Android Hacking
Intro
Android devices are fast becoming one of the most popular devices around. They range from smartphones, to tablets, TV-on-a-stick to laptops.
Getting the most out of one of these however might involve a nice bit of hackery!!
Terms of reference
Flash? brick? ROM? Kang? WTF?! Explanation of terms:
- ROM - Read-Only-Memory, the install code (firmware) usually in compressed .zip or .img form this is what you replace your original firmware with
- Root - Basically gain administrative privileges but also the 'physical' root of the file-system directory tree (in *nix)
- Flash - The process of installing firmware, 'flashing'
- Bootloader - The small bit of code that tells device what system to boot, often locked to original system
- Firmware - The operating system installed with specific hardware drivers for the relevant device in question
- Recovery - A hidden system partition containing tools to recover,restore,backup the system
- CWM - ClockworkMod Recovery, the CyanogenMod backup and restore tool, an alternative recovery system
- Nandroid (backup) - The poorly names method of making a backup of your complete device system done from CWM
- brick/un-brick - one of the risks is 'bricking' your device, literally making it no more use than a brick!
- CyanogenMod - A popular (most popular) third party Android alternatives
- AOSP - Android Open Source Program
- AOKP - Android Open Kang Program
- ADB - Android Debug Bridge, part of the Android SDK, useful for interfacing with your Android device from a computer
- XDA-developers - The most popular phone (and more) discussion forum
- Kang/er - cheat/thief, someone who takes someone else’s work and presents it as their own work.