While putting together a list of the best Android apps, I asked dozens of Android devotees what were their favorites, and a few fired back a short list of apps "for root users."
Rooting an Android phone is kind of like jailbreaking an iPhone. In laymen's terms, it means you're cracking open the hood to access parts of the operating system that were intentionally locked to prevent you from messing them up, or doing anything to your phone that the manufacturer or carrier doesn't want you to do. A slightly more technical explanation is to say that rooting means giving yourself "root access," or greater privileges, or administrator control, to the lowest level of Android's Linux subsystem.
Warning: If you didn't pick up on the clues above, rooting isn't for everyone and can have serious repercussions. While it's perfect legal, it can void your phone's warranty (more on that below). And if you don't know what you're doing or aren't careful, you could potentially destroy your phone. Rooting also opens up more security risks because you can download apps that have access to files that would normally be hidden from them.
