04
Mar
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Koush's Open Source Superuser App Goes Live In The Play Store

Posted by in Applications, Development, News

In an almost superhero-like act, Koushik Dutta (a.k.a. Koush of ROM Manager fame) has pushed his completely rewritten Superuser app to the Play Store just 15 days after first announcing it on Google+. This version introduces several improvements upon the original Superuser. In the last two weeks, the feature list has grown to include fully functioning multi-user support, secure PIN protection, and support for the x86 and ARM architectures. Additionally, the interface has been revitalized with a clean looking Holo theme and a tablet UI.

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Koush didn't stop there – he also added a feature to make root-seeking apps more visible.

25
Feb
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Koush Releases Free, Open Source Superuser App With Support For Multi-User, Tablet UI, x86/ARM, PIN, And Effort For Apps To Declare Root Permission

Posted by in Applications, Development, News

Koushik Dutta, the author of ClockworkMod Recovery and such iconic Android apps as ROM Manager and, more recently, Carbon, has decided to tackle a new subject that is also very dear to the Android community - Superuser and root access control. Koush's latest app, now in beta and coming soon to the Play Store, is called simply ClockworkMod Superuser.

How Is It Different?

How does the new Superuser compare to the existing Superuser by ChainsDD and SuperSU by Chainfire, both very respectable root gatekeeper apps? There are indeed several important differences, the most important one being that Koush's Superuser is open source and free, with code available in his Github repo for thorough examination.

09
Mar
supsersutiny

[New App] Chainfire Brings Us SuperSU, A Souped-Up Version Of Superuser With Some Super New Features

Posted by in Apps/Games, News

"If it's not broken, don't fix it" is a wise and popular mantra among anyone who fixes anything. Developers, on the other hand, couldn't care less. Enter SuperSu. While Superuser has been a staple of root usage for a long time now, XDA developer Chainfire (who has also brought us many other fantastic apps), has taken what already works and made it even better.

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SuperSU performs the usual tasks of managing superuser access, with a few added benefits, including logging superuser access, temporary unroot, and it even works in recovery. Here's the full list of features:

Features:

  • Superuser access prompt
  • Superuser access logging
  • Superuser access notifications
  • Per-app notification configuration
  • Temporary unroot
  • Deep process detection (no more unknowns)
  • Works in recovery (no more segfaulting)
  • Works when Android isn't properly booted
  • Works with non-standard shell locations
  • Trusts ADB connection
  • Always runs in ghost mode
  • Wake on prompt

The Pro version additionally offers:

  • OTA survival mode (no guarantees)
  • Full color-coded command content logging (input/output/error)
  • Per-app logging configuration
  • Per-app user override
  • PIN protection

One of the first examples of a reason to temporarily unroot that comes to mind is to use Play Movies, though a quick search through the thread on XDA reveals that users have tried with mixed results.

19
May
ab8695b880rbreak.jpg

Motorola DROID X2 Rooted Via Gingerbreak - Well, That Was Easy

Posted by in Development, Droid X2, News, Tips & Tutorials, Verizon Wireless

Well, that's the easy part done. The DROID X2 has been rooted, huzzah! The device was found to be vulnerable to one of the known root exploits out there (Gingerbreak) - apparently Moto couldn't be bothered to patch up the hole (the fix has been backported to 2.2 from AOSP, according to our own Justin Case.) This hasn't been fully confirmed yet, but it seems plausible, given that all previous Motorola Froyo builds have been susceptible to this exploit.

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Next on the list: cracking open that bootloader (good luck.)

Droid-life

11
May
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Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Already Rooted Using The Easiest Root Instructions Ever

Posted by in Development, Galaxy Tab 10.1, News, Samsung

The Galaxy Tab 10.1 hasn't even been in our hands more than 12 hours, but it has already been rooted. Turns out Samsung left absolutely no protection on the device, and rooting it is even easier than rooting a XOOM, and that says a lot (the XOOM was meant to be easily unlocked and rooted).

For comparison, the XOOM root requires fast oem unlock and data wipe, while the Galaxy Tab 10.1 root process is as simple as mounting the file system for writing and copying su and SuperUser.apk to it, all of which is packaged into a nice flashable zip file.

03
Apr
OpenEclair

OpenEclair - ROM That Brings Android 2.1 To Dream/G1 And Sapphire/myTouch3G - v1.3 Released

Posted by in Development, Dream, G1 (Dream), HTC, myTouch 3G (Magic), Sapphire

We have some great news this morning for the rooting/ROM fans out there - a new milestone of OpenEclair has been reached and version 1.3 is now available for download here.

If you are interested in the discussion around this release, head over here.

What Is OpenEclair?

OpenEclair is a community ROM based on the AOSP (Android Open Source Project) 2.1 source code (with lots of Cyanogen mixed in).

The goal of OpenEclair is to bring to the community a fast and stable Eclair 2.1 ROM, with contributions from numerous ROM developers.

To clarify what may not be obvious on the OpenEclair site, the ROM is aimed at 2 devices specifically:

  • HTC Dream - T-Mobile G1
  • HTC Sapphire - T-Mobile myTouch 3G

OpenEclair is actively developed (just look at the number of filed and fixed bugs), maintained, and tested by the community which means frequent releases, attention to users and testers, $0 price tag (of course), and all the great stuff open source software development brings with it.