Rooted Android Devices

Does Monzo have an official stance on rooted android devices?

I’d like to know if the app will still work, and if they will still provide support if I choose to root my device in the future.

I’d assume not. this was said last year. couldn’t find anything saying it had changed

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Rooted Android devices will work with the Monzo app and will hopefully continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

The only way I could see this changing is if we are required to make changes from a regulatory or risk/compliance standpoint for some reason, but there are no plans to block rooted devices right now.

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Daniel’s just added this comment, after I shared Kavi’s post in the developer’s Slack team -

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That’s a really refreshing attitude. Could make Monzo very popular amongst the Android community!

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Agreed. I’ve rooted several devices to extend the useful life by about a year. It’s refreshing to see a company with a sensible attitude towards what I want to do with MY device.

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It’s not so much that they don’t want you doing whatever you want with your device, it’s more that rooting bypasses a LOT of inherent security mechanisms and precautions in the kernel and userspace, and opens you up to a lot more attacks.

So I’d expect banks to be touchy about managing money from these devices.

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I can understand why banks don’t tend to like rooted devices from a security point of view. But with Monzo being app only I wanted to check on them. Should they start to ban rooted devices it would be an absolute deal breaker for me.

I don’t think banning them is necessary.

I think a warning telling rooted users that they themselves are liable for any damages that may occur due to root fall completely on them, may suffice.

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Personally I think monzo should block rooted devices to make sure only those who know exactly what they’re doing tinker with their devices.

Magisk is an android app that allows the phone to bypass safetynet on some apps and hide the fact that the phone is rooted.

So it doesn’t really matter if monzo blocks or doesn’t block rooted devices for people using magisk because it won’t affect them.

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I disagree strongly with that opinion. I’ve got no time for companies which make me jump through hoops to get access to services. In my opinion they want my custom or they don’t, if they are willing to deliberately make my life harder then they don’t.

That said I wouldn’t actually leave Monzo for blocking rooted devices, since it’s common for banks to mess rooted users about I’d really have nowhere better to go.

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I think… it’s one extra step for people who know what they’re doing, and one that people who don’t know what they’re doing will not take.

Someone who’s installed dodgy custom roms can have keyloggers, rogue apps installed, and security is greatly lowered!

Sure, it’s another hoop, but not a big one I feel

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Hi,

Just a point, rogue apps are common on Android… (see APK download sites)

Security isn’t greatly lowered. Many people use custom ROMs to have security patches if the mobile vendor doesn’t support the device anymore…

My work phone hasn’t had an update in well over a year. And my personal phone gets them months after Google releases them. Last time I was rooted I got security within a couple of days usually.

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I often secure things by this rule: Make restrictions too severe and people will do even more dangerous things to get around them.

A great example of this is modifying and resigning an APK to get around a minor restriction in the app. (Also: No reason for most people to jailbreak iOS devices if Apple lets them do what they need to within the sandboxes. Many people would lose their reasons to root Android if it was easier to remove pre-installed bloat, block ads, and updates were handled better.)

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so true…it is the bloatware that tempts me to root my phone

I always root my android devices and have so far not had any issues with the monzo app. It’s great if monzo are open to people doing what they want with their phones.

True, I used to root when I had a Samsung device, but now I own a Google phone.

There’s no bloat, running Android 8.0 (O), and I get monthly security updates.

I rooted to allow boldbeast to work pristinely. Am glad that the monzo app still works.

I will end up rooting when Android P comes out (if not before) as O is the last release for my phone.