Jailbreaking an iPhone shares striking similarities with rooting an Android phone because both procedures involve modifying a mobile operating system (OS) to optimize its performance.
In this post, we’ll show you how to jailbreak an Android phone. The rooting process has to do with obtaining access to restricted aspects of your phone’s software including system files, commands, and folder locations.
When you gain root access to your smartphone, you can enjoy tons of benefits, but there are also some serious risks associated with the process.
If you know how to jailbreak an Android phone the right way, you can make it work much faster, extend the battery life, customize the user interface, remove bloatware, and optimize its performance generally.
Let’s examine techniques to root any Android phone or tablet without a computer.
Disclaimer: Before you jailbreak your smartphone, we recommend you first know the risks involved as explained in the heart of this tutorial post.
Can You Jailbreak an Android Phone?
Strictly speaking, jailbreaking is different from rooting. Jailbreaking an iPhone involves bypassing many kinds of prohibitions in iOS — as designed by Apple — for end-users.
The procedure allows you to modify the OS, install mobile apps not officially approved by Apple by sideloading them, and lets you operate the device as an administrator (in a process known as rooting), and no longer as an end-user.
However, rooting, which entails granting users greater privileges as an administrator, is only an aspect of jailbreaking. Nevertheless, many people use both terms synonymously.
A crucial fact to know as regards learning how to jailbreak an Android phone is, that the act is tantamount to cracking the OS, and that engenders lots of changes in your handset.
What Happens if You Jailbreak Your Android Phone?
Rooting methods are carried out to gain access to aspects of the Android OS that are usually restricted to the end-user. In a rooted phone, you’ve administrator-level privileges that offer control over the system files, commands, and folder locations of the device.
Operating the smartphone in this manner as an administrator — and not an end-user — you can install and launch apps from unknown sources, customize your phone’s UI to your taste, extend the battery life, use different custom ROMs, and many other benefits.
But if you don’t have much experience or knowledge on how to jailbreak an Android phone, your device can have serious issues after rooting it.
Listed below are some of such problems:
- When rooting goes wrong, your handset can turn into a useless brick
- A number of rooting apps (especially those from unknown sources) are malicious
- Jailbreaking makes your mobile device more vulnerable to hacking, malware, and other threats
- Rooting makes your phone’s warranty become void
How to Jailbreak an Android Phone Without a Computer
If you’re still keen about rooting your smartphone or tablet despite the risks involved outlined above, before starting the procedure, consider taking the following steps to save the data on the device in case any problem occurs:
- Unlock Bootloader (also known as Boot manager) on your PC
- Check your phone’s model number
- Backup all the data on your handset in Settings
- Enable the USB Debugging option
- If your phone’s battery is low, charge it fully before you start the rooting process
- Enable Install from Unknown Sources in Settings > App management > Special access
When you root your Android phone with a computer, the process can be quite complicated. Fortunately, there are mobile apps designed to allow you to jailbreak smartphones with ease without using a PC.
Here are some of the best root apps on the market for Android smartphones:
- One-Click Root
- KingRoot
- iRoot
- And others
How to Root Your Android Device With One Click Root
Designed with a neat UI, this app is a popular tool that allows you to jailbreak your smartphone or tab with just a couple of steps:
- Download and install One Click Root from Google Play Store
- Open the mobile app
- Press Rooted Device and tap Scan Now
- Wait a few seconds for the app to check whether your phone can be rooted or not
- If the answer is in the affirmative, press Root
Steps to Check if Your Phone Is Rooted or Not
Having carried out the procedure above to root devices, the next thing is to confirm whether your handset has been jailbroken or not:
- Download and install the Root Checker mobile app from Google Play Store
- After installing it, tap on it to open it
- The app will request your permission for some operations; grant it
- Devices that have been properly rooted will display a successful message
- If your phone isn’t rooted, you might need to try other root apps
Is It Legal to Root an Android Phone?
The laws affecting rooting — or jailbreaking — smartphones and tabs vary from one country to the other. Before you root your Android phone, consider checking the legality of the operation in your country.
Lots of Android phone manufacturers allow end-users to root their phones legally. However, in some countries, the laws guiding the rooting of smartphones are different from those of tablets.
To learn tips on how to improve your Android’s performance and customize it, you can check resources created by XDA developers online on the subject matter.
Final Thoughts
By learning how to jailbreak an Android phone, you can gain root access to the device. Rooting offers you lots of benefits, including higher smartphone performance, longer battery life, the ability to customize your handset’s UI, remove bloatware, and many others.
But when the procedure goes wrong, your phone can have serious issues such as bricking, attacks from hackers, and malware, among other problems. To root your device easily without a computer, you can use any of the root apps mentioned above.
