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Unsurprisingly, Virgin Mobile doesn't want customers rooting their phones

Shortly after announcing that it plans to ship future phones with the vanilla build of Android, Virgin Mobile is taking a less pure stance on Android users cracking open its phones.
Written by Ricardo Bilton, Contributor

Joining the ranks of its fellow service providers, Virgin Mobile is taking a stance against users rooting its phones.

"We do not endorse in any way end users using a non-officially tested operating system nor do we approve of 'rooting' devices," a spokesperson told PCMag. "This constitutes a violation of our terms of service and puts our network in jeopardy. We endeavor to provide users a customizable Android experience within the limits of the tested and network approved Android OS."

Strangely, the statement comes not long after Virgin Mobile announced that its Android phones would ship with vanilla builds of the mobile operating system. According to the company, manufacturer customizations like HTC's Sense and Samsung's TouchWiz, for example, would be stripped from Virgin Mobile's phones. One of the the first phones to see the effects of the policy is the Motorola Triumph, which won't come with Motorola's oft-maligned Motoblur skin.

This was good news Android users, few of who are too crazy about the custom Android builds that manufacturers foist upon their phones. But while Virgin Mobile seems fond of the purity of Android, the company seems less keen on the platform's other kind of openness - which, all told, shouldn't come as too much of a surprise.

[PCMag]

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