I took on the challenge and root my phone. Since this was my first time, I decided to try it on my unused Samsung Galaxy S4. It had been sitting in my drawer for months and I wanted to do something with it.
- Rooting the Samsung
As this has an older version of Android (started with 4.0 and upgraded to 5.0) and security updates weren't a huge focus years ago, there are many ways to root this phone. The easiest way I found was to use KingoRoot. You simply plug in your phone, click root, and then after about 10 minutes, you're rooted. - Unlocking the bootloader
If you want to run any custom ROMs, or simply flash a recovery image such as TWRP or CWM, you need to unlock the bootloader. As this phone is through Verizon, I was at the end of my adventure. Verizon and AT&T are known to not allow you to do much other than just root the phone. Modifying the firmware isn't allowed unless you install specific firmware from them.
So I have a rooted S4, but sadly no custom ROMs.
Since rooting isn't that difficult, I tried my G4. Also on Verizon. Can you guess the result? No root. I found one option on xda-developers, but it required too many different files and commands. Since I have this phone on contract, I'd rather not brick it until I can get an upgrade.
Here's a picture of my cat to brighten up this guide.
