Following the release of Samsung’s flagship device, the Galaxy S4, Google joined hands with Samsung too and got the Google Play Edition of the Galaxy S4 unveiled. The Google Play Edition offers the hefty hardware with powerful specs and the freedom a user wants, the phone simply outdated LG’s Nexus 4 and took its charm, but the price is pretty high.
The Galaxy S4 Google Play Edition sports a full HD 5 inch Super AMOLED display with 441 ppi, there is a 13 MP camera at the back, while a 2 MP on the front. The device is powered up by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 600 Quad Core CPU clocked at 1.9 GHz, while there is a RAM of 2 GB to boost up the processes. Under the hood, it has got a massive 2600 mAh battery.
The Galaxy S4 Google Play Edition has been caught up by the developers and they have managed to get the phone rooted and also got success in developing a custom recovery. In the following post we’ll be having a look on how we can root the phone and also how we can install a custom recovery on the Galaxy S4 Google Play Edition, we’ll also be having a look on how we can play with the device after having it rooted.
Before we begin to the root process, here are some pre-requisites that you must have:
- Make sure that your phone’s battery is charged over at least 60%. This is highly recommended in order to prevent any power issues on the device during the flashing process.
- Make sure that you have backed up all your important Contacts, Call Logs& Messages. It is highly recommended in case of any mishap or data loss to backup all your important data.
- Make sure that you use the original data cable to connect your device to your PC.
- Make sure that your device is GT-I9500G, check the model under Settings>General>About Device>Model.
- In case of USB connection problems, enable USB debugging mode on your device. To do so, open Settings>General>Developer Options. If you can’t find the developer options, simply open About device and tap ”Build Number” for 7 times and you should have the developer options enabled under the ”General Tab”.
- Install the listed files carefully, follow this guide to letter in order to prevent any mishap.
While rooting your phone, please keep it in mind that the Root Process isn’t official and has nothing to deal with Google Inc and the device manufacturer, which is Samsung in our case. Follow the guide carefully to prevent any damages to the device as the method is completely custom.
Files you need to download:
- Download and extract Odin PC – Get it here
- Download and Samsung USB Drivers – Get here
- Download & Unzip Cf Auto Root Package file once on your desktop
How to Root Samsung Galaxy S4 Google Play Edition GT-I9505G on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean:
- Put your GS4 I9505G in download mode by pressing and holding Volume Down + Home + Power key at the same time, you should get a screen showing a warning and asking to continue, press Volume Up to continue.
- Now your phone should be in downloading mode. Connect your phone to your PC.
- As soon as Odin detects your phone the ID:COM box will turn light blue.
- Click on the PDA tab and select the CF-autoroot file that you extracted above.
- Your Odin screen should look like exactly as shown below.
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- Click Start and the root process should start showing you a process bar in the first box above ID:COM.
- The process is quite fast and will finish in a few seconds, as soon as it ends, your phone will restart and you’ll see the CF Auto root installing SuperSu on your phone.
- Congratulations you have your Samsung Galaxy S4 Google Play Edition rooted now!
How to Install Custom Recovery on Samsung Galaxy S4 Google Play Edition GT-I9505G:
The method explained above is basically for beginners and does not install a custom recovery in your phone, it simply installs a stock recovery with having your phone rooted. Custom recovery allows you to modify in your phone in so many other ways like flashing custom roms, flashing mods etc.
In order to flash a custom recovery after rooting your SGS4 download the following file.
- Download TWRP Recovery for your Galaxy S4 GT-I9500G
Now you need to follow the same procedure explained above to root your phone but this time instead of giving it CF Auto Root file in the PDA tab you need to give it the downloaded openrecovery-twrp-2.6.3.0-jgedlte.tar file for your phone, the recovery will be flashed within a few seconds. You can enter the custom recovery now pressing and holding Volume Up + Home + Power Key.
Now wondering what to do with your rooted phone?
Here’s the answer for you!
Rooting your phone gives you complete access over all the data which is apparently locked by the manufacturers. This includes removal of the factory restrictions and making changes to the internal system and the operating system. Gaining the root access gives you the privileges to install various applications to enhance the performance of your device, allows you to remove the built-in applications/programs, helps you to upgrade the battery life of your device & install the apps which require the root access for the proper functionality and modify your device in so many other ways e.g using mods and custom roms. By installing custom recovery, you can flash custom roms in the phone easily. Custom recovery also let’s you backup your current rom and restore it in case of any mishap. There is a laundry list of things you can do after having your device rooted and installed the custom recovery, now once you’re rooted go ahead and enjoy it on your phone. Here’s our collection of 10 Best Root Apps.
How to keep Root after OTA Updates
The OTA updates rolled out by the manufacturers wipe the root access on your phone. In case you don’t know how you can restore the root access after OTA update, you’ll have to root your phone once again, but there is no need to do it as you can restore it using the OTA Rootkeeper App which is available in the Google Play Store. The app creates backup of your root and simply restores it after any OTA update.
That’s All! In case you got any queries or any difficulties, feel free to leave us a comment in the box below. We will try our best to help you out. Thanks.
