• Off Topic
  • Banking apps have updated and are now complaining about root

Two banking apps (Halifax and Lloyds, owned by the same parent bank so probably the same app under the covers) have updated today (via Play Store) and are now giving a 'we don't work on rooted devices' failure message. I'm on a Pixel 5 with latest GrapheneOS updates, and I've tried rebooting and reinstalling the apps. They've been working fine for years before so I can only hope that they've broken something, though I fear that they're now detecting something about GrapheneOS which they don't like.

  1. Anyone else seeing this?
  2. Any suggestions for how to fix this?
  3. Any idea how this could even happen (given that the bootloader is locked, there is no root, etc)?

    bookreader I raised a ticket with them, phone support was surprisingly helpful, though I'm preparing for it to be closed with "working as designed / cannot reproduce / buy a new phone"

    I think that one of the problems with banks, is that Google targets them (probably PAYS them) to make things difficult unless your phone is fully infected with g-spyware. In order for G* to ram that garbage down everyone's throat, they need to actively make life miserable for you if you don't accept it. They do that by coercing software to be incompatible without it, and coercing other software to use G* services (like push message delivery). There's absolutely no security advantage to them doing these things since the bank still works through a web browser. Unfortunately, that could be where you're headed -- web browser.

    Alexis that's exactly what I was going to suggest. My banking app still works, but it requires "Exploit Protection Compatibility Mode," it asks for a lot of permissions it doesn't need, and I have made a policy of distrusting apps in general. If I can use the browser and a mobile website now I always do that.

    My bank, eBay, Amazon, Facebook (for the very rare occasion I need Marketplace), I always access through the web, same with anything else that asks me to download an app. Always works fine! Companies never want to leave customers out in the cold so they will always have this option!

      luigi Any idea how this could even happen (given that the bootloader is locked, there is no root, etc)?

      Blastoidea Are the phones in fact rooted, or does the app just think they are?

      That's just a one size fits all error message, GrapheneOS isn't rooted and doesn't support it either. The tl;dr is that GrapheneOS isn't certified by Google so if an app checks for that it fails, often throwing that error at you. Details here.

      luigi Any suggestions for how to fix this?

      Follow the troubleshooting steps here, failing that contact your bank and hand them this guide so they can start supporting GrapheneOS.

        +1 for website over apps!

        "An app is just a web-page wrapped in enough IP to make it a crime to defend yourself against corporate predation." link

        There are a few features that you get with bank application over the website typically. Biggest one is check deposit. I've never seen a bank website that will do that, but every bank application can.

        Just wondering if anyone knows whether Starling Bank still works? They are also in the Huawei store so there's some hope that they will remain more accepting of a degoogled phone.

          spring-onion thanks, this pretty much the exact answer I needed! Sadly none of the troubleshooting steps worked, I'll recommend that they fix their apps using that guide but I'm not sure it will be top of their priority list.

          I have halifax working fine but Lloyds i am still having issues so will work on it today to figure out what is going on
          Halifax will work on owner profile not user profile.
          Same applies with Barclays card

            • [deleted]

            • Edited

            Tryptamine
            If it requires unnecessary permissions would it be good to use it in its own profile only?

            mhbcrypto
            As long as it's monero. Public wallets attract 5$ wrench "visitors".

            • ntop replied to this.

              [deleted]
              Just came across the below from lloyds bank
              "We’re aware of an issue currently impacting some android phones that’s causing apps to crash. If you’re affected by this, you can fix it by updating Android System WebView or Google Chrome apps in the Google Play store."
              Link
              https://www.facebook.com/lloydsbank/posts/were-aware-of-an-issue-currently-impacting-some-android-phones-thats-causing-app/3931142980286246/

                I installed a Pixel 7 Pro with GOS 20231115 today. Installed Google Play Services, Aurora and then made a new profile with them in. Installed the Lloyds app from Aurora, it installed and configured fine. Once in it refused to show me transactions but I logged out of the app, restarted the app, logged in again and everything worked.

                  Foggy Please give us more details. As reported here in this thread and on github the app looks to be using the play integrity api so it's strange that it's working on your end. Did you come across it complaining about your phone being jailbroken/rooted as well? Is it on the newest version? Which of the relevant settings as seen in the github post do you have enabled/disabled?

                  For me it worked initially after setting it up but then the next day it complained about "root" and refuses to work.