January 27, 2012 02:27 am EDT

SwitchMe brings makeshift guest account to Android root users

Wouldn't it be absolutely splendid if you could hand your phone over to a friend (or complete stranger) without fear of them mucking up your system or digging into your personal bits? Yes, we'd absolutely love to see guest accounts become standard issue on all handsets, but until that day arrives, a new application called SwitchMe will work in a pinch. Word of caution, this app requires root privileges, which may deter many folks.

Rather than allowing multiple sessions to run simultaneously, as you'd expect on a desktop computer, SwitchMe lets users to easily jump between different installations of Android -- they exist separately and don't talk to each other. Naturally, this also allows hobbyists to easily jump between their favorite ROMs, and gives developers clean sandboxes for app testing. The first hit is free, but if you want to manage more than two installations, you'll need to buy the unlock key for $1.98. Still, those who find the SwitchMe useful should consider tossing the developer a few bones.

Update: As a commenter pointed out, multiple ROMs are not supported at this time. The developer has verified this, stating that any content inside /system cannot be changed. Bummer.

[Thanks, Alan]

SwitchMe brings makeshift guest account to Android root users originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Jan 2012 21:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original Link: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/26/switchme-brings-makeshift-guest-account-to-android-root-users/

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