I've had an iPhone 4S since launch, getting kind of bored with it. I was looking into getting a Galaxy Nexus, but to save money I decided to buy a Nexus S and keep my iPhone as a secondary phone until I decide what platform I prefer. I just have a few questions.
1. The phone I purchased is supposedly running a custom ROM. I know ICS was recently released for the Nexus S. How can I install plain ICS?
2. The phone is rooted. Is this potentially a security risk? Is there a way to disable root access completely? Any tips about this would be great.
3. What's the best way to set up remote wipe on the device. Apple has Find My iPhone, does Google have anything similar? Is it safe to use a third party service to remote wipe the phone?
4. And last but not least, tethering. I have an unlimited plan on AT&T, is there a way for me to use a tethering app without getting in trouble with my carrier. Any tips on tethering apps?
The easiest way to do this is probably looking at something like ROM Manager which should have stock images of ICS in the ROM list.
Yes it is. There is a way to do this but it usually involves some exploration in a cmd/terminal window.
Google does not have their own service like this but there's a couple ones in the Play Store that should work for you. Just pay attention to the permissions you are giving and ask the developers if you are worried about some of them.
There is a way to set up free tethering but It has been my experience that A. Att eventually catches "most" people using those sorts of hacks and B. It would require root access to the phone to make active. If you don't want to root your phone you have to buy the tethering plan and get rid of the sweet sweet unlimited access.
ROM Manager is probably the easiest way. If they don't have a stock ICS ROM you'll want to download the 4.0.4 factory image direct from Google. There are instructions and download links in this article on Android Police.
Rooting removes the security restrictions built into Android and apps can take advantage of that. If you're smart about what apps you install and you read/think about the permissions they ask for you'll be fine. If you want to unroot you can and it happens that you can return to stock ICS and unroot at basically the same time. You can find some instructions here at Nexus S Hacks.
I recommend ClockworkMod Tether. It's developed by the same guy who makes ROM Manager and it doesn't require root. As to whether or not any of the tethering apps are undetectable - who knows for sure. I've used Tether a couple of times and so far so good.
I've had an iPhone 4S since launch, getting kind of bored with it. I was looking into getting a Galaxy Nexus, but to save money I decided to buy a Nexus S and keep my iPhone as a secondary phone until I decide what platform I prefer. I just have a few questions.
1. The phone I purchased is supposedly running a custom ROM. I know ICS was recently released for the Nexus S. How can I install plain ICS?
2. The phone is rooted. Is this potentially a security risk? Is there a way to disable root access completely? Any tips about this would be great.
3. What's the best way to set up remote wipe on the device. Apple has Find My iPhone, does Google have anything similar? Is it safe to use a third party service to remote wipe the phone?
4. And last but not least, tethering. I have an unlimited plan on AT&T, is there a way for me to use a tethering app without getting in trouble with my carrier. Any tips on tethering apps?
Any tips would be greatly appreciated.
There is a way to set up free tethering but It has been my experience that A. Att eventually catches "most" people using those sorts of hacks and B. It would require root access to the phone to make active. If you don't want to root your phone you have to buy the tethering plan and get rid of the sweet sweet unlimited access.