Developer options let you access parts of Android you would otherwise be unaware of. In the latest version of Android they are hidden very well: you have to go to Settings>About phone and tap the Build number section 7 times for them to appear. It will be worth the effort, however.

This feature lets you connect an Android device to a desktop computer to transfer data between each device and to install apps directly without any standard notifications.

Stay awake performs an obvious task and that is to keep the screen awake when charging. This is useful if you need an onscreen clock or photo slideshow running.

You’ve flashed CyanogenMod 10.1 and your phone is now running Android 4.2.

You’re now fully equipped to enjoy the new keyboard, lockscreen widgets, improved notifications and all the other small but very welcome improvements seen in the most recent version of the OS.

But you needn’t stop there. CyanogenMod is more than just  a plain version of the Android OS. It has a few extra features that enable you to configure and tweak how the system looks and works. The options are subtle and, as is typical with CyanogenMod, so perfectly integrated into the system that you wouldn’t know they weren’t a normal part of the OS.

We love apps, and we love seeing what has been added in app updates. But there’s nothing more annoying than an update that kills your favourite app. Features get removed, the interface gets changed or, worse, it drains your battery overnight because the developers haven’t spotted all the bugs in it.

In such cases you have three choices. Uninstall the app and find something else – not an ideal option especially if it’s an app you’ve already paid for – put up with it, or roll back to the previous version you liked so much.

This latter option is what we’re going to look at in this tutorial. In order to roll back to an old version you will have to have backed it up in the first place. If you’ve got a rooted phone and play around with custom ROMs then chances are you have done this without even knowing about it.

If you want to flash a custom ROM to a Galaxy S III then you can do so by flashing a zip file in Recovery as you would on any other device. If you want to flash a stock ROM you can do it using Mobile Odin.

You can download Mobile Odin from here: http://bit.ly/XNX5IL. The app enables you to flash stock Samsung ROMs without increasing the flash counter, meaning you can update – or roll back – your device without affecting any future warranty claims you might have. Flashing options

The app requires root to run, so grant this when prompted. You can use Mobile Odin to flash a new kernel to your phone. Simply select the Kernel option when you launch the app and then choose your downloaded kernel from your memory card. Flash a ROM

ROMs you can flash in Mobile Odin need to be in the .tar or .md5 format. Scroll down and select Open file the choose your downloaded ROM from your internal or external memory card. No other settings need be changed, so scroll down to Flash Firmware, select that and you’re done.

Once you know what you’re doing, rooting your phone and flashing a ROM on Android is a pretty simple affair. But along the way you will encounter some things that you don’t necessarily understand, such as the wealth of jargon that is used, or have a few problems that you need to solve.

We’ve kindly collected together all the questions you ask us most often, and present the answers below. Whether you are using a Nexus, Galaxy, HTC or other device a life of trouble-free Android hacking awaits.

For many years there have been ‘secret’ codes available that you could enter to perform systems maintenance tasks and gain information about the particular device. There are some codes available for the Samsung Galaxy S3, and while they don’t do a huge amount, they’re quite fun to try.

The first thing you need to do is open up the dialer app, as this is where the code is entered. The first one to try is simply ‘* #1234#’ . This will display information about the version of the phone. Software & hardware

Next you can enter in *#12580*369# to display information about the software version your S3 is running. You’ll also see some information about the hardware that it has got inside it. To exit this, simply press the home button. Battery information

Finally, and probably the most useful is ‘*#0228#’, which will display information on the current state of the battery. This code will show you the current voltage, temperature and overall charge level. This can be used to diagnose a faulty battery.