Root and Flash - what's the difference?
What is the difference between "Root" and "Flash"? You may be asking yourself this question if you want to install a new operating system on your Android smartphone or want to unlock additional functions. We explain the two terms to you.
What is "flash"?
In connection with Android smartphones, the term "flash" or "flashing" denotes the process of replacing the existing operating system with another version. The corresponding partition of the device is first deleted and then written with new data.
- How you flash a smartphone depends on the model. There is therefore no uniform instruction. How to manually install Android 4.3 on your Samsung Galaxy S4, for example, read here.
- "Flashing" is also mentioned when it comes to exchanging the kernel. The kernel 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 also write to the otherwise protected system partition of Android, for example. This can be compared to the administrator rights under Windows.
- As with flashing, the rooting process is different for every Android smartphone. General information can be found here, instructions for rooting the Samsung Galaxy S4 for example here.
- The advantage of rooting: You can then also use apps that have to access protected areas of the system. Such apps usually offer additional functions that are not normally part of Android. For example, "Titanium Backup" backs up apps and their settings, "SetCPU" changes the CPU clock and "Greenify" optimizes system performance.
- Even if you want to flash a new version of Android on your smartphone (see above), you usually need a rooted smartphone.