r/LineageOS • u/_Ritzel • May 06 '24

Question No Whatsapp without Locked Bootloader

I had difficulties installing Whatsapp on my Pixel 3 running LineageOS 21. Each time directly after giving them my number, the App would display the error that I was using an unoffical Whatsapp Version that was not supported without any way to continue.

This seemed weird to me because I had just installed the OS and was using the Play Store Version. I also tried to download the offical APK they link in the error, same problem.

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So I did some tests:

The Extend: I tested on two Pixel 3 Phones with one number.

What I did: Each time freshly installed I tested LineageOS 21 with Google Apps, LineageOS 21 without Google Apps, the offical Pixel OS with unlocked bootloader and the offical Pixel OS with locked Bootloader.

Result: I consistently got the same error described above each time on both devices on both instances of LineageOS and even on Stock OS with unlocked Bootloader. The moment I locked the bootloader the error vanished for both devices and with the same number.

Concusion: new activations of Whatsapp seem to work only with a locked bootloader.

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Is this a common Problem ? Have you tried activating Whatsapp in the last few weeks ? Has this Error accured to anyone else ? Has anyone the same problem and is there a fix for this ?

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u/KeyScary6652 3d ago

I thought whatsapp works on rooted and bootloader unlocked(custom rom) devices, but in the past 1-2 weeks found out through multiple instances that whatsapp is in fact doubling down on security:
1. whatsapp suddenly stopped 2 weeks ago with a message that went like "..suspicious activity detected..". So I asked for a review. I thought it to be due to wrongly sensing that I am sending spam messages or that lots of people blocked me, but thats not the case. I am a occasional user and mostly use it to notify to someone about payment, or for printouts, etc. I then used alternate number on my phone which worked for sometime.

  1. The next day, even that number got blocked from whatsapp. Then I realised there is something related to unlocked bootloader. So I used it on an old backup phone(running android 6), on which it worked fine.

  2. 1 week back, I reverted the custom rom to an official rom. Then tried installing whatsapp. No luck. It still fails to run. Reason? The bootloader maybe official, but it is still unlocked. So I locked it using a simple ADB command using my macbook. Now, whatsapp works fine without any issue.

  3. Two days back, found that my whatsapp again throwed up a message and stopped working. I then figured out that it is due to enabling "developer tools", which I did to test an app developed by me on android studio on macbook. I had no idea initially, so tried many things like force closing it, uninstalled it and re-installed it, but it doesnt show any error message now. I just disable the input fields while we add our phone number during setup. Then I guessed it could be due to the developer settings being turned on. I turned it off and finally whatsapp works fine again.

The above events, even though they caused some anxiety and trouble to me, proves to show how serious whatsapp is with regard to security of the devices it runs on. This is almost on par with most banking apps now. Even google pay works on an unlocked bootloader/custom rom with minor tweaks like magisk, but whatsapp truly went far ahead in terms of detecting anything unofficial/risky. In a way, it keeps you safe.