CCColtsicehockey

Google now kinda scares me with how much of your data you are giving to Google.

StreetKA

iTrader: (8)

Now im proud to say that im Polish )

CGFebTSX04

Yeah it creeps me out sometimes as well. Especially when it asks you if you want to keep tracking the traffic to a place that you continually go to as it learns your schedule throughout the week. If you look at your Dashboard under the Location History Dashboard, Latitude even tracks all of your the places you've been that's traceable on Google Maps and gives you a break down of the hours at home, work, spending time out, etc.:

https://www.google.com/dashboard/

swoosh

iTrader: (5)

that is a scary thing from privacy point of view but a good thing when you think about if someone goes missing, you know where to start from....

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

Have you rooted yet?

speedemon90

yea i've known this for a while haha...

i know it looks scary but in all honesty, who cares

what are google employees gonna start creeping on you??
If they get hacked, i doubt any of us would be a person of interest or maybe there are

but i'm sure google keeps a tight leash on it anyways.

swoosh

iTrader: (5)

^^^ its not about someone trying to hack you or google employees creeping up on you....

its all about google taking over the world and the amount of personal information available online

zguy95135

IMO it doesn't bother me. People post up all kinds of crazy personal info on the internet and Facebook thats open to anyone. I don't mind that Google can track my stuff, I let them and can turn it off at any time.

BraveDemon

^ I'm kind of in agreement.

If you have nothing to hide, it doesn't really matter where you've been. Of course, if you're getting "boom boom" on the side, then by all means, disable all location services and don't date a tech savvy girl (or guy).

CGFebTSX04

I'm sure Google's not the only one tracking you...If you have any cell phone and are using the internet, you're being tracked every moment. At least Google is upfront about it and if you choose to, you can wipe all of your info/history from the dashboard if you like. Oh also, the Location history is an opt-in option in your Maps app under the Settings --> Locations.

StreetKA

iTrader: (8)

I said i am complete dummy that needs to be walked through... i come from apple side i dont know how and where and what lol

CGFebTSX04

YouTube is your friend.

ZedoMax has pretty good tutorials as well with pictures step by step and videos below:

http://galaxys3root.com/galaxy-s3-ro...oofnoob-proof/

^Noobproof with all the files in one site. Lol.

AFTER you get root, I suggest you backup your IMEI folder to somewhere safe (external SD Card or computer) under "efs" before you start flashing custom ROMs using any file explorer like Root Explorer or ES Explorer.

zguy95135

I'm not sure what phone you have but take a look at xdadevelopers.com and find your phone forum. Most phones have a super easy one click root/custom recovery. Install the drivers on your computer, turn on debugging on the phone, plug it in, press a button on the computer and that's it.

StreetKA

iTrader: (8)

Hey i am officialy rooted !!

NOW WHAT ?

Galaxy S3

speedemon90

now you've open the world to many possibilities!

on xda go find your phone and look up many ROMs.

You can also download apps from the playstore that requires root.

A fun one to play around with is wifi killer (think thats the name)
you can boot people off of the wifi your connected to

speedemon90

running a backup before i update my ROM, clockword mod got a new look. Looks nice

CGFebTSX04

See its not that hard right? Especially with Samsung phones and ODIN. ODIN and Heimdall will be your friend for Samsung devices as it will allow you to restore/flash stock ROMS, custom recoveries, kernels, modems, etc. You lose Download Mode for ODIN or Heimdall in a Samsung phone and you're screwed.


Not sure where the IMEI is located on the S3s but if you have an "efs" or "factory" folder, back it up immediately. You will not see this in Windows. You will have to use a File Explorer from the Play Store such as Root Explorer (my favorite) or ES File Explorer. Both will ask for Root access of course. Once you've managed to back your IMEI in a safe place, you can go crazy with your phone. Like speedemon90 said, make a nandroid backup in CWM Recovery. This will save your butt a lot when you have trouble.

Also, get TitaniumBackup and make a Backup of all your apps/data:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...dW1CYWNrdXAiXQ..

^If you buy the license, it'll be a lot faster than the free version. It'll help you restore all your apps/data settings every time you change ROMs.



Cyanogenmod is usually a good starting base custom ROM for beginners since its the most stable with the least amount of work to learn. You will lose all TouchWiz functions doing this since its based on Vanilla Android but it will be running the latest code being uploaded by Google. If you want to try a modified TouchWiz ROM, there are a bunch on XDA that you can choose from.

http://get.cm/?device=d2att (You will need to flash GApps as well without rebooting: 7/26 GApps)


More ROMs to choose from:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1633

http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1689


You flash these through CWM Recovery. Again, use YouTube to learn how to do this.

Once you've settled on a ROM, then play with kernels. They can improve the performance of your phone significantly and even your battery life.



If you ever need to go back to stock (Use ODIN or Heimdall):

http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=1737848


You may also need Triangle Away to reset the flash counter which Samsung started implementing to their recent phones to know who's been playing with their phones:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...bmdsZWF3YXkiXQ..

speedemon90

so i just updated my ROM, and now everything got small. I dunno if the developer intended for it to be like this or what. But my icons/fonts are much smaller. Widgets too. Its as if the screen resolution got higher, but everything got smaller with it.

CGFebTSX04

Which ROM? Paranoid Android and a few ROMs change it purposely to fit more info. Also what's your DPI? Check under /system/build.prop

ro.sf.lcd_density

I believe for the Nexus S it should be 240.

speedemon90

Using slim bean, just saw on xda the developer puts 182dpi stock, i put it back to 240 under developer options and everything is good now.

edit: 240 seems to big now i may try a ltl less haha

CGFebTSX04

You have to watch out when it comes to the DPI because certain apps will only show depending on your DPI. So if you use a non-Google DPI, you might see some apps not showing up in the Play Store. I read it somewhere in one of the Paranoid Android threads. I'll link it if I come across it.

speedemon90

ohhhhhh interesting.... i'll keep a lookout for that. For now, i have the apps i want so no biggie.

CGFebTSX04

Here you go. An even better solution to the custom DPI problem:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=1580827

The guy hardcoded the DPI into a modified Play Store app so you can change the DPI to whatever you want and the Play Store will think you're using one of the Google DPIs.

speedemon90

you know the Gapps that my developer includes, includes a modded multi dpi play store. I've never known what that was. But I guess thats what you posted... haha cool

StreetKA

iTrader: (8)

Me likey this

CGFebTSX04

^Oh you can install an adblocker if you like:

AdAway (My new favorite):

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...Zy5hZGF3YXkiXQ..


Adfree:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...ZC5hZGZyZWUiXQ..


Just pick either one. Maybe I should make a list of apps that use Root that I use. It'll block ads in apps and websites. Some apps don't like this but AdAway allows you to revert to the stock host file temporarily to bypass this.

CGFebTSX04

AdAway

Blocks ads all over the phone. You can create your blacklist, whitelist, redirect to a server of your own and serve your own ads if like, etc. Very flexible.


adbWireless

Some custom ROMs have this built in now. Allows you to connect to your phone using ADB. Some times I don't feel like looking for my USB Cable and I just run this app to install, pull, push, files onto my phone. Need Android SDK installed on your computer.


Cerberus

Antitheft app that allows you to turn on the GPS, Wifi, remotely and so much more (has to be installed in the /system/app/ folder which requires root). It also works without root but it doesn't do certain functions like above. Also if you install it in the /system/app/ folder, it will survive a factory reset/wipe if someone tries to steal your phone and doesn't know any better. Its well worth the price and you can track the phone using their website or another device. I use the hidden version (Cerberus disguised) found on their site: https://www.cerberusapp.com/download.php You can flash it using CWM Recovery if you like. So most people won't even know its installed until its probably too late.


DataSync

Allows you to sync up your apps/data/settings within your Android Devices. Its kinda like TitaniumBackup but its app/data specific instead of device specific. I use this to sync up my game data between my Nexus and Nexus 7.


GMD GestureControl

Allows you to create custom gestures to do certain actions on your phone. Like pinching with four fingers to go home, three finger swipe down to go back, tapping twice with four fingers to alt-tab. Every gesture is customizable. It works great when driving but importantly it works great on bigger screens. I use this a lot on my Nexus 7 especially when I hide the status/notification bar.


LightFlow

If your phone has a Notification Light, you can customize the colors and assign it to which notification. Samsung phones use full RGB notification LEDs so you can change it to whatever you want. HTC phones and some others use a tri-color LED. The app is a little buggy but when it works, it works great.


Root Explorer

File manager that allows you to mess around with your system files. The UI is not the greatest but functionality wise it gets the job done and is what most everyone uses because its pretty flexible. You can also use this to delete certain bloatware that the carriers put in the phone which you can usually find in the /system/app/ folder.


SD Maid Manager

Cleans up the leftover temp files that some apps leave behind from an unclean uninstall. Haven't used it as much in Jelly Bean since its improved in that aspect it seems but I used it a lot in Gingerbread and ICS.


Titanium Backup - Still my most favorite app. The UI is clunky but once you learn how to use it (Click on the checkmark top right) this will be your best friend when it comes to changing ROMs and devices. You can create backups of your apps/data/sms, upload them to a cloud service, delete bloatware, freeze apps, create a schedule that automates all of this for you.

StreetKA

iTrader: (8)

You can post Apps You use

speedemon90

ohh gmdgesture control sounds interesting.

I have most of the other root access apps you use as well.

CGFebTSX04

Here's another list by XDA:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=1633386


Some root apps I use once in a while but the list I provided above are the main ones I can't live without. In ICS and below, there was an app that bypassed AT&T's restriction for using GTalk in 3G:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...GtlbmFibGVyIl0.

It may or may not work depending on your device. There is a manual way of doing it as well which what I currently do and requires your phone to have SQLite installed:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...TNmb3Jyb290Il0.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/show...16&postcount=5




Oh I forgot to add Terminal:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...cm9pZHRlcm0iXQ..

Most custom ROMs have this included but it allows you to run ADB/Linux commands on the phone so you don't need to connect it to a computer. Works great with root.

speedemon90

haha didnt know you can see the play store online?? You can also download the app from the browser and it will start downloading/installing on your phone right away.

CGFebTSX04

Yeah it works great especially when I'm driving. I use a bunch of custom gestures such as a 3 Pinch back gesture, 4 Pinch Home gesture and 4 Pinch expand Google Voice Search. It can also get rid of the notification bar and software buttons to get full access to the whole 720p screen on both my Nexus and Nexus 7. Its an awesome app. It'll even allow you to open apps with a gesture which I use to dim my screen with four fingers down from the top border using Screen Filter.

speedemon90

nice, hey that dude that you quoted the other day about the nexus devices. Did he post anything else on Monday?

CGFebTSX04

Unfortunately he hasn't. I guess he forgot about it or maybe someone told him to keep it hush for a little while. Once he tweets something I'm sure the blogs will pick it up or I'll post it here. But you can follow him on Twitter as well:

https://twitter.com/black_man_x

AMGala

iTrader: (4)

Thanks for the DataSync suggestion!

speedemon90

I dont use twitter haha

speedemon90

I was reading google reached a new high for its stock price recently. And thoughts are that its partially to do with apple letting go of google maps.

speedemon90

So my ROM has a tweaked version of CM10's messenger. It has the quick reply/call function when a text message pops up in the notification bar. But there's no pop up that comes and interrupts what youre doing. You have to click quick reply and that pop up messenger thing comes. Nice tweak, I like it

CGFebTSX04

Yep. Love the feature. It works great when you're in an app because you can pull the notification bar and hit Quick Reply without it interfering with what you're doing. The Graphing Calculator is coming in the next Nightly. Looks like a big changelog I think cause they just got the official international S III JB.

http://cm10log.appspot.com/


I'm waiting for the inverted G-Apps to catch up with the SMS features.

http://rootzwiki.com/topic/29460-inv...ay-store-3817/

CGFebTSX04

Has anyone used this?

http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=1667025



From what I'm understanding its similar to Connectify's Dispatch:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...nternet-faster



It'll combine all of the available bandwidth you have to download stuff so LTE+WiFi, or 3G+WiFi, etc. Might be useful for people who have unlimited data and looking to download things faster.