Android phone customization

I own a ZTE Blade L2 which is a good smartphone to begin with. Recently I discovered all these amazing customization tools such as CLauncher/GOLocker and the Next 3D Launcher skins. So I have customized my phone with some neat Predator widgets (loving the bomb countdown and clock). To compliment these I installed the red Red Cool Theme which is like a bio-hazard display and a Predator style phone lock.

Before that I was messing around with Cyanogen which I found to complicated get working properly.

a reply to: Tindalos2013

Did you have to root your phone to do it?

a reply to: Sremmos80

Yes I rooted my phone because it was required for the ROM managers and back-up although I am unsure if this is necessary to install the aforementioned skin customs. I just click and install apks.

originally posted by: Tindalos2013
a reply to: Sremmos80

I just click and install apks.

Be carefull, especialy with a rooted phone! I do a bit of programming on android and you'd be surprised how easy it would be to DO ANYTHING to a rooted phone when people "just click and install apks"

Want to install one of my apks?

a reply to: VoidHawk

You are right of course. I always try to use trusted websites, google play and read user reviews and then make a judgement call.

a reply to: Tindalos2013

Something to consider: ZTE is a chinese made phone.

China is kind of known for providing products that come equipped with plenty of spyware. Not saying that ZTE is one such company....

....but it seems that some folks consider them a "national security threat"

WASHINGTON — In the latest development to highlight the sensitive terrain that the United States and China are navigating on economic issues, a House committee issued a blistering bipartisan report on Monday that accused two of China’s largest telecommunications companies of being arms of the government that had stolen intellectual property from American companies and could potentially spy on Americans.

The House Intelligence Committee said that after a yearlong investigation it had come to the conclusion that the Chinese businesses, Huawei Technologies and ZTE Inc., were a national security threat because of their attempts to extract sensitive information from American companies and their loyalties to the Chinese government.

Just be warned.

And rooting a phone doesn't change malware installed in the factory on the chip.

If you really want customization, learn Java and start tinkering with the source. I develop with the team behind one of the most popular custom ROMs out there. Check it out sometime, Alliance ROM.

Also just to note, rooting your phone MAY - depending on where you reside - void your warranty. AFAIK in the UK and Aus, we have a legal right to warranty despite it being stated that we void warranty by rooting our phone. Rooting, for instance, will not cause a hardware problem like a faulty charging port.. so while we'd have to argue it, legally we have that right.

But not every country has this... so rooting your phone may leave you up the creek should something go awry.

For instance, my Samsung Galaxy S5 has that knox crap in it, which triggers as soon as we flash a custom boot loader. Seemingly no way to reverse this, as it appears to be a eFuse according to chainfire.

Me, i can't help it. I needed root. Stupid phone went OTA to lollipop though, and I cannot go back, so I still cannot use xposed to tweak things. :/ I would go custom rom but I actually like touchwiz.. I know, mad, huh...