Root [Virgin Mobile/Sprint] root, remove bloat, re-root?

[jerkard]

I have a sports wagering app (William Hill), which I use when I'm in Nevada a few times a year. The app will not work on a rooted phone. I want to root the phone using Saferoot and remove bloatware to increase internal storage and then un-root the phone. Will this work, or will the un-rooting restore the bloatware? Thanks

 

[Rukbat]

Unrooting won't reinstall apps that you've uninstalled, but unrooting may still not let the wagering app work. It depends on what Saferoot does. If all it does is install su (and maybe busybox), removing them and uninstalling the Superuser app, the wagering app will probably work. But if it changes files (most "rooting" apps do more than just root), the wagering app may never run again, so be prepared to reflash a stock ROM just in case.

 

[jerkard]

Thanks Rukbat. I'm going to Las Vegas next week. I think I'll wait until I get back to give this a try.

 

[gherkaul]

It should work since "root" is nothing more then su binary, busybox binary & a permissions manager like SuperSU.apk or SuperUser.apk. Remove them and the device is unrooted. The Playstore has busybox update apps that will also uninstall busybox from the device (busybox has to be "uninstalled" so do that first). SuperSU.apk has a funtion in settings that will uninstall su and itself. Presto...your unrooted. Now as far as what you can safely remove, I'm not one that knows. You might check some of the posts on that subject to see what others have removed. But if the system is running smooth with no fc's after removing bloatware (or whatever) it should do the same after unrooting. Root just basically means you the "User" or in this case "Super User" have permission to enter the "internal file system" of the device with rw (read/write) privileges instead of no privileges as in ro (read/only). Remember rooting voids warranties and unrooting doesn't hide the fact. In other words a service tech would know it's been rooted at one time or another. But if that's not a problem you should be go to go. Hope that helped and remember...

"Be very careful when taking advice if your not quite sure of what you're about to do with it."

 

[bkttk2]

If unsure I would suggest 'freezing' the app until you are sure it is okay to remove.

If you don't mind using Xposed framework [FRAMEWORK ONLY!] Xposed - ROM modding without modifying APKs (2.5)(23.03.2014) - xda-developers there is an add on that will hide root. It allows you to pick the app to hide root from. I have tested it a little and it worked on apps I was using. Might check if it meets your needs.