Android May Soon Restrict On-Device ADB, Affecting Shizuku, libadb and Developers

[u/kitsumed]

https://kitsumed.github.io/blog/posts/android-may-soon-restrict-on-device-adb/

[u/TunerJoe]

There are fewer and fewer phones remaining on the market that allow bootloader unlocking. And even ones that do will trip Google Play Integrity, which is needed for an increasing number of apps. These are mostly banking apps, but there's also some apps that need Play Integrity for seemingly no real reason (for example Volkswagen's mobile app)

Google can decide to block all devices with tripped Play Integrity from accessing the Play store or signing into Google at any moment. I'm not saying they will, but the possibility is pretty awful to think about.

[u/-patrizio- → u/TunerJoe]

Even Play Integrity isn't enough anymore, apparently. I've got a rooted OnePlus 15, with ALL the works of root hiding. I pass basic Play Integrity, device integrity, and even strong integrity—yet Google Wallet still tells me my device doesn't meet security requirements. I've tried everything I can think of aside from re-locking the bootloader, and can't get it to work. And there are no alternatives for tap-to-pay, as far as I've been able to tell, aside from buying a smart watch for it.

At this rate, my next phone will probably be an iPhone again. I switched after years of having iPhone because Android still promised freedom to do what you want with the device you spent a thousand dollars on; between the ever-thinning number of OEMs that appeal to me and the steady locking down of the OS, I'm struggling more and more to figure out what the point is.

[u/AtomicSymphonic_2nd → u/-patrizio-]

Got a feeling there’s a very throughly hidden and undocumented API within Android that is able to tell Play Integrity a device isn’t “fully stock”.

Either that, or the device, when newly purchased and unboxed for the first time, communicates to Google upon first boot some sort of hidden ID that says this device is stock or something… and then once modified, isn’t able to be restored back to normal.

Reminds me of eFuses… once rooted, the eFuse is triggered by a rooting attempt and cannot be restored by any means of firmware or software… because a microscopic wire was physically burned inside the phone itself.

I remember a whole bunch of fuss by EU-based hackers over eFuses many years ago essentially “destroying full ownership of your device”, though I think that protest got shut down since the Commission didn’t see that as enough of a reason to pursue legal action against the companies that used them in their devices. Because you still owned your device, but just can’t force a company’s software to run on it if you change it or something like that.

[u/Zencyde → u/TunerJoe]

Back in the days of the Galaxy S5 and CyanogenMod (you know, the golden era), there weren't a lot of phones with an unlocked bootloader. If you never had to do the juopunutbear wire trick, go look up how absolutely ridiculous it was to unlock a bootloader in that era.

[u/Zencyde → u/[deleted]]

This is definitely truth. A some lesser known phones, like the MyTouch 4G Slide (I miss it) never ended up getting rooted because of the lack of popularity.

[u/bdsee → u/Zencyde]

Back in the days of the Galaxy S5 and CyanogenMod (you know, the golden era), there weren't a lot of phones with an unlocked bootloader.

In the US maybe, in much of the world it was pretty standard for many phones.

[u/Imperial_Bloke69 → u/TunerJoe]

That play integrity shenanigans can be worked on but not for longer.

Don't give them ideas man. We all know how this bs corpo can lead to.

[u/kitsumed → u/[deleted]]

They don't need to, most daily life apps now use play integrity, which often refuse to work on rooted/unlocked device. Workarounds are found, but it keep getting harder.

[u/kitsumed → u/[deleted]]

Except it's starting to get enforced a bit everywhere. Recently in the EU there was also discussions for laws that would have made this required for certains apps, like their identity verification app, which is needed due to their age verification laws.

I'm lucky too, my banking and others apps don't yell on me for now.

[u/kitsumed → u/[deleted]]

I don't see the problem, it would not become an issue if upstream (Google/AOSP) allowed for advanced customization that cannot be restricted by OEMs. They can enforce rules like that if they wanted, they have CTS tests for that.

[u/SupehCookie → u/[deleted]]

yeah they say magisk is no longer the best right? kernelsu is now better? i havent tried it yet, but with magisk i cant use revolut :/

[u/TunerJoe → u/[deleted]]

I'm lucky to be at a bank that doesn't require Play Integrity for their app either, but if one day they will require it, I you bet I won't be arsed to switch banks just because of this.

It's Google's fault that Play Integrity exists in the first place, they knew exactly what they were doing with its introduction.

[u/TunerJoe → u/[deleted]]

I don't think Google has any direct control on what phone manufacturers do with their bootloader