Ever since android was initially released, there have always been some people who just weren't happy with the built-in features of their device or the apps running on it. Of course, when developers and even some ''regular'' users started rooting their phones/tablets, a large number of cool hacks and tricks have come around. They range from very simple everyday game hacking to major system modifications and so on. After 3.5 years of using android, I have decided to post some of my favorite root-only android tricks. Here they are:

1. GAME HACKING: When you go into the /data/data directory on your android device, you will notice a bunch of folders with the package names of certain apps. Find the one that corresponds to the game you want to hack. Then open the shared_prefs subfolder of the app's data folder. Hunt down the xml file containing the game data and edit the desired parameters and then save it. You can avoid in-app purchases and level restrictions this way.

2. SWAP MEMORY: Since android is based on linux, it is possible to create linux swap memory to boost game performance and multitasking speed. There are a large number of apps for this, my favorite being Simple Root Swap.

3. AUTOSTART RESTRICTIONS: When Clean Master has access to the root directory on your phone, it will allow you to restrict apps that are starting up at bootup or are starting secretly without notification. This greatly boosts performance and startup speed.

4. CPU speed control: Do you need your battery to last longer in an emergency? Do you want to block automatic speed controls for the CPU and play games faster? You can for all of this and more us any CPU speed control app on google play. You can also set the cpu governor to get better performance or more battery life.[/b]

Swap memory makes multitasking and gaming slower, not faster. The only positive effect is being able to keep more apps open without running out of RAM (and if this happens, you're probably Androiding wrong).

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that turning Battery Saver Mode on and off has this same effect on non-rooted phones? Does this allow finer-grained adjustment?

Kerm, sorry about the delay. You can do some rough-grain adjustments on the CPU frequency, where you can pick from the several speeds your device offers (in MhZ) whichever one you want to use. you can set the minimum and maximum speeds and the battery usage will be optimized by android within that range (the more load you ask for, the higher speed android will select from your chosen range). Swap memory can speed you up by dumping rarely needed background and system stuff in swap. this can free over 150 MB in some situations (as seen on my phone that has 512mb RAM). I will give more detail if need be, but when I am not in a hurry.