Why Root?

The Android ‘L’ developer preview was released today, and I’ve installed it on my daily carry Nexus 5, despite the fact that root is currently unachievable.

I don’t necessarily consider this as much of a deal breaker as it used to be, though. Rooting was, to a certain extent, the best way to turn a good device into a great device, from battery saving custom kernels to customization and theme options.

In L, a lot of the benefits gained by rooting are now available in the OS itself. Project Volta is set to offer enhanced battery saving, and Material Design looks promising, even in the eyes of one of Android’s biggest critics.

The biggest sticking issue that kept me rooting, time and time again, was Titanium Backup (and more specifically, Google Authenticator). With L, I finally decided to call it quits and switch to Authy (root required; before updating to L, grab the database, then follow an excellent guide from @adumont).

Google is calling ‘L’ a developer preview – and with good reason – It already has its own fair share of issues. At the same time, however, it offers an exciting new look at the future of Android. If that sounds like something that interests you, it might be worth giving it a shot, despite the lack of root access.