• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Root should i root?

J

July03

Newbie
Hello all, first of all: I'm a noob so I appologize for all my mistakes (first forum second thread) I usually buy my apps but I found out that my lg optimus m does not have the same apps.as my friends with better phones. So I started downloading apk. But they don't run on my phone! If I root my phone will I be able too? If not - what is rooting?
What do?
Pros/cons?
Should I root?
Is it like jailbreaking? (I jailbroke my ipodtouch once to get cracked apps.
Sorry for my noob questions :/
 
I answered your questions about apps in your other thread. :)

Rooting isn't like jailbreaking. Think of it in terms of Windows users. Our phones come to us with Limited User set by default. Rooting basically upgrades us to Administrator level. We can sideload apps without root access, but some apps may require you to have root access to allow them to do certain things.
 
At the moment you have no 'need' for it. It all depends on your personal preference and experience with the phone. As time goes on, you may encounter something you want to do and need root then. When that time comes, we'll be here :).
 
This is my first rooted phone and I would answer ya question with a HELL YEAH u should root. It opens up everything. Save memory, custom roms, the overall performance of the phone. Everything
 
July03 said:
I usually buy my apps but I found out that my lg optimus m does not have the same apps.as my friends with better phones. So I started downloading apk. But they don't run on my phone! If I root my phone will I be able too? If not - what is rooting?
Click to expand...

There might be something else going on here. Where are you getting the files to install? If you are loading them from a SD card or ones mailed to you or something, then maybe you just need to change a setting. In Settings, go to Applications and make sure that "Unknown Sources" is checked. Be careful what you install though because some APKs found on websites are full of viruses and allowing them to install is bad. Just be sure what you are installing is clean. You might also be trying to install apps that your phone just cannot handle, such as things that require Flash. A couple examples of apps you cannot run on this phone are Google Earth and Firefox.
 
Ok thank you all so far. But for example, I do not know what these things are that you speak of. What are/is -

Bloatware
cutom roms
adb
recovery

in other words, how can i learn to do stuff and learn about it? Lol this is pretty frustrating.
 
July03 said:
Ok thank you all so far. But for example, I do not know what these things are that you speak of. What are/is -

Bloatware
cutom roms
adb
recovery

in other words, how can i learn to do stuff and learn about it? Lol this is pretty frustrating.
Click to expand...

Bloatware - The pre-installed stuff that you might not need (Loopt, Easy WiFi, Uno, MyExtras, Boingo, Etc)

cutom roms - advanced thing that is not necessary and not needed for you at this point

adb - Another launcher that replaces LG Home. Other examples are Go Launcher and Launcher Pro. These do not require root access. You use the Home selector to switch between them.

recovery - advanced thing that is not necessary and not needed for you at this point
 
UKCatFan said:
Bloatware - The pre-installed stuff that you might not need (Loopt, Easy WiFi, Uno, MyExtras, Boingo, Etc)

cutom roms - advanced thing that is not necessary and not needed for you at this point

adb - Another launcher that replaces LG Home. Other examples are Go Launcher and Launcher Pro. These do not require root access. You use the Home selector to switch between them.

recovery - advanced thing that is not necessary and not needed for you at this point
Click to expand...
That might be what is being talked about, though I am under the impression it is the android debug bridge, part of the android sdk. Its purpose is to allow you to access and run your phone from your computer.
Using it you can install/remove applications, you can add/delete/change files on the phone. Your phone is basically a small underpowered computer, and underpowered is subjective for what they do they are plenty powerful.
And as computers they run an Operating System and adb allows you to manage that operating system using a real keyboard among other things.
 
new optimus said:
That might be what is being talked about, though I am under the impression it is the android debug bridge, part of the android sdk. Its purpose is to allow you to access and run your phone from your computer.
Using it you can install/remove applications, you can add/delete/change files on the phone. Your phone is basically a small underpowered computer, and underpowered is subjective for what they do they are plenty powerful.
And as computers they run an Operating System and adb allows you to manage that operating system using a real keyboard among other things.
Click to expand...


Yeah, I think he meant ADW. ADB is exactly as you stated.
 
Now to get back to the original question because we might be able to help. Give us the names of some of the apps you tried to install that didn't work. Also tell us how you were trying to get them (i.e. Market, downloaded from website, etc.) Rooting might have nothing to do with the apps you want.
 
UKCatFan said:
Now to get back to the original question because we might be able to help. Give us the names of some of the apps you tried to install that didn't work. Also tell us how you were trying to get them (i.e. Market, downloaded from website, etc.) Rooting might have nothing to do with the apps you want.
Click to expand...
Original question was asked here: http://androidforums.com/lg-optimus-m/354839-can-my-lg-optimus-m-play-better-games.html. It better explains what they were trying to do. Feel free to add on over there if you have any other notes or tips.
 
Darnell0216 said:
Original question was asked here: http://androidforums.com/lg-optimus-m/354839-can-my-lg-optimus-m-play-better-games.html. It better explains what they were trying to do. Feel free to add on over there if you have any other notes or tips.
Click to expand...


Ah ha, now i am up to speed. To the OP, since you are new to forums i will be nice. It is generally not highly thought of when you start more than one thread for the same problem/ question. You should keep it going with new related questions as later posts. When you have multiples, it can lead to confusion and make it less likely that you get the best responses. This is generally a fairly nice place. Some boards will humiliate you for doing things like that.
 
Thank you all for your advice! especially telling me about re posts. Sorry! Thank you for understanding that i am new to all this!!!!! Ok so should I delete this post? Oh and to answer the question above, I tried downloading 3 games (spider man total mayhem, gangstar: vindication, and modern combat) what I did try to download them through market but they weren't there! So I went to 4shared, downloaded them via wi-fi. Downloaded an app called astro or something (learned it all on youtube lol). I then installed the app and it would open and then it would say it would need to install some files on my phone. When it would download they would do different things. The gangstar would force close. The spider man would show me a video and then close. And the modern combat would open kind of ok. Like when i would click new game i would have to click it a little off. Then when the first mission would load, it wouldn't start. Like it would just show me mission objectives and then freeze. So is there anything i can do to maybe "trick" it into thinking i have the right setup, or maybe i can do something else to install these apps.
 
As I mentioned, if it's not visible in the Market it's for a reason, usually incompatibility due to hardware requirements. The misalignment of Modern Combat (2?) is an example of a game not tailored to our screen size. It also list a small amount of compatible phones mostly with better hardware.

There's nothing that can be done at a basic or intermediate level to make incompatible apps work. It's often just not meant to be. There are rare cases where something can be done, and you'll usually find these "modded" items on the XDA forums. Recently they managed to unlock the Netflix app. The first version ran poorly on our phone. I haven't tried the latest release yet.

[Edit]: Android Market for PC now displays whether or not an item is compatible with the device(s) connected to your account. This should help you in future compatibility questions :).
 
Thank you very much Darnell and everyone else who answered. I am glad for all your input, sorry for being such a noob, and sad that I can't have better games. Oh well no biggie, looks like i'll just have to keep relying on Polarbit :/ .... lol
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom