How to Root the LG G Watch (Video)

What better way to commemorate purchasing your new LG G Watch than by rooting it and making it better? Am I right? In case you don’t know, rooting is the process of gaining root access on a device. What that does is allow us to then make changes to the operating system that we normally wouldn’t be able to. Things from increasing battery life by turning off processes, to even increasing performance by optimizing the system further. The LG G Watch even has a great stock ROM you can flash after getting root access that looks the same as the stock one that it comes with but is a whole lot snappier.

Regardless, if you want to experience the benefits of what rooting the LG G Watch can offer, then you first need to root it. Here’s how:

I. Before You Begin

1. You must be using Windows for this procedure.

II. Setup the Android SDK

1. Head to our how to setup ADB procedure, finish it, then return to this one to continue.

III. Enable USB Debugging

1. Head to our How to Enable USB Debugging on the LG G Watch procedure, complete it, then come back here to continue.

IV. Unlock the LG G Watch’s Bootloader

1. On your computer, navigate to C: > android-sdk > platform-tools.

2. Hold shift on your keyboard and right-click anywhere blank in the folder, then select Open Command Window Here.

3. In the new command prompt window that opens, type the following with hitting enter at the end of the line:

adb reboot bootloader

4. When the G Watch reboots, type the following with hitting enter at the end of the line:

fastboot oem unlock

5. On the device the right arrow then tap the circle to confirm.

V. Root the LG G Watch

1. Download the Root Boot Image for the LG G Watch and save it to your desktop.

2. Type the following into command prompt with hitting enter at the end of each line:

fastboot boot LGGW-rootboot.img

3. When the device reboots, repair it with your phone.

4. Double tap the watch face to get the Google Now voice prompt.

5. Swipe up and scroll down to Settings.

6. Tap About.

7. Tap on Build Number repeatedly until it says you are a developer.

8. Swipe to the right to go back.

9. Tap on Developer Options.

10. Turn on USB Debugging.

11. Check always allow and tap allow on the phone when prompted.

12. On the computer type the following into command prompt with hitting enter at the end of each line:

adb shell
su

13. If you see root@dory and a # symbol, you’re all set.

Ta da! Now that you have root access, you should head to our LG G Watch How To’s section and see what you can do with it (more added regularly so check back if there’s nothing there you fancy at the moment).