A
Android Question
Guest
What does it mean to reboot your android phone ? Does it erase everything?
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Rukbat
Extreme Android User
Hmmm. What does it really mean? Or how do most people misuse the word?
All it really means is restarting the phone or turning it off then turning it on. Which doesn't lose anything.
People use it to mean doing a factory reset (which removes anything you did since you opened the box), flashing a ROM, all sorts of things that it doesn't mean.
But all it really means is making the operating system start (boot) again. Restarting does it without shutting the power off, turning the phone off, then on, does it BY shutting the power off. In a desktop or laptop, some peripherals "get stuck" (things like a wifi adapter or sound card) and turning the power off makes the hardware restart too, so you do a "power cycle" - a reboot by turning the power off. But in a cellphone, it's rare that you need to power cycle. It's even rare - unless you're a developer and made an error - that you have to reboot. If the phone gets stuck, freezes, something's wrong, and if it's in warranty it should go back to be fixed or replaced. (If it's not in warranty, you have to ask yourself if it's worth putting any money into this phone, how much longer were you planning on keeping it, etc.)
But if you're just using the phone, with well-written apps or without running any extra apps, you shouldn't have to reboot. Unless you run the phone 24/7/365 - some phones just need to restart every week or so. If you turn it off every night, that's plenty.
All it really means is restarting the phone or turning it off then turning it on. Which doesn't lose anything.
People use it to mean doing a factory reset (which removes anything you did since you opened the box), flashing a ROM, all sorts of things that it doesn't mean.
But all it really means is making the operating system start (boot) again. Restarting does it without shutting the power off, turning the phone off, then on, does it BY shutting the power off. In a desktop or laptop, some peripherals "get stuck" (things like a wifi adapter or sound card) and turning the power off makes the hardware restart too, so you do a "power cycle" - a reboot by turning the power off. But in a cellphone, it's rare that you need to power cycle. It's even rare - unless you're a developer and made an error - that you have to reboot. If the phone gets stuck, freezes, something's wrong, and if it's in warranty it should go back to be fixed or replaced. (If it's not in warranty, you have to ask yourself if it's worth putting any money into this phone, how much longer were you planning on keeping it, etc.)
But if you're just using the phone, with well-written apps or without running any extra apps, you shouldn't have to reboot. Unless you run the phone 24/7/365 - some phones just need to restart every week or so. If you turn it off every night, that's plenty.