# What a device integrity check tells an app

An app can require a particular operating-system identity, boot state, or device certification before it allows access. Passing that check means the device meets that policy. A rejected device may need a different supported access method even when its owner deliberately chose its security settings.

Drafted with AI and reviewed by Codex editorial review (AI).

## Identify which requirement failed

A device check can evaluate several things: whether the software was signed by an expected party, whether the boot process is locked, or whether the device belongs to a supported class. Those are specific signals. They do not describe every aspect of the phone’s security.

Read the app’s error and support documentation before changing the device. An operating-system compatibility requirement and a compromised-account warning call for different responses.

## Separate a service policy from a complete security assessment

A service chooses the devices it supports and the signals it accepts. A device owner chooses the software and settings they trust. Those choices can disagree: a configuration that the owner prefers may fall outside the service’s tested or accepted set.

For example, [Google Play Integrity](https://developer.android.com/google/play/integrity/overview) provides signals about an app, account, and device for a developer to use in its own access decisions. The application’s policy determines what happens after it receives those signals.

## Choose a supported way to complete the task

Check whether the provider supports an updated app, a browser interface, or another device you own. Use its support process when the result conflicts with its documented requirements. Keep account access separate from experiments with operating-system changes so troubleshooting does not put the account’s recovery methods at risk.

A tool that connects to the account should use a provider-supported connection. Adding an agent to the workflow does not change the service’s device requirements.