First of all, what is DroidMod? It’s basically a ROM you can install on a rooted Droid phone to give it some extra functionality.
If you install DroidMod on your Droid, for example, you’ll be able to do things that your phone was not originally intended to do. Tethered Wi-fi? Yep. Multi-touch screen capabilities? Yep.
Also – you’ll also basically break your phone’s warranty.
So my tech curiosity got the best of me last night and I installed DroidMod, which used to be called SholesMod.
I was very reluctant to do it. Something about doing something that basically turned my phone into a device that wouldn’t want to take back to my cell provider just didn’t seem right. But I got over it and just did it.
I’m glad I did.
It took a few minutes to get through the whole process, but this walk-through regarding DroidMod installation got me through it rather easily. Too easily actually.
Note: I just noticed that they updated this walk-through again as of today.
So – what’s the benefits of installing DroidMod? Here’s what I’ve found so far:
- I can actually use the built in WiFi functions to connect to available wireless networks rather than the 3G network
- I can turn on wireless tethering to allow me to use my phone as a wireless access point
- I can use a more extensive cache clearing app to clear junk off my phone
- The photo gallery app is a lot more awesome, to put it shortly
- I can install SetCPU to tweak my processor speeds to increase performance or save battery juice
- I have 5 home screens instead of 3
Those are the most prominent items that I’ve noticed after 1 day of using a rooted Droid.
What were my concerns?
- I was worried about losing data (photos, etc.) during DroidMod installation but that was not an issue, I still have all my data
- I was worried that I might break my phone – but that did not happen
- I was concerned that my phone would suck more battery power or that I would do something to compromise battery efficiency – but nothing bad happened.
- I was concerned I was going to lose a bunch of the apps I had downloaded and installed – still got ‘em all
Overall, this was a good move. My phone does the stuff that I thought it would when I first got it. Nice.
If you’re considering rooting your Droid, don’t take the decision lightly. I can see how this wouldn’t be for everybody. All I can say is (from a tech-head standpoint) that I’m glad I did it.
