your user

experience, similar to Windows, Mac OS X or Ubuntu on

a desktop computer.

ROM

Stands for ‘read-only memory’. In the context of Android,

the ROM refers to the fi les that make up the operating

system installed on your device. Gaining root privileges

allows for replacement of the standard ROM

with a custom one.

Root

‘Rooting’ your phone gives apps access to parts of the

OS that are normally hidden from consumers. This

enables you to run more powerful software and install

custom ROMs on your phone.

ROM Manager

An app available from the Android Market that enables

you to install a whole new version of your OS with a

single click. It requires a rooted phone to use and is

ideal for those new on the scene.

Titanium Backup

This app from the Market enables you to back up

everything on your phone – apps, data, settings and all.

It means that you can restore your phone to how it was,

even after you’ve updated or changed the ROM.

Unrevoked

Available from http://www.unrevoked.com, this is a

one-click tool that can be used for rooting many

popular HTC smartphones.

ADB

Stands for ‘Android Debug Bridge’. ADB is mainly used

for software development, but it also has some uses for

hacking your phone. It can be used to push fi les onto

the system folder, for instance.

Nandroid

You might come across the phrase ‘perform a Nandroid

backup’. This means using a custom recovery tool

to make a back-up image of everything currently on your

phone: OS, apps, data, etc. It’s very useful should you

wish to restore your phone to its previous state later.

Radio

‘Radio’ refers to the software on your Android device

that deals with making phone calls and data

connections. Updating your radio version can bring

better battery life and signal strength to your device.

Some ROMs require the latest radio.

Flash

The storage in your device comprises fl ash memory,

a type of solid-state storage. The terms ‘fl ash’ or

‘fl ashing’ mean installing new software onto your

device’s storage.

Get up to speed on all the terms you

will need to know when hacking

your phone

Jargon Buster

High-performance hacks to turbo boost

your phone’s speed and performance

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» How to overclock your phone

»Improve graphic quality

»Automate task

management

YOUR

ANDROID