Revert my Pixel 8 to original state

j9kmo7ed

There are more and more apps that don't work on my Pixel 8. One app graciously told me that my phone was rooted, but gave me the option of accepting the risk, but the others are either impossible to install, never load, or tell me on open that my phone is rooted, even though they worked in the past. Is there a solution so I can continue to use it? Have you, in case, made a guide on how to revert?

nandohyphen1

j9kmo7ed not sure I understand what you mean by 'Revert my Pixel 8 to original state'. Does this mean you want to factory reset it or flash back to stock Pixel Android? Thats also strange apps are doing that. What sources are you trying to install apps from?

j9kmo7ed

Yes, stock Pixel Android. Only install from Play Store. Ueno bank doesn't load, Vipps payment now gives a warning that if my phone is "modified, you need to contact the person you bought it from". Possibly SAS flights. Some bank apps reset my login, so I have to register from scratch. With Air Europa and some others there was a message in Play Store telling me it's not compatible.

cb474

j9kmo7ed At the very end of the GrapheneOS installation guide, they explain how to revert to stock Android:

https://grapheneos.org/install/cli#replacing-grapheneos-with-the-stock-os
https://grapheneos.org/install/web#replacing-grapheneos-with-the-stock-os

Pay attention to the note about erasing the non-stock Android Verified Boot key.

I've never done this, but it looks like it should be pretty straightforward. If you managed to install GrapheneOS, you should be able to follow the steps to go back to stock Android.

nandohyphen1

j9kmo7ed that is super strange. Yep, to revert back its at the bottom of the install page on GrapheneOS website, as cb474 said. I don't know what your planning on doing, but you could try reverting to stock, seeing if the issue persists on stock, and if not reverting back to GrapheneOS. If it does persist on stock, I'd suspect something wrong with the phone itself (possibly hardware). If its fine on stock but persists on GrapheneOS, then it would probably either be GrapheneOS affecting it or (maybe?) something was installed wrong ( don't worry,not blaming you if it was!! :) )

fid03

j9kmo7ed Vipps payment now gives a warning that if my phone is "modified, you need to contact the person you bought it from"

Did you install it from Aurora? Vipps now requires that you install it from Play Store and that you are signed in to the Play Store with a Google account.

cb474

nandohyphen1 Isn't it well known that banking apps and payment apps often have issues on GrapheneOS? It's the main topic of one of the top stickied threads here in the forums: https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/8330-app-compatibility-with-grapheneos @j9kmo7ed You may want to look at that thread and see if you can solve your banking app issues, before reverting. Although I would totally understand if that's too much hassle and you want to go back to stock OS so those things just work.

nandohyphen1

cb474 Isn't it well known that banking apps and payment apps often have issues on GrapheneOS?

Yes it is. I'm thinking of other apps that would do that. I've never come across a banking app that has done things like ask if my phone was rooted. @j9kmo7ed , is it banking or payment apps that are giving trouble?

This should have been the first thing I thought of, lol :)

j9kmo7ed

SAS and Vipps work after I reinstalled. Who would have thought the "is the computer plugged in" solution fixed it. ;)

Since Air Europa isn't a banking app, it seems to go beyond that common issue. I'd really like to continue using it. It's been working since April 2024, but I have gotten some error messages. Do they get stored as a file somewhere on the phone? If you know where I can find those, maybe they could explain this.

fid03

j9kmo7ed Since Air Europa isn't a banking app, it seems to go beyond that common issue. I'd really like to continue using it. It's been working since April 2024, but I have gotten some error messages. Do they get stored as a file somewhere on the phone? If you know where I can find those, maybe they could explain this.

I can't find an app called "Air Europa" on the Play Store. I think there's a higher likelihood you'll get a useful reply if you link to the app and tell us how to replicate the issue.

j9kmo7ed

Now it doesn't show for me neither, but initially there was a message that the app is incompatible with my device: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aireuropa.mobile

fid03

j9kmo7ed Now it doesn't show for me neither, but initially there was a message that the app is incompatible with my device: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aireuropa.mobile

Ah, I see. The app developers have likely enabled Play Integrity for the app store entry. This is one of those few cases where you'll have to use Aurora Store to install it. I installed it through Aurora Store to test and it doesn't complain when being opened.

j9kmo7ed

fid03 Yes, I've seen that api message appear for many apps I've installed. Are there levels to how much "integrity" an app requires, since these apps accepted my phone?

Where's the official place to get Aurora?

fid03

j9kmo7ed Aurora Store can be obtained from their Gitlab repository: https://gitlab.com/AuroraOSS/AuroraStore/-/releases

Yes, I've seen that api message appear for many apps I've installed. Are there levels to how much "integrity" an app requires, since these apps accepted my phone?

There is information on that here (under the "Not compatible" headline): https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/8330-app-compatibility-with-grapheneos#:~:text=issuecomment%2D1766887298%29-,Not%20compatible,-Due%20to%20the

An app might not have enabled the Play Integrity feature for their Play Store entry in the past, but it sounds like Air Europa now has.

I'm not sure I'm the best at explaining Play Integrity, but I'll make an attempt.

Basically, the Play Integrity API feature in Play Store means that the app blocks installs from the Play Store when the Play Store detects that the OS that you're using doesn't license Google Mobile Services. In simpler terms, if the OS you're using doesn't give Play services the high level of system access it has on, for instance, the stock Pixel OS or the stock Samsung OS, it won't pass various checks which the Play Integrity API requires it to pass.

Note that there's a difference between app developers enabling Play Integrity for their app entries in Play Store, and enabling it for actual usage of their app. Vipps and BankID, for instance, don't use Play Integrity for their Play Store entries, but use it when you open or interact with their apps in certain situations (but those apps don't enforce Play Integrity on the strongest level, which GrapheneOS doesn't pass).

There was a recent change to the Play Integrity API which adds two additional checks in order for the user to be able to pass the most basic integrity check (called "MEETS_BASIC_INTEGRITY"): You now have to install those apps from the Play Store, and you need to be signed in to the Play Store. Otherwise the basic check will report a fail. This is why Vipps started reporting – for some users – that their devices are rooted.

You can test this for yourself with this app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=gr.nikolasspyr.integritycheck
If installed from Play Store, that app will report that your device passes the basic check; if you install the app from Aurora, the check will fail.

j9kmo7ed

Also, at one point I stopped getting the app update notifications, so now I have to check manually in the Manage apps & device menu. Maybe I did something to stop those notifications, or maybe it happened after I got the error logs.

Under Play Protect certification it says "Device is not verified", but that's because of GOS itself, and not an error, right?

Prkfsz

Regarding banking apps - I install from Aurora store. When I start them and want to use them, they whine about google not being installed but I just click that message down and the apps are then working as they should anyway, so try that.

Perhaps the same could apply to many other apps as well. As of yet I have come accross but a few apps that wouldn't work for me, I remember Uber fiercely demanding Google on the device and then basically blocking me so it wouldn't work even after I installed sandboxed google app..