That is a security win.
On a rooted phone, you've made it possible for other apps to spy on and steal your banking information.
Bank apps not running on phones where security has been compromised seems entirely reasonable.
On a rooted phone, you've made it possible for other apps to spy on and steal your banking information.
Bank apps not running on phones where security has been compromised seems entirely reasonable.
I have root access on my laptop and I log in to my bank's website just fine. Making apps not run on rooted phones is just perpetuating the cycle of forcing users to comply with the restrictions placed upon them by Apple and Google. Root access != less secure. It means control over the device you paid for and own.
Root access for you means you have control, sure. But it often does mean you're less safe too, depending on your OS's security model and what other apps can run as you. That's why limited sudo and other "root ish, but only in small doses" models were made. And that's assuming you know what you're doing.
For Jane Grandma, root of any sort means power she'll never need and a footgun to lose her life savings with. It's a good thing mobile phones protect ordinary users from themselves. Most people don't need root access any more than they need the ability to reprogram the ECU on their car.
Besides, on a rooted phone, I thought there were already ways to fool an app into thinking it's not rooted...? Or did they change that?
I instead have to use my desktop web browser, and desktop operating systems have a far worse security model than Android. No special permissions are generally needed to capture the screen, capture/inject keystrokes, or open .mozilla/whatever/cookies.sqlite
So my phone is still the significantly more secure environment. The fact that I have the ability to grant root does not make it "compromised"
But that's exactly the point. The bank doesn't know what you've granted root. It doesn't know if you're a security researcher, or somebody installing pirated apps with spyware.
The bank can't enforce that on desktop web browsers, but at least it can on mobile.
> because their apps refuse to run on my rooted phone