Tell HN: PayPal blocks GrapheneOS • Hacker News Board

Re: Tell HN: PayPal blocks GrapheneOS

#331

Post by grapheneos » Fri, Aug 28, 2026, 4:28 AM UTC

chmod775 wrote: post #205

Works just fine for me on an unrooted Pixel 10 Pro.

PayPal's app requires disabling the per-app secure spawning toggle for it now due to buggy anti-tampering code. You may have already enabled the per-app compatibility mode which includes that.

You may also not have the update yet. Play Store supports staged rollouts where updates are only available to a set percentage of users.

Re: Tell HN: PayPal blocks GrapheneOS

#332

Post by grapheneos » Fri, Aug 28, 2026, 4:30 AM UTC

varispeed wrote: post #131

This should be illegal, but it won't. Corrupt politicians want people to be only on the approved operating systems so they can be surveilled.

It does still work. It's just a bug in their anti-tampering code breaking it with secure spawning. Using the per-app secure spawning toggle or broader per-app exploit protection compatibility mode resolves it. PayPal should fix their code.

Re: Tell HN: PayPal blocks GrapheneOS

#333

Post by grapheneos » Fri, Aug 28, 2026, 4:30 AM UTC

hashworks wrote: post #59

dennemark wrote: post #45

Looking at the description, the title should be changed to "Contactless PayPal card does not run on GrapheneOS" I use latest Aurora Store PayPal version and it still works. I just dont use contactless payment.

I'm not using the contactless payment feature and get the same crash and error.

The app can still be used too but requires the per-app secure spawning toggle with recent app versions. It's due to PayPal shipping buggy anti-tampering code.

Re: Tell HN: PayPal blocks GrapheneOS

#334

Post by grapheneos » Fri, Aug 28, 2026, 4:31 AM UTC

dennemark wrote: post #45

Looking at the description, the title should be changed to "Contactless PayPal card does not run on GrapheneOS" I use latest Aurora Store PayPal version and it still works. I just dont use contactless payment.

It's not specific to contactless payments. It's a bug in the app and still works with the per-app spawning toggle disabled. The per-app exploit protection compatibility mode sets all these toggles to the compatibility mode but it's best to figure out the minimum required.

Re: Tell HN: PayPal blocks GrapheneOS

#335

Post by grapheneos » Fri, Aug 28, 2026, 4:32 AM UTC

Helmut10001 wrote: post #130

Why do you need PayPal APP? I have grapheneos and just tested logging in to PayPal web. Works.

Some features are app specific such as tap-to-pay, which does work on GrapheneOS. PayPal's app still works with the per-app secure spawning toggle disabled. It's a bug in their recent updates causing an incompatibility with secure spawning and they should fix it.

Re: Tell HN: PayPal blocks GrapheneOS

#336

Post by grapheneos » Fri, Aug 28, 2026, 4:33 AM UTC

josephcsible wrote: post #139

This wouldn't be that bad if they had a functional website you could use instead, but their website doesn't even let you do things like pick your monthly rewards category or configure auto-replenish for your debit card.

PayPal's app still works with the per-app secure spawning toggle disabled. It's a bug in their recent updates causing an incompatibility with secure spawning and they should fix it.

Tap-to-pay is unlikely to be provided via their website and does work on GrapheneOS.

Re: Tell HN: PayPal blocks GrapheneOS

#337

Post by grapheneos » Fri, Aug 28, 2026, 4:34 AM UTC

jordand wrote: post #122

I've disabled auto-update for PayPal in the Play Store and also Disabled the app locally (so I can re-enable when rarely needed). They'll force people to update soon enough given how banking apps are.

The latest updates still work on GrapheneOS with the per-app secure spawning toggle disabled. It's a bug in their anti-tampering code.

Re: Tell HN: PayPal blocks GrapheneOS

#338

Post by grapheneos » Fri, Aug 28, 2026, 4:35 AM UTC

tombardier wrote: post #27

Still works on my up to date pixel 9 xl. I haven't enabled NFC payments though

Their recent updates require disabling secure spawning via the per-app toggle, that's all. NFC payments still work.

Re: Tell HN: PayPal blocks GrapheneOS

#339

Post by grapheneos » Fri, Aug 28, 2026, 4:36 AM UTC

kova12 wrote: post #137

How is it that PayPal is still relevant? What does it even offer these days that other platforms don't do better?

PayPal and Curve Pay support tap-to-pay on GrapheneOS in Europe where they have it deployed. Google Pay bans using GrapheneOS for it via the Play Integrity API. Most banks only support using Google Pay rather than having an alternative in their apps. Many European banks have an alternative.

PayPal's app does still work on GrapheneOS, they only accidentally broke it with the default settings due to bugs in their anti-tampering code. Disabling the per-app exploit protection compatibility mode works around it. They should fix it and start testing on GrapheneOS.

Re: Tell HN: PayPal blocks GrapheneOS

#340

Post by gib444 » Fri, Aug 28, 2026, 6:03 AM UTC

grapheneos wrote: post #289

gib444 wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ew that's a nasty workaround. But interesting to know!

Secure app spawning is a per-app toggle now so it doesn't reduce OS security or the security of other apps without it disabled. It only reduces security of the app with it set to disabled. If multiple apps have it disabled, they share the same ASLR bases, memory tags for memory allocated before fork and other things. It's one of the toggles changed by the per-app exploit protection compatibility mode. If an app doesn…

Thanks Daniel. Nice to see you back again tirelessly educating the community about GrapheneOS, almost no comment not replied to!