App thinks phone is rooted

haQ

One of my 2FA apps for citizen/government related stuff (not for work), AGOV, stopped working after the last update. It says: "Your device is rooted. Rooted devices are not supported by this application for security reasons".

I'm not an Android expert, but I thought GrapheneOS doesn't require a rooted phone? What happened since the last update, and does anyone have an idea how I can fix this? I already un- and reinstalled the app.

matchboxbananasynergy

GrapheneOS is not rooted, the app is simply wrong and is throwing a generic error message.

Things you can try:

Enable exploit protection compatibility mode for the app.
If number 1 doesn't work, disable exploit protection compatibility mode again, and then disable secure app spawning, reboot your phone, and try the app again.

The app could be simply disallowing all non-stock OSes, in which case neither of the above will do anything, but they're worth a try. One thing I can say for sure is that they have horrible error reporting, as GrapheneOS does not involve root.

fid02

matchboxbananasynergy If number 1 doesn't work, disable exploit protection compatibility mode again, and then disable secure app spawning, reboot your phone, and try the app again.

This was what made the root message go away when I tested this.

haQ

matchboxbananasynergy

Thank you for the quick reply, sadly only point 2 worked. Thankfully I only need the app a few times per year, so I might just disable SAS when I need the app.

matchboxbananasynergy

haQ That means that the app is doing misguided checks and thinks your phone is rooted because it detects something is out of the ordinary.

How ironic that the bank's "security feature" requires you to disable a security feature to be able to use the app.