Flash images on the fly with Flashify for root
Flashify is a root application which allows you to create or flash images from Android mode on a rooted device. This allows you to do things such as back up your recovery and flash a new one without ever disconnecting the phone call you’re on.
For those who have not run across image flashing versus zip flashing, the main difference is the images are as they’ll appear when pushed to a partition, and a zip might contain scripts to place files in various locations and push a zipped image to a location. Think of it as a getting a snapshot versus a photographer telling everyone to get together and say “cheese” and then handing you a printout. The end result may be the same, just a slightly different method.
One of the cool features of Flashify is the ability to back up your boot images. This is pretty useful if you’re about to change kernels, although many kernels also require scripts in the /system partition to be modified so you’ll need to back that up as well for maximum kernel-flashing safety, and I’d imagine you’d need to flash some kernels in recovery as opposed to just flashing images for the same reason.
It doesn’t take the place of a good recovery, but in the right situations it can save you from having to locate a computer to fastboot flash a new firmware, recovery, boot image, etc.
With the ability to make backups of your boot image, you can recover in the event of a bad kernel catastrophe (EG you installed a GSM kernel on a CDMA phone, or overclocked to infinity) by booting into fastboot and flashing the old kernel.
It’s a neat little tool, and it has its limitations, but it’s probably not designed to replace recovery, just save you time and simplify things.
There is, however, an option to flash zip files and make nandroids using a recovery, so you can use this for quite a bit more than simple image creation and management.
Flashify is free for basic use, although there is a premium version that will download and install various items. It has a limit of three flashes per day, so if you’re using it more than that plan on paying a buck or three.
Download: Google Play
