What is the difference between “Root” and “Flash”? You may ask yourself this question if you want to install a new operating system on your Android smartphone or unlock additional features. We will explain the two terms to you.
What is “Flash”?
In the context of Android smartphones, the term “flash” or “flashing” refers to the process of replacing the existing operating system with a different version. The corresponding partition of the device is first deleted and then written with new data.
- How to flash a smartphone depends on the specific model. There are therefore no uniform instructions.
- “Flashing” is also mentioned when it comes to replacing the kernel. The kernel (English: core) is the central area of the operating system. A modified kernel (custom kernel) usually offers many advantages, such as better system performance or longer battery life.
What is “Root”?
If you “root” your smartphone, you can grant individual apps extended rights (also called superuser rights). These can then, for example, write to the otherwise protected Android system partition. This can be compared to the administrator rights under Windows.
- Just like flashing, the rooting process is different for every Android smartphone. General information can be found here, instructions for rooting the Samsung Galaxy S4 can be found here, for example.
- The advantage of rooting: You can then also use apps that need to access protected areas of the system. Such apps usually offer additional features that are not normally part of Android. “Titanium Backup”, for example, backs up apps and their settings, “SetCPU” changes the CPU clock and “Greenify” optimizes system performance.
- Even if you want to flash a new Android version onto your smartphone (see above), you usually need a rooted smartphone.