One of the reasons I switched over to Android was because a DIY geek
like me loves the thrill of customization. My previous smartphone was
merely a fancy keyboard on something that could call and text. I rarely
installed apps on it or even tinkered with it. Once I got a hold of an
Android phone though, everything changed and I was eager to personalize
my new Google-powered device.
A lot of people think that hacking involves a lot of work and even
more risk. It’s partly true: messing around with the software of your
phone might void your warranty and, in extreme cases, turn it into a
lifeless brick. The good news is that Android enthusiasts the world over
have risen up to the challenge and made it very easy to take your phone
to the next level. All you need are a few software tools, a good set of
instructions and a pinch of audacity to make that little green robot
serve your whims.
Change Your Android’s Look And Feel
1. Create Your Own Ringtones
Back when Nokia was still in everyone’s pockets, custom ringtones
were all the rage. It was often the only thing you could personalize in a
cellphone those days. Fast forward a decade or so to Android and you
have
Ringdroid,
your go-to app for creating custom ringtones. It not only does it let
you splice and dice tracks from your music library, you can even record
your own tracks. From there, you can set it as your main ringtone, an
alarm or an SMS notification.
2. Show Off Flashy Live Wallpaper
One
nice piece of eye candy that Google introduced a while back was live
wallpapers. These replace the usual static wallpaper on most phones with
an ever-changing backdrop. It can be as simple as colors changing
softly to something complex like dynamic maps of your current location
or backgrounds that change with the weather and time of day. They might
be a bit battery draining for some phones though but if you want to try
them out, you can start your hunt for live wallpapers here.
3. Personalize Your Home Screen
The basic Android home screen is great but if you want to really bring it up a notch, there are several
alternative launchers
that give both a fresh new look to your phone and some nice added
functionality. Some of these added features include folders for sorting
apps, onscreen notifications and quick menu shortcuts.
LauncherPro
is the most recommended one and it gives you a scrollable app dock,
custom icons, pop ups and more. Other highly-rated home screen launchers
to try are
ADW.Launcher,
SlideScreen and
GO Launcher EX.
Tweak It With Apps And Widgets
4. Make Your Screens Useful With Widgets
We already talked about a few
widgets that are must-haves
a while back. It’s one of the special features of Android, having mini
apps running on your home screen (or screens) that give you instant
access to your calendar, music player, Twitter feed and more. You can
even create your own through a powerful app called
Widgetsoid. Widgets are always a staple in my home screens and all I can say is that they really make my phone that much easier to use.
5. Manage Your Android Files
People often forget that phones these days are PCs as well. If you
want to have full control over the files in your phone storage and SD
card, you need to get a
file manager Android app to help you do the job right. I personally swear by
Astro
which acts much like Explorer for Windows (or Finder for Mac). It lets
you search for files, install and backup apps, email files as
attachments,create and extract zip files, and do much more.
If moving files between devices is what you need, you can use
AndFTP for FTP downloads and uploads. For local transfers, there is
On Air which turns your Android device into a disk that connects over WiFi for no-plug, over-the-air transfers.
6. Monitor Tasks And Data Usage
In mobile, battery is gold and running out of juice is never an
option. In order to quell the uprising of rebellious, battery-hungry
apps, you need to use a task manager.
Watchdog Task Manager
is one such beast. It will notify you if an app goes astray and uses up
too many CPU cycles. You can even give it the thumbs down, Roman
emperor-style, and kill the wayward app if it displeases you.
Another canine-named app that’s quite useful is
3G Watchdog. It helps you rein in your 3G connections so that you don’t go over your data plan and take a hit on your next billing.
7. Use A New Keyboard
If the stock keyboard of your Android phone isn’t to your liking, you can change that as well.
Swype,
an app familiar to Samsung owners, is one of the more innovative
keyboard options. It lets you swipe your finger to complete words
instead of pecking on the tiny onscreen characters. It does offer a
different layout but onc you get used to it, you’ll be writing messages
and emails faster than ever. It’s not for everyone though but there are
other keyboards you can try such as
SwiftKey,
SlideIT and
Better Keyboard.
Secure Your Android
8. Seek And Retrieve A Lost Phone
Losing a phone is stressful. It’s not just because you misplaced a
device that cost you a significant chunk of change; you also lose all
the personal data stored in it, a scary thought if you have bank account
numbers, your home address or your kids’ phone numbers in there.
Fortunately, finding your phone can be done easily with an Android App.
Prey
is a free app that does just that and it not only lets you track your
phone, you can also let it belt out an alarm or lock your lost device
for added security.
If you need more features,
WaveSecure
is the way to go. On top of the features above, it lets you backup data
on the web, restore data, track SIM card changes and remotely wipe your
lost phone’s memory.
9. Protect Your Passwords
With all the security holes
being found in Android and its apps, it’s probably high time you looked
into the security settings on your phone. If you’re installing an
experimental app, make sure to read the permissions it gets access to
before installing it.
You might also want to get a password manager both to protect your
sensitive logins as well as to make it easier for you to get into your
favorite sites. Password managers like
1Password and
Lastpass
not only lockdown your passwords, they also let you grab the passwords
you save on your computer if you use the desktop versions.
Go Hardcore
10. Reveal Hidden Android Settings
There are a lot of behind the scenes magic going on in your Android
device which the powers-that-be have made hidden for one reason or
another. If you want to play around with those, grab
Spare Parts
from the Market and tweak your window animation speed, WiFi sleep
policy and screen font sizes with ease. A caveat: some tweaks might not
work so proceed at your own risk!
11. Gain Superuser Access By Rooting
Gaining root or superuser access to your phone opens up some very
cool features to regular Joe users like us. You can backup your entire
phone, take screenshots, use AdBlock and set the speed of your phone’s
processor among other neat tricks. In addition, it’s particularly
easy to root Android phones
these days (especially the earlier models) and there are many apps
available that make this process as painless as possible. Note though
that rooting voids your device’s warranty, so fair warning. Read our
newbie guide for rooting if you need more info on how to do this deed.
12. Install A Custom ROM
The pinnacle of Android hacking is the use of a custom ROM.
Essentially, you will be replacing the OS currently in your phone with
another version of Android.
CyanogenMod
is the most-oft used ROM and it has a variety of great features such as
OpenVPN, incognito browsing (similar to that of Google Chrome) and
theme support, among others.
Other ROMs available let you copy the interface of other phones (HTC
Sense is one often ported), upgrade to a later Android version like
Gingerbread or Honeycomb or optimize your phone for speed, battery life
and stability. While there is the danger of permanently bricking your
phone if a ROM flash goes bad, those that follow the instructions to the
tee won’t have any issues. Well, most of the time that is.
If you’re feeling a bit naughty, you can even
install Android on an old iPhone. But that’s just between you and me…
