That was 3 months ago.

• My phone is Redmi Note 10 Pro (global version) running a custom ROM (AOSP based).

• You can install KSU on non-GKI devices: https://kernelsu.org/guide/unofficially-support-devices.html. I was probably using this one, but there are multiple KSU kernels available for my device and you can probably find some for yours in the telegram groups.

Oh, so we’re playin Inception at a whole world scale. Nice.

I think you can use already maintained ones like magisk module alt repo

• https://apt.izzysoft.de/fdroid/index/apk/com.sanmer.mrepo
• https://apt.izzysoft.de/fdroid/index/apk/com.dergoogler.mmrl

I think the situation here is similar to Telegram. Russian connections, but not in a impactful way. I use both without worries, but if this doesn’t suit somebody, there are alternatives.

That’s your decision. I experience no issues with my setup, but you do what you want.

There’s something interesting about mobile banking. I constantly see stories of issues with it on non-stock / unmodified software. The funny thing is that I have never had any issues personally. Until recently my banking app worked even without Magisk’s Denylist (and the most picky app was McDonald’s). Now (since few months) I have to add it to Denylist, but that’s the only requirement, no SafetyNet, no Play Integrity, nothing.

KernelSU? Hadn’t heard of that one before.

It’s relatively new, few months old at most and started as a joke.

Do you get proper compliancy with the Integrity API?

Screenshot_20230804-134241_Play Integrity API Checker

Feel free to ask more questions if you need. For me getting to this point was quite an experience, so I’d be happy to help.

Have you tried KernelSU? Also if you’re careful with magisk you can get SafetyNet to work, even Play Integrity API (but only Basic and Device integrity as Strong requires locked bootloader (or a really bad implementation of security mechanisms as seen here))

Essential? no.

Worth it? maybe.

Nice to have control of your own device? absolutely.

I have two devices, primary with root (through Magisk as KernelSU still has some issues for me) and secondary without root. Anytime I have to do something more demanding on the unrooted device I really wish I had root. Local terminal access, ability to disable some annoying “features” (verified app links) and multiple other things I use daily make it worth it for me.

EDIT: I saw mentions of custom roms in other comments. I have a custom rom installed (AOSP based). If I was on a stock rom (or god forbid something like MIUI) root would be a must for me.

Custom roms still offer this. Additionally you can even enable Pulse (audio visualiser) if you like.

In the 3.x era, fully replacing the windows shell was easy and there were lots of options.

That’s such a good occasion to share a video I found recently, here: https://youtu.be/iD7AezjG5YE

Sort of. Already mentioned classicshell allows for some customisation. Things like FancyWM introduce window tiling to the os, but none of it is comparable to what android launchers can do.

Also an obligatory linux mention. If you do not depend on certain, windows only, applications, Linux provides much more customisation. Different desktop environments can be though as something analogous to android launchers.

Exactly. In a “this is for the future” way.

I was thinking about it, but unless you get your password manager compromised one-time passwords still offer additional protection (in case only the password is leaked in a security breach).

I will try self hosting regardless, but for now I might omit TOTP and stick with Aegis.

Currently I use Bitwarden on both my phone and my pc, but I’m looking into self hosting it with vaultwarden. This gives you access to premium features (such as TOTP support, for which I currently use Aegis Authenticator). It also gives you full control over your data.

I love this. Thank you so much.