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No Root ScreenShot It – Take Screenshots on all Non-Honeycomb Unrooted Devices!

Posted Thursday, July 28th, 2011 at 10:30 am by Jonathan Lonczak 1 Comments

User Rating4.00/5

No Root ScreenShot It. Take a screenshot of your phone’s screen. Root is NOT required. Finally, a screenshot app for Android that doesn’t require root. This application works on ALL phones except Honeycomb.

Price: $4.99

Tested on: Sony Xperia Play, HTC Thunderbolt, HTC Droid Incredible 2
Content Rating: Everyone

AndroidTapp.com Android App Review:

Pros & Cons:

Pros

• The only application that allows you to take screenshots on any unrooted Android device not running Android 3.0 or higher!
• Lets you take screenshots on the R800x Sony Xperia Play!
• Detailed tutorial with links to drivers and enabler!
• Easy to set up once the USB Drivers are installed!
• All the same features as Screenshot It for root users. Including Pin to Status Bar, Set Screenshot Delay, Shake to Screenshot, Select Save Folder, and Screenshot Preview!
• Extremely active developer!

Cons

• Very high cost.
• Can be difficult to locate USB Drivers for some devices.
• Application must be re-enabled on every reboot.
• Device will occasionally lose temporary file without reboot.

Features:

No Root Screen Shot It is the only Android application I have encountered that claims to be able to take screenshots on all unrooted Android devices that are not running Android 3.0 or higher. It features a desktop enabler to set up your phone to take screenshots without root, a detailed tutorial, and a slew of screenshot related options that were incorporated in with the original Screenshot It app for root users. Now let’s examine the application and see if it is worth the hefty cost of $4.99.

In order to enable your device to use No Root Screenshot It you will need to download the USB Drivers for your device. When you launch the application it will inquire whether you are running Windows or Mac OS X, unfortunately there is no Linux support. After selecting the appropriate operating system the application will provide you with instructions on how and where to download the USB Drivers for your device. Unfortunately, this portion of the application only points you in the general direction of your device’s USB Drivers with publicly maintained repositories; so it is possible your device will not be listed. I recommend using Google for this part of the process to download the appropriate drivers for your device provided by the manufacturer.

After you have downloaded the appropriate USB drivers for your device you must restart your phone or tablet and then enable USB Debugging on your device and plug it in, though for some devices the driver installation may require plugging the phone in for USB Charge Only first before turning on USB Debugging. From this point you are able to download the No Root Screenshot It Enabler from the Lindy Labs website at: http://www.lindylabs.com/screenshot_it/.

Once the Enabler is installed on your computer all you need to do is plug in your device to the computer in USB Debugging Mode, load up the Enabler, and Select Enable No Root Screenshot It. After doing this your device is ready to begin taking screenshots without needing any root access! Unfortunately, you do need to repeat the Enabler process with your device every time you restart your phone. This is due to the fact that the temporary file which allows your phone to take a screenshot without root is erased upon a reboot, and so must be rewritten to re-enable the application.

Once the application is enabled you will be presented with a congratulatory screen which walks you through the basics of taking screenshots with this application.  This part of using the application couldn’t be easier. No Root Screenshot It allows you to pin the application to the status bar for easy screenshot taking, it allows you to take screenshots by shaking your device, it allows customization of the screenshot timer delay, and even allows you to change the folder where the screenshots are saved. A full review of each of these individual features can be viewed at my previous review of Screenshot It for root users. There is no point in me rehashing these features since they have not changed at all since my review of the root application and in their transition to No Root Screenshot It.

Usefulness:

No Root Screenshot It is extremely useful to those of us that wish to take screenshots with a device that we either will not or cannot gain root access to.  It is much easier than using the DDMS tool in the Android SDK and the clarity and speed of the screenshots rival many of the competing screenshot applications which require root access.

Unfortunately, you do need to re-enable this application every time you reboot your device. I also noticed that it would disable itself on occasion on my Xperia Play even without me performing a reboot. On a positive note, I rarely restart my phones and I used this application on my HTC Droid Incredible 2 for 2 days before I was unable to use it again because of a reboot.

Ease of Use:

The application itself is extremely easy to use. Like the original Screenshot It, this application provides a slew of screenshot taking options in a relatively easy to use and extremely customizable package. Unfortunately the setup process is not quite so simple and may seem a bit intimidating for the average user. Fortunately, Edward Kim, the developer, does provide very good set of instructions on how to enable this application on your device and with a little bit of work and research you will have it running in no time. In addition, this application is extremely easy to enable once you have the appropriate USB Drivers for your device installed on your computer.

Frequently Used:

I use this application almost daily for my app reviews. It is much easier for me to take action screenshots with an application on my phone than through the Android SDK. No Root Screenshot It is easy to enable and provides a wealth of features once it is turned on on your device. If you need to take screenshots and you either cannot or will not root your device- this application is essential.

Interface:

The interface for No Root Screenshot It is extremely easy to use and very straightforward. The Android application is relatively polished an refined and includes an excellent tutorial. The computer side application is extremely basic, but gets the job done and shouldn’t be a turn off for most users.

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