So, I'd need to reinstall all the bloatware that came on the phone originally? That's pretty much all I took off the phone was all of Verizon's crap that I'll never use nor have any interest in. The only other thing I did was edit the navigation keys out using the build.prop, but that's easy enough to turn back on. My phone as well as my wife's are stock aside from the removal of the bloatware and taking the nav keys out of my phone.
When it comes to taking OTA's, yes.
Inside the OTA is a manifest file. It contains a list of files and their check sums it expects to be on your phone. If the files are missing, or the check sum for a particular file doesn't match (because you've replaced or altered the file), the OTA will fall. Because of this, you must be "stock" (or as close to stock as possible). Any bloat you deleted, needs to be put back. Any files you altered (like build.prop) need to be reverted. Any apps you froze with Titanium Backup or the like, may need to be unfrozen.
Apps disabled via the phone's Settings -> Applications -> [select app] -> [disable] can remain disabled and should not impact the update.
---------- Post added at 06:04 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:58 AM ----------
Thanks kid. I've just read mixed messages about bricking my device from ota updates and sbfs. Thanks again.
Sent from my XT1049 using xda app-developers app
Yes, there are some cautions and warnings about bricking... They usually relate to if you've taken 4.4.2 and try to downgrade your rom to 4.4 or lower. Or if you flash only parts of a rom using mFastboot and get into a state when you have "mixed" versions on your phone...
Due to changes in the bootloader included with the 4.4.2 Update, under certain circumstances when trying to downgrade from 4.4.2 to 4.4 or lower, you could either brick your phone, or set it up to brick in the future when you take an upgrade. So it is suggested you just stick with what is on your phone once you get on 4.4.2.