Seeder Entropy Generator, released on XDA Developers, became a sensation the last couple of days. There’s debate whether it works, and debate over why it works, but enough people reported an improvement that I gave it a whirl. The difference was noticeable. There is a downside–more on that in a bit.
I don’t know why it works either, but it made my pokey 800 MHz Nook Color running Cyanogenmod 7.2 more responsive. What I haven’t seen is a nice how-to on installing it.
First, download the version 1.1 APK file from the first message in the thread. Save it to your Android’s SD card.
Install App Installer from the Google Play store. It will display the contents of the card. Scroll down to Seeder 1.1 and tap it. You may get a warning about non-Play Store or non-Market apps and an offer to open the settings. Accept that, then uncheck the option about unknown apps in the Applications settings. (It may vary by device.) Then go back to App Installer and let the install finish. When Seeder runs, check both options. Then go back into Settings, tap Applications, and disable unknown apps again–just undo what you did to install Seeder.
Then go about your business. I’ll bet you notice a difference too.
Hopefully the debate will eventually be resolved, and the change baked right into Android.
The downside is that cryptography won’t be as strong with Seeder messing with the random number generators. Most people won’t need to worry about it, but it’s a concern for those who have to do a lot of crypto. For what little I do with my Nook Color, I don’t worry about it, but if I were doing, for instance, financial-related stuff on the device, I wouldn’t do this.
David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He started his career as a part-time computer technician in 1994, worked his way up to system administrator by 1997, and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He invests in real estate on the side and his hobbies include O gauge trains, baseball cards, and retro computers and video games. A University of Missouri graduate, he holds CISSP and Security+ certifications. He lives in St. Louis with his family.