Over the past few years, I've wavered back and forth between Rooting my main everyday devices. To then not Rooting them. To then Rooting them again and so on and so forth. But here in 2022 I actually think Rooting an Android device is potentially just as beneficial as it was a few years back. In fact my current everyday Android device other than the iPhone, the Pixel 6 is actually Rooted.
So with that in mind, I thought that I would once again compile a brand new list of 10 features and applications that make Rooting a super useful thing to do here in 2022. So with that being said, grab a drink get comfortable and let's dive in.
So to kick off the list today we have pretty much the sole reason I Root my Pixel 6 here in 2022.
Lawnchair 12
If you've not heard of it Lawnchair 12 is a third-party launcher application, but what makes it so good is that if your phone is Rooted and you have Quick Switch installed, you can actually set Lawnchair 12 as the stock default home screen launcher on Android 12 devices. And this means it gets full access to the gestural navigation system leaving all of those beautifully fluid animations intact it's like unlocking a heap of additional customization flexibility for your home screen without losing out on the fluidity that comes from using the stock launcher. Seriously as long as the team behind Lawnchair are creating up-to-date versions that work with all future iterations of Android and quick switch, then I'll most likely continue Rooting my everyday Android devices forever.
Also Read: Step by Step Guide to Install OTA Updates on Any Rooted Phone in 4 Easy Steps
Pixelated Launcher
The second reason that you might want to Root your phone is also a third-party launcher. But this one is called Pixelated launcher. As the name suggests, this app is based off the Pixel launcher itself. So you'll find that the settings menu and buttons all look really similar to the Pixel launcher. But then as with Lawnchair, not only can you use quick switch to set Pixelated launcher as the default home screen launcher but you'll also get a bunch of extra customization goodness to really help make your home screen look how you want it to.
I'd actually suggest it has more customization options compared to Lawnchair, however it's also a little buggier so certainly something to keep in mind now Material U was all the rage when Google first announced Android 12 back in 2021. But I think most of us have found it in its current state at least It's really not all that impressive.
Application Repainter
Reason number three for why you might want to Root your phone is the application Repainter, which actually takes the Material You auto Theming functionality and makes it much more customizable. The app apparently works on Samsung devices running Android 12 without Root simply by granting the gap some ADB permissions. But if you're on any other device and you want to access all of the options within Repainter, well then your only option is to grant the app Root access. But with the app set up, you can then choose from a range of color palettes. Both wallpaper based or even custom if you like and then you can take things even further by diving into the settings and playing with all of the other options on offer. It's really impressive just how many added bits of customization this app unlocks.
Also Read: Samsung Galaxy A535G Review An Almost Perfect Midrange Phone
So definitely a great reason to Root your phone. Speaking of Android 12, another controversial change was the quick settings panel and so if you're someone who would instead like the quick settings panel to change, well then having a Rooted phone is really the only way to do. So these mods come from the aptly named A12 QS mod which is pretty much a folder that just contains three mods that you can install via the Magisk manager application. And whilst the first two are pretty drastic redesigns, the third mod really only tweaks the icons themselves which is a pretty subtle difference. But the first two mods definitely look really clean and unique and they function just as well as the default notification panel. So definitely a pretty cool reason to Root your phone.
Permanently Disabling App Auto Updates
Here's another cool reason, permanently disabling app auto updates. Hear me out, you ever used an app that featured a bit of functionality or specific UI design that then for one reason or another got removed with the next update? I can think of this happening all the time with Google Chrome for example. Now you can of course search for and download the older version of the app in question via a website like apk mirror and then uncheck that auto update button via the app's Google play store listing. But I found that often the app will still sometimes update itself in the background and if you ever hit this update all button, you then have to quickly find the app you don't want to update and manually cancel it from being updated. So the solution to this issue is a Magisk module called detach. You simply download a text file and use a text editor to input what apps you want to stop from updating, then once you've made sure that that file is located in your phone's SD card folder, you install the detach module using the Magisk manager application. You then reboot your device and any of your selected apps will not only have their auto update functionality switched off, they won't even appear on the list. Super handy stuff all right.
Call Recording Option
Next up is a call recording and whilst there are some applications on the Google play store that will let you record any incoming calls, you receive none of them are quite as powerful or reliable as the aptly named Root only application called Recorder. For one, it'll record both sides of the conversation whether you have your phone set to speaker mode or not plus it'll also start and stop the recordings automatically whenever either you answer the phone or when the person on the other end of the line answers their phone. There's a plethora of settings you can play around with to further customize the experience as well. But it's a really powerful application made all the more powerful by granting it Root access.
Android Mic Fix
Speaking of phone calls, you ever find that people are often telling you that they can't really hear you on the other end of a phone call or that the audio quality sounds a bit janky or perhaps your phone never seems to register the Google assistant when you use voice activation? Well Android Mic fix is a magic module that might help to solve the problem. You just install it via Magisk and that's it. If you've got a Rooted device with microphone issues, this is definitely a module worth trying out.
Customize you Phones Power Menu
Another reason you might want to Root your device is so that you can customize your phone's power menu. This is for those in particular who really enjoyed the pretty functional power menu found on Android 11 devices who were probably a little disappointed after the Android 12 update when they realized all of that extra functionality was gone. So classic power menu is a root only application that restores the Android 11 power menu. Because it is a Root application you can even customize the power menu even further to really maximize how it looks and feels.
Also Read: OnePlus 10 ProReview Is it worth buying the price?
G Visual Mod
Next is the G Visual mod which is another Magisk module that unlocks some pretty cool system customization. The whole thing runs off a terminal emulator so make sure you have one of those installed. But once it's set up, the module will allow you to customize a whole heap of stuff related to the system UI, so you can customize the radius of lots of UI elements. You can change the height and padding the status bar and you can even customize the look of the navigation bar making it thicker or thinner, changing its transparency level and even adjusting its color among other things. Definitely a cool mod worth playing around with.
Energized Protection Mod
Finally we have Energized Protection and this is another Magisk module, but instead of unlocking extra customization like a lot of the apps on today's list. This one instead aims to make your browsing experience cleaner and less intrusive and it achieves this by consolidating several reputable filters and then it merges them into what it calls protection packs, which you can then install to eliminate adware, spam, trackers all that nasty stuff that makes browsing the web a bit of a hassle. Like G Visual mod, this module also works by using a terminal emulator so that's something to keep in mind.
Also Read: Is Handheld gamingDying with the Rise of Smartphones?
Conclusion
So there you have it, 10 reasons why I think Rooting your phone is something still worth doing here in 2022. Now if you're wondering what the potential downsides might be to Rooting a phone well, the main reason is that some banking and security-based applications stop working after your phone is Rooted. Well this is actually something that can be solved if you know how to. So we will also make a post which will showcase how to get these blocked applications working again on a Rooted phone. Aside from that, definitely feel free to let everyone know of any other additional root only apps or features people should check out down in the comments below. Thank you all very much for reading.
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