The Android Dictionary

When we learn any language we start from the basics. Now that you are learning about android you will hear a lot of technical terms when you will think of rooting your device or installing a custom ROM. So to help you with the meanings of these technical terms we have included a list of these terms and the definition or you can say descriptions. These terms are set in alphabetical orders so as for you to search faster.

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Alphabets	Term	Definition
A	Amon Ra	This is a Nick name used by a developer who was one of the first inventor of the custom recovery image and custom ROMs
	A2SD	A2SD was introduced in Froyo which enabled users to transfer apps to the SD Card. It allowed the user to have more internal memory.
	A2SD+	This is what we normally call the standard rooting method of storing apps on the sdcard. This essentially tricks the phone into thinking the apps are stored on internal memory (in reality it changes the reference to point to the sdcard,instead of the internal location). The apps are actually stored on the ext partition of the sdcard.
B	Boot loader / Bootloader Mode	The main function is to load up the operating system.  When the device first starts it uses the bootloader to do the basic commands of setting up and loading the operating system. We use this in rooting to alter things in the operating system before it loads
C	Chef	Now as we all know who is a chef. He is one who invents recipe of the best food in the world. He is in charge of cooking food. But a Chef in Android world is the one who Cooks (Creates) the ROMs. As we all know that different venders have different themes and different looks, the work of a chef is to mix all these ingredients or the best of these all ROMs and make a custom ROMs which the users can use on their device.
	Clock Speed	This is a term used for how fast, or what GHz, the CPU/Processor is running at. Can be changed once you have root access on some devices to make the CPU run faster for better performance or slower for more battery life.
	Cooking	This term is used for creating a new custom rom.
	CPU	The full form of this word is Computer processing Unit. You can call it the brain of your device. Each and every function is controlled by the CPU.The more the power of CPU the faster the device runs (the unit is GHz.)
	Cyanogen / CyanogenMod	He is one of the Best developers who cook ROMs. The name of his ROM is CM or you can call it CynogenMod.He now has a bunch of developers who modifies ROMs for your devices.
D	Dalvik Cache	In simple terms, it helps to run your Android applications in an optimized manner.
	Deodexed	Well, it’s probably the hardest term to explain in this rooting dictionary, but I’ll do my best. Apparently,when a ROM has been deodexed, it means that its apps have been prepared so they can be modified. Deodexed ROMs feature apps that have been repackaged in a certain way. Android applications, .APKs, contain .odex files that developers supposedly use to save space. These .odex files are extracted from the application packages and put in the /system/ folder on your phone, to speed up boot processes and to allow parts of applications to be preloaded. However, this makes hacking and modifying those apps difficult because parts of the apps have been extracted to another location. Deodexing means that all pieces of an application package are put back together into one file, and it makes sure that a modified .APK won’t conflict with some separate odexed parts located somewhere else. Developers of custom ROMs choose to deodex their ROM packages, since it lets them modify various .APKs, and it also makes theming possible after the ROMs have been installed.
F	Firmware	A phone’s firmware is basically its operating system. A “firmware update” means that the operating system, the software that controls the phone is updated. “Stock firmware” means that the firmware is unmodified: it’s the version of the operating system the phone’s manufacturer delivers.
	Flash / Flashing	Term used for loading a custom ROM, recovery image, or anything else that essentially erases a section of the phone’s memory and  then replaces it.
H	HBoot	HBoot is loaded immediately when your phone is switched on, and it’s mainly responsible for checking and initializing the hardware and starting the phone’s software. It can also be used for flashing official software releases, as well as a few other things. HBoot can be compared to the BIOS on a computer.
K	Kernels	This is a link between your software and hardware.Android kernels are often customized, optimized and modified for different purposes, such as over-clocking the processor or extending the battery life. Custom ROMs usually include a new kernel.
N	Nandroid And Nandroid Backup	NANDroid will let anyone with root access make a complete system backup. It lets you create a backup of every piece of information on your phone, and it can be restored later whenever you want. NANDroid backups are usually performed before flashing a new ROM, in case anything goes wrong, or if you want  to return to your previous setup later. NANDroid backups are created from the Recovery Mode, often with ClockworkMod Recovery.
O	Operating System	This is the system that your device runs on. Just like Windows or Mac may run on your computer with Windows and Mac being the operating systems that the computer runs on, same goes for Android, iOS, Windows Phone, etc. on mobile devices.
	Overclock	The act of increasing the speed of a CPU to make the device perform faster. This is usually done with a custom kernel.
R	RAM	Random Access Memory. This is the part of memory of a device devoted to running programs/applications. It is cleared whenever the device is turned off. Essentially the more RAM you have in your device (usually denoted in Mbs or Gbs), the more applications you can have running at one time before the device begins to slow down.
	Radio	OK, so this is not the radio you’re listening to your favorite stations with. It’s the radio on your phone that handles communication,the radio that sends and receives voice and data. Flashing (installing) a new radio can improve your reception, and bring other benefits.A radio is flashed via Recovery Mode, just as a full Android ROM.
	Recovery mode	As explained under ClockworkMod, the Recovery Mode is a menu that you can boot into that lets you perform complete backups of your phone (Nandroid backups), install custom ROMs and more. ClockworkMod is a very popular Recovery Mode, and you can get it via the app ROM Manager.
S	Superuser	Android is a Linux-based operating system, and in Linux, there is something called root access. When you root your Android phone, you will get superuser access. The superuser, or root user, is sort of a special user account for system administration.SuperUser is also the name of an app, which lets you grant or deny superuser privileges to other apps.
U	Underclock/Undervolt	Bringing down the speed of the processor/CPU. Usually this is done using a custom kernel that will lower the voltage of the processor when the device is idle in order to save battery.
Z	Zipaligned	Zipalign is a tool that optimizes the way an Android app (.APK) is Packaged. It enables Android to interact with the application more efficiently, and in doing so, it has the potential to make the app and the entire Android system much faster. Zipaligned applications are launched more quickly, and they use less amounts of RAM. So, thumbs up for zipaligned Android ROMs.