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I want to root a tiny cheap smartphone that my 6-year-old grandson uses.

He's a real techie, but he's always changing his password and then forgets to tell me so that I can store it in LastPass. So I want to install a parent protection app, where I'm the Admin, and he's a normal user (as on Windows 10). I already have Kaspersky Safe Kids on the phone, plus he has downloaded a lot of games.

There's no space for a parent protection app, and he's not allowed to use stuff like Chrome, so I want to root the phone to allow me to remove pre-installed stuff.

Here's my question: What exactly happens after rooting?

Is a password still needed for the first login after rooting - because I'm sure he's forgotten it.

Will every app have disappeared? (That would be OK.)

Thanks.

OldGrantonian
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    After rooting, you (means the apps and processes on your device) get the ability to get privileges of UID 0 - the super user or administrator. So the system resources which were not available to you (as a non-privileged user), become available. Now you can do everything; remove prebuilt apps from /system partition which you couldn't access before; watch your phone's inside things in more detail, break your phone in a second etc. Password will work as it is, except you will have ability to remove it easily. Will every app have disappeared? No, only those you make disappear. – Irfan Latif Jul 01 '19 at 17:58
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    Welcome to Android Enthusiasts! This seems to be an XY problem. By removing preinstalled apps you won't gain any additional (user) space – as they are installed on the (read-only) /system partition – while the additional space you need would be on /data. So for that it is sufficient to disable those apps, and then delete their cache and data. That would be all you'd get in free, usable space by uninstalling them anyway. Apart from that: have you seen our rooting tag-wiki? – Izzy Jul 01 '19 at 18:08
  • rooting is generally not a good idea, thats the opposite of what you want. it is for advanced users only, not for childs – alecxs Jul 01 '19 at 18:38
  • Oops! I'm now in the embarrassing situation of having to accept only one of the respected posters' responses, because IMHO, they are saying the opposite as far as "bloatware" is concerned. I followed @Izzy link for "rooting tag-wiki". The accepted answer by @ keithjgrant says "If you have a few unnecessary applications (bloatware) pre-installed on your phone that you cannot uninstall, rooting will give you this ability." To step outside StackExchange, I Googled "rooting bloatware". The first two links were "TechRepublic" and "How To Geek"...... – OldGrantonian Jul 01 '19 at 19:38
  • ...They both agree with @ keithjgrant on SE, and therefore with @Irfan Latif. Thanks. – OldGrantonian Jul 01 '19 at 19:40
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    @OldGrantonian I hope you didn't miss my warning: Now you can do everything; ... including break your phone in a second – Irfan Latif Jul 01 '19 at 19:55
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    @OldGrantonian yes, root gives you the ability to uninstall pre-installed apps – but you wouldn't gain additional space by that. And space is what concerns you here. // I could write up an answer for your real question, expanding my above comment a bit – but that would answer what you need to know (gaining space), not what you asked here (affects of rooting). – Izzy Jul 01 '19 at 20:57
  • @irfan. Good warning thanks. I actually don't mind frying a £20 phone that has surprisingly lasted a year and a half. Great opportunity to learn about rooting. – OldGrantonian Jul 02 '19 at 08:58
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    @OldGrantonian then this could be a good source if you want to learn in a bit depth. – Irfan Latif Jul 02 '19 at 09:01
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    I re-read all the articles (including link in @Izzy post). The guys who were linking "bloatware" and "rooting" did not actually say that you gain more space for apps. I apologize for their omissions.

    I did a new search: "rooting increases app space". The results mention partitioning an SD. I don't want to create a ball of spaghetti in this thread, so I think I should stop here, and ask a new question regarding partitioning an SD. Or, even better, ask an open question: How to increase space for apps after rooting? Thanks to all.

     – OldGrantonian Jul 02 '19 at 09:05
  • @OldGrantonian Good idea. Split it up into "fitting portions". Now that you've got an idea, that should be easier. Note there are already a bunch of questions on how to gain space (root is not necessarily needed), see e.g. what's linked from our insufficient-memory tag wiki – better check them first, so you can be more specific and thus get better answers. For rooting (and the risks/gains), you already got some pointers. Next to the tag wikis, the "Frequent" tab is also worth checking. Good luck! – Izzy Jul 02 '19 at 18:21
  • PS: Hope you don't mind I've closed this one here now. Got too confusing (well, started that way – but no "blames" or accusations for that). Let's continue that in specific, dedicated places. Again, wishing the best success in all areas you just discovered :) – Izzy Jul 02 '19 at 18:24

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