I can't root my phone because I don't have an image for it (Moto G73) although I'd like to, but for some reason my banking app thinks it's rooted and refuses to work. This happened just after I updated it, it wasn't happening before.
Edit: I'm regretting not getting the Motorola Edge 40 Neo, which also costs £250, but is slightly better in multiple ways, and seems like it has better root support.
Did you unlock your bootloader? Some apps just scan for Google Play SafetyNet or in some other way to check whether you unlocked your bootloader or rooted and if they think you do they will vaguely state you are rooted.
Other's concern about your phone being infected are justified and I recommend you to try whether a dedicated root checking app thinks your phone is rooted. These usually don't lie.
Regarding your rooting situation I always rooted the lazy way. Renamed magisk.apk to magisk.zip, flashed it and it always worked for me. But I rooted only 2 phones in my life really and this is not the recommended method by magisk developer.
Lineage OS user here, my banking app got an update a while ago that stopped trusting my finger scanner because I'm rooted. Luckily it still allows passwords or else that would be a deal breaker.
*Edit, now that I think about it I'm not even rooted, just an unlocked boot loader.
maybe a stupid question: But doesn't android sandbox every app? If every app is running in a sandbox, it shouldn't be too hard to pretend your phone isn't rooted.
If they check for a specific version number, like @RagingRobot mentioned, it also shouldn't be a problem. Just set that specific sandbox to return whatever version you want.
I am aware that 'just configure the sandbox' is not really an accessible solution. But a sandbox-config-master would be a great app for rooted phones.
This happened to me once when I updated Android. The bank software had a check for a specific version and my version was higher so it thought I was running something weird. I had to wait for the bank to update the app to support the newest android version
Install TB Checker and use the various detection modes to figure out what the bank app might be picking up on.
They check for a lot of (dumb) things instead of just checking for Play Integrity like they're supposed to. For example it might be detecting an app that could be using root, even if it's not, and assume that means you must be rooted, even though you're not. 🤷
I have too many gripes with banks and how they handle digital interactions.
They're a bunch of dinosaurs, both in what they support and how they support it. They're also in a position where they feel like they can do what they want and you just have to suck it up.
And for the most part, they're right, because all the banks are equally bad. A nontrivial number of the apps are just chrome running in an app window, security is a joke, they make you sign in with your card number which is plainly visible to anyone with eyes that is within a few meters of your card anytime you have it out of your wallet, they restrict your password so you can't use special characters or have it be long enough to actually provide real security, and they limit your 2FA options to SMS. Everything is terrible.
Even when you go into the bank or use the ATM, access is restricted by a fucking FOUR DIGIT NUMERICAL PIN and if you can even use a longer pin code, they don't tell you that and most systems assume your pin is four numbers and won't let you enter any more than that.
God forbid you lose your card, good luck going through the gauntlet of outdated information the bank is going to ask about for you to prove you are who you say you are.
They're all the fucking same and it infuriates me.
Wasn't there talk about Google deprecating SafetyNet? If this has already happened and your banking app is still relying on it, it could lead to a fslse positive on the root check I believe.
I'll go without a phone before I agree to terms like that. I refuse to go without my permission spoofing and privacy enhancements. I'm not giving them unrestricted access to my data, they'll have to at the very least try harder and waste more money on hackers than usual.
I think there's magisk module that can bypass that but i forgot what's name
3 years ago i unlock bootloader + install custom ROM/Kernel in my mom phone (bc it's still running very ancient android) & install magisk after that i activate the module that can hide magisk presence (forgot what's name) so all e-banking & other payment apps work well
Would not recommend rooting anymore, as many apps that have a financial/banking/CC aspect will stop working. Like this one. Rooting used to serve great purposes & had no drawbacks; now there aren't many perks and many punishments. Even your Snapchat will refuse to work, probably because "you can use Snapchat to send & receive money". No one does, but that doesn't matter.
That sucks & I'm sorry. This (probably) wouldn't have helped with a banking app, which forces you to update frequently, but I do not update apps unless: they are buggy, there's an update I'd really like, or I am forced. Not all updates are good.