Where can I find general information on Xposed, e.g. how to install it?
In this thread.
Does this require root access?
Yes, because it replaces a file in /system/bin. Once the framework is installed, it should work without root access.
For which devices/ROMs does it work?
I develop the Xposed framework based on the AOSP sources. I'm personally using CM10.2 on an I9100 (Samsung Galaxy S2, bought in Germany). Basically, it should work on any phone which with a ROM based on Android 4.0 or later and an ARM or x86 processor (this is the processor architecture, almost all smart phones and tablets have either of those). Exceptions might be ROMs which are different from the original Android code in some very internal, central code parts (which don't need to be touched for most theming and enhancement modifications). But this is related to the ROM, not the phone itself.
The modules target higher-level code, so they are more likely to be incompatible with your ROM. Basically, the question is whether the methods and resources which the module modifies are similar on your ROM and on the developer's ROM. Let's say a module needs to modify the result of a certain method call. For this, it needs to specify the exact name and parameters that identify that method. If the in your ROM, an additional parameter has been added, the module can't find the method anymore and won't work. If the method can still be found, it will probably work (unless the rest of the app/ROM has changed too much).
There is not definite answer whether it will work. Just try it (of course, making a nandroid backup before is never a bad idea). If it doesn't work, just disable the module. You might want to inform the module developer (not me!) about this fact and provide details (e.g. a logcat and/or the content of /data/data/de.robv.android.xposed.installer/log/debug.log).
What about Gingerbread? Or any other Android version before 4.0.3?
An experimental version for Gingerbread made by liudongmiao can be found here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/xposed/-t2739034.
Note that I cannot give any support for it, please direct your feedback to @liudongmiao.
Are there known incompatibilities?
There seem to be issues with AOKP nightlies. For more details, please read this post.
There seem to be issues (bootloops) with the Oppo Framework, I don't have a fix yet.
On some HTC One phones with CM11, the System UI force crashes. This seems to be caused by SELinux restrictions. Executing "restorecon /system/bin/app_process" (as root, e.g. with adb shell) should help against the FCs, but Xposed might not work due to other SELinux restrictions. If you have the possibility to disable SELinux enforcing mode, you can try that.
If you are an SELinux expert and would like to help, please contact me.
Apart from that, obviously it won't work if the conditions mention above aren't met, e.g. if your phone isn't rooted or it is running on a pre-ICS ROM.
How can I install it?
See the first post. The framework installation needs to be done only once (and on updates), then it can be used for any modules.
Does Xposed get disabled if I flash a new ROM?
Yes, because the file it modifies, /system/bin/app_process, is part of every ROM and will be overwritten when you flash a ROM. However, as long as you don't wipe data, the Xposed Installer app will still be installed, so you can just click on "install/update" again in the Framework section and reboot.
For CyanogenMod-based ROMs, there is an easy solution: [1] and [2]. This will reactivate Xposed automatically after you flash a new ROM/nightly.
For other ROMs, you can try this one. Be careful, it will disable Xposed again if you flash it twice!
Isn't this insecure?
In a way, yes. With great power comes great risk. On the other hand, other ways of modifying your phone are also open to malicious coding. For more details see this post.
Why do I have to enable a module after installing it? Couldn't you skip this additional step?
This is for security reasons (see the question above). By making you confirm that you want to use a module, apps cannot contain hidden Xposed modules. The same could be done with an additional permission, but I'm not sure if everyone would recognize that and it is harder to implement. As a bonus, this toggle allows you to temporarily disable a modification or to ship an app that contains an optional Xposed module.
How do I develop my own modification using the Xposed framework?
First make sure that Xposed is working fine for you. Then read this extensive tutorial.
Why isn't the Xposed Installer available via Play Store?
I have several reasons for that. I wrote about it in this post. And as I learned, Google does indeed sometimes remove apps which interfere with other apps.
From my point of view, you are free to publish the modules you develop on Play Store (at your own risk - Google might remove them). However, be careful if you plan to get money from them. Paid apps are stored in encrypted containers, which means Xposed can't load them at boot time.
Where can I donate some money to support you?
http://repo.xposed.info/donate
Am I allowed to fork Xposed and publish my own version? What should I consider?
I have written this down in a separate post: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=46325320&postcount=4372
Can I include Xposed in my ROM?
First of all: One reason why I developed Xposed was to avoid the need to flash anything just for a few small changes. So Xposed is designed to work on top of ROMs, not as a part of them.
That said, I don't forbid you to include it. Here are the conditions:
I won't support you in the process of including it. You'll have to figure out the best way to do it yourself. The easiest way (which will also cause the least problems) is probably to simply put the installer and the modules into /system/app, then your users just need to click the "install/update" button, activate the modules they want and reboot.
There might be ways to really pre-install Xposed so that it's working out of the box, but I don't recommend that. You have to be very careful about file permissions, so there is a good chance it won't work. Again, absolutely no support for this.
I won't support your users with problems which might have been caused by using the included version instead of installing it normally.
When your users report problems which are probably not related to including Xposed in the ROM, please try to give them some support yourself. If you can't find a solution, send them to the correct help thread. For example, this thread is only for the framework. Not for any modules, not even my own.
I expect you to include the latest versions, which are usually the ones working best. I won't support older versions.
Your users must be able to update to the latest version, preferably without installing a new version of your ROM. Again, I won't support older versions.
From the previous point, it follows that you need to include the original APKs, otherwise updating is not possible due to a certificate mismatch. This is even more important since updates are possible from within the app. It also avoids confusion, like users wanting support for any modifications you might have made.
You probably want to include some modules. There are many modules that are not written by myself. Therefore, you need to get permission from the module authors as well. For modules written by myself, the same conditions which you are just reading apply.
Please give proper credit (which includes a link to this thread for the framework). Don't sell it as your own work.
You might have the impression now that I'm not a big fan of including Xposed in a ROM. This impression is correct. It's not too hard to install Xposed and any attempts to pre-install Xposed will just cause additonal support requests.
Why don't you just recommend Xposed in your ROM thread, along with the place where they can download it (this thread) and some instructions how to get the most out of it for your ROM? Give your users some choice!
The following posts list known, confirmed issues of the Xposed framework/installer. The intention is to give more information about the symptoms, the background and possible solutions/workarounds.
I won't add every reported issue here, but only when it's clear (e.g. through analyzed logs) that the problem is indeed an incompatibility with Xposed. It doesn't include module issues and the inability to read and follow instructions.
In case you have found a solution/workaround for one of the issues, please let me know.
ART / Android L / Android Lollipop / Android 5.0
Symptom:
You want to use Xposed and ART. However, as soon as you install Xposed, the runtime is reverted back to Dalvik.
Or you want to install Xposed on Android L, but it displays a message that it's not compatible.
Background:
There is no Xposed support for ART (yet), therefore Xposed automatically reverts the runtime to Dalvik. You can be glad that I implemented this, otherwise you would end up in a bootloop. It's a completely different architecture with pretty much no documentation. Rewriting Xposed for the ART runtime requires understanding the concept, the code structure and many details to know how it works. I have already spent dozens of hours on that and some things are working. But still it's a long way ahead. Don't expect even a test version in the near future. So please don't ask when it will be available - you will surely know when it is ready. I have nothing else to say about that.
Update: ART might be become the default runtime environment in the next Android version. You can read my thoughts about this here.
Update 2: The Android L developer preview is out. Don't try to install Xposed on this ROM! Check here for some explanations and status: http://forum.xda-developers.com/xposed/android-l-support-t2797923
Update 3: An alpha version for Lollipop is available now: http://forum.xda-developers.com/xposed/official-xposed-lollipop-t3030118
Square Enix games (e.g. Final Fantasy) / Puzzles & Dragons
Symptom:
If you have activated Xposed and any module, some Square Enix games (e.g. Final Fantasy) and Puzzles & Dragons don't start anymore.
Background:
I have spent several hours analyzing this issue. Here are my findings: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=42331031&postcount=1701
Solution:
I don't think I will be able to fix this. Some users reported that it's working after converting Xposed and modules to system apps (but I didn't test it and you have to do this after every update).
Otherwise, you could press the "uninstall" button in the Xposed Installer, reboot, play the game, afterwards press the "install/update" button and reboot again.
Aliyun OS
Symptom:
You experience bootloops after installing Xposed and you find files like /system/framework/core.jex. Typical devices where this happens are THL T100S (with a MediaTek MT6592 processor), THL W200S, CUBOT X6, several ones from Zopo, ...
Background:
These devices ship with ROMs that are based on an incompatible Android fork called "Aliyun OS". These ROMs have a proprietary ahead-of-time compiler called "jazz, which is incompatible with Xposed.
Solution:
No chance of fixing this within Xposed. It was reported that deodexing the ROM and then deleting the /system/framework/*.jex files helps, however you won't get any support for this in the Xposed subforum.
Another possibility might be to disable the JIT compiler by adding "dalvik.vm.execution-mode=int:fast" to /system/build.prop or /data/local.prop (might have an impact on performance). See https://github.com/rovo89/Xposed/issues/14 for details.
MIUI/Dexspy
Symptom:
You experience bootloops after installing Xposed on MIUI. There are references to "Dexspy" in /system/bin/app_process and /system/framework/*.
Background:
There are modified versions of Xposed that have been integrated into some MIUI ROMs. I don't know the details, I don't know if that's still the case for current ROMs, and I don't have the time to follow up on this.
Solution:
Sorry, but I can't support you with this. MIUI is closed-source and in some parts heavily modified from AOSP. I don't have the time to keep track of their changes, and due to some bad handling from their side in the past (forking Xposed without any credit, removing all references to the original project and myself), I'm not very motivated to do so. If you're lucky, Xposed might work on your MIUI ROM. If it doesn't, you'll have to find someone else to look into it. If someone creates a clean patch that doesn't break Xposed on other ROMs, we can talk about including it, but otherwise you'll have to decide between MIUI and Xposed.
Segmentation fault
Symptom:
During the framework installation, you get messages that contain "Segmentation fault". This usually happens on ICS ROMs.
Background:
For some reason, the BusyBox binary that comes with Xposed doesn't work with your ROM.
Solution:
Install the attached app, it contains BusyBox binaries which are compiled with different settings, with all dependencies included in the file. Due to this, the incompatibilities should be gone. These files aren't included by default because they are much larger and not needed by most users.
Resources subclass
Symptom:
You can install Xposed 2.6+ and your phone is still booting afterwards. The version numbers are shown in green in the framework section. However, no modules are working. In the Xposed error log, you find a message like:
Code:
java.lang.ClassCastException: class android.content.res.XResources doesn't extend class x.y.z
You might have a ROM from Huawei, Nubia, ...
Background:
These ROMs use a similar approach as Xposed to theme resources. They create a subclass of Resources which takes care of special handling and return an instances of it from getTopLevelResources(). If Xposed replaced this class with its own XResources implementation, then it would a) break the ROM's additional functionality and b) probably cause crashes if the ROM tries to use this functionality.
Solution:
As a workaround, you can simply disable the resources API in the Xposed Installer settings. Some modules won't work anymore, but most should still work.
Mid-term, I hope that I can build a solution that works with such ROMs as well, however it will take some time.
Huge log file
Symptom:
Your disk space is getting low and you find out that much of it is taken up by Xposed Installer (sometimes several 100 MB). You think that this is a bug in Xposed.
Background:
It's most likely not a bug in the Xposed framework, but a bug or incompatibility of a module. One reason might be the removal of a hack in Xposed 2.6. That hack had a side-effect that some modules relied upon. The might also be other issues, for example the module might simple not be made for your ROM.
In any case, such modules might run into errors frequently and log each of them, causing the huge log files.
Solution:
First, find out which module is causing this. You can check the log file in the Xposed Installer. Somewhere near the top of the exception call stacks (beginning with "at ..."), you can usually find the package name of the module that caused it.
Next, make sure that the module is updated. To be on the safe side, you should update all modules. Then you can clear the log file and reboot.
If there are still issues, please go to the support thread of the module. Check if your ROM is supported and whether somebody else has already reported the issues. If not, post your error.log there and ask the developer to have a look at it.
THIS IS CURRENTLY NOT WORKING
A newer version is available here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/apps/supersu/suhide-lite-t3653855
suhide is an experimental (and officially unsupported) mod for SuperSU that can selectively hide root (the su binary and package name) from other applications.
Pros
- Hides root on a per-app base, no need to globally disable root
- Doesn't need Xposed
- Even supports SuperSU's ancient app compatibility mode (BINDSYSTEMXBIN)
- Passes SafetyNet attestation by default on stock ROMs (last officially tested on 2016.10.07)
Cons
- Ultimately a losing game (see the next few posts)
- No GUI (at the moment) - Unofficial GUI by loserskater
Requirements
- SuperSU v2.78 SR1 or newer (link)
- SuperSU installed in systemless mode
- Android 6.0 or newer
- TWRP (3.0.2 or newer, with access to /data - link!) or FlashFire (link)
Xposed
Xposed is not currently officially supported, but if you want to use it directly, you must be using @topjohnwu 's systemless xposed v86.2 exactly (attached at the bottom). It seems to mostly work during my non-extensive testing, but there are still some performance issues (both boot-time and run-time). Proceed with caution, expect bootloop.
Alternatively, there are some reports that the latest Magisk version + the latest systemless xposed (for Magisk) also works. I have not personally tested this.
CyanogenMod
I've personally tested with CM13 on i9300 without issue, however, several users are reporting it doesn't work for them. Proceed with caution, expect bootloop. Also, aside from just flashing SuperSU, you need to make sure /system/bin/su and /system/xbin/su are removed, or CM's internal root will still be used.
Usage
Install/Upgrade
- Make sure you have the latest SuperSU version flashed in systemless mode
- Make sure you are using the latest TWRP or FlashFire version
- Remove any and all Xposed versions
- If you have been having issues, flash suhide-rm-vX.YY.zip first, and note that your blacklist has been lost.
- Flash the attached suhide-vX.YY.zip
- If you are upgrading from suhide v0.16 or older, reflash SuperSU ZIP, and note that your blacklist has been lost.
- Optionally, flash the Xposed version linked above, and pray
At first install SafetyNet is automatically blacklisted.
If you have just flashed a ROM, it is advised to let it fully boot at least once before installing suhide.
Uninstall
- Flash the attached suhide-rm-vX.YY.zip. The version may appear older, the uninstall script doesn't change very often.
Blacklisting an app
You need the UID (10000 to 99999, usually 10xxx) of the app, which can be tricky to find, or the process name. There may be a GUI for this at some point.
(Note that all commands below need to be executed from a root shell)
If you know the package name, ls -nld /data/data/packagename will show the UID - usually the 3rd column.
Similarly, for running apps, ps -n | grep packagename will also show the UID - usually the 1st column.
Note that the process name is often the same as the package name, but this is not always the case. UID is more reliable for identifying a specific app, and it is also faster than blocking based on process names.
When you know the UID or process name:
Add to blacklist: /su/suhide/add UID or /su/suhide/add processname
Remove from blacklist: /su/suhide/rm UID or /su/suhide/rm processname
List blacklist: /su/suhide/list
All running processes for that UID or process name need to be killed/restarted for su binary hiding. For SuperSU GUI hiding, the device needs to be restarted. I recommend just (soft-)rebooting your device after making any changes.
Please keep in mind that many apps store their rooted state, so you may need to clear their data (and then reboot).
Integration into SuperSU
This mod isn't stable, and probably will never be (see the next few posts). As SuperSU does aim to be stable, I don't think they're a good match. But who knows, it all depends on how things progress on the detection side.
Detections
This mod hides the su binary pretty well, and does a basic job of hiding the SuperSU GUI. The hiding is never perfect, and suhide itself is not undetectable either. This will never be a perfectly working solution.
Debugging bootloops
- Get your device in a booting state
- Make sure you have TWRP or a similar recovery
- Install LiveBoot (link)
- If you are not a LiveBoot Pro user, enable the Freeload option
- Enable the Save logs option
- Recreate the bootloop
- In TWRP, get /cache/liveboot.log , and ZIP+attach it to a post here.
Download
Attached below.
Any rm version should work to uninstall any suhide version.
There may be multiple versions of suhide attached, please look carefully which one you are downloading!
YOU ARE EXPLICITLY NOT ALLOWED TO REDISTRIBUTE THESE FILES
(pre-v0.51: 17410 downloads)
Hiding root: a losing game - rant du jour
Most apps that detect root fall into the payment, banking/investing, corporate security, or (anit cheating) gaming category.
While a lot of apps have their custom root detection routines, with the introduction of SafetyNet the situation for power users has become worse, as developers of those apps can now use a single API to check if the device is not obviously compromised.
SafetyNet is of course developed by Google, which means they can do some tricks that others may not be able to easily do, as they have better platform access and control. In its current incarnation, ultimately the detection routines still run as an unprivileged user and do not yet use information from expected-to-be-secure components such as the bootloader or TPM. In other words, even though they have slightly more access than a 3rd party app, they still have less access than a root app does.
Following from this is that as long as there is someone who is willing to put in the time and effort - and this can become very complex and time consuming very quickly - and SafetyNet keeps their detection routines in the same class, there will in theory always be a way to beat these detections.
While reading that may initially make some of you rejoice, this is in truth a bad thing. As an Android security engineer in Google's employ has stated, they need to "make sure that Android Pay is running on a device that has a well documented set of API’s and a well understood security model".
The problem is that with a rooted device, it is ultimately not possible to guarantee said security model with the current class of SafetyNet tamper detection routines. The cat and mouse game currently being played out - SafetyNet detecting root, someone bypassing it, SafetyNet detecting it again, repeat - only serves to emphasize this point. The more we push this, the more obvious this becomes to all players involved, and the quicker SafetyNet (and similar solutions) will grow beyond their current limitations.
Ultimately, information will be provided and verified by bootloaders/TrustZone/SecureBoot/TIMA/TEE/TPM etc. (Samsung is already doing this with their KNOX/TIMA solutions). Parts of the device we cannot easily reach or patch, and thus there will come a time when these detection bypasses may no longer viable. This will happen regardless of our efforts, as you can be sure malware authors are working on this as well. What we power-users do may well influence the time-frame, however. If a bypass attains critical mass, it will be patched quickly.
More security requires more locking down. Ultimately these security features are about money - unbelievably large amounts of money. This while our precious unlocked bootloaders and root solutions are more of a developer and enthusiast thing. While we're all generally fond of shaking our fists at the likes of Google, Samsung, HTC, etc, it should be noted that there are people in all these companies actively lobbying to keep unlocked/unlockable devices available for us to play with, with the only limitation being that some financial/corporate stuff may not work if we play too hard.
It would be much easier (and safer from their perspective) for all these parties to simply plug that hole and fully lock down the platform (beyond 3rd party apps using only the normal APIs). Bypassing root checks en masse is nothing less than poking the bear.
Nevertheless, users want to hide their roots (so do malware authors...) and at least this implementation of suhide is a simple one. I still think it's a bad idea to do it. Then again, I think it's a bad idea to do anything financial related on Android smartphone that isn't completely clean, but that's just me.
Note that I have intentionally left out any debate on whether SafetyNet/AndroidPay/etc need to be this perfectly secure (most people do their banking on virus ridden Windows installations after all), who should get to decide which risk is worth taking, or even if Google and cohorts would be able to design the systems more robustly so the main app processor would not need to be trusted at all. (the latter could be done for Android Pay, but wouldn't necessarily solve anything for Random Banking App). While those are very interesting discussion points, ultimately it is Google who decides how they want this system to work, regardless of our opinions on the matter - and they want to secure it.
--- reserved ---
Changelogs
2016.10.10 - v0.55 - RELEASE NOTES
- Some code cleanup
- Support for blocking based on process name
- Should fix some crashes (requires uninstall/reinstall to activate)
2016.10.07 - v0.54 - RELEASE NOTES
- Fix for latest SafetyNet update
2016.09.19 - v0.53 - RELEASE NOTES
- Haploid container (monoploid)
2016.09.18 - v0.52 - see v0.51 release notes below
- Fix root loss on some firmwares
2016.09.18 - v0.51 - RELEASE NOTES
- Complete redesign
- Zygote proxying (haploid)
- Binder hijacking (diploid)
- su.d instead of ramdisk modification
- Xposed supported (-ish)
2016.09.04 - v0.16 - RELEASE NOTES
- Fix some SELinux access errors
- Should now work on devices that ask for a password/pattern/pin immediately at boot - for real this time!
- Binderjacking improvements for Nougat
2016.08.31 - v0.12 - RELEASE NOTES
- Fix some issues with suhide-add/rm scripts
- Fix not working at all on 32-bit devices
- Should now work on devices that ask for a password/pattern/pin immediately at boot
- Rudimentary GUI hiding
- No longer limited to arm/arm64 devices: support for x86/x86_64/mips/mips64 devices added
2016.08.29 - v0.01
- Initial release
As always thank you Chainfire! I will try and edit this post.
Edit @Chainfire this seems to work for enabling Android Pay! I didn't get the chance to actually pay yet. But it did let me add my card and did not display the message about a failed authorization of Android check! Before I couldn't even get past that first screen.
Edit 2: @Chainfire It seems to of had an adverse effect on Snapchat. I cleared cache on the app, uninstalled and reinstalled and restarted. It kept Force closing after a photo no matter what. I used suhide-rm and it seems to have fixed the app from any issues. Thanks again and hopefully we'll get you some more reports. Either way your solution works!
Tested on stock rooted 7.0 Nexus 6p.
@Chainfire
What was your reason for doing this project?
Sent from my Nexus 6P using XDA-Developers mobile app
Ofthecats said:
What was your reason for doing this project?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For building it, curious if the method I came up with would work well. For releasing, if others are doing it, join them or be left behind.
I'm assuming with custom ROM android pay still won't work right?
HamsterHam said:
I'm assuming with custom ROM android pay still won't work right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd just give it a try. It's spoofing the specific app, not the entire ROM that matters. It's fairly simple to try.
Installed on LG G4 w/ V20g-EUR-XX update and rerooted with TWRP 3.0.2-0 and SuperSU-v2.76-2016063161323. seems to be working fine, for the moment. Thank you for the update.
So far so good, I was able to add card to android pay. I would try using it during lunch and report back. Again, thanks for the continuous hard work.
djide said:
So far so good, I was able to add card to android pay. I would try using it during lunch and report back. Again, thanks for the continuous hard work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What was the UID or process you found to blacklist it with?
Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk
how to install it? which file should I flash ? Both?
I can't see to add an app using terminal.
I'm typing in
/data/adb/suhide-add 10284
Says file not found. Can someone help, cheers.
Joshmccullough said:
What was the UID or process you found to blacklist it with?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Android Pay comes blacklisted out-of-the-box
HamsterHam said:
I can't see to add an app using terminal.
I'm typing in
/data/adb/suhide-add 10284
Says file not found. Can someone help, cheers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you in Android or TWRP ?
ls -l /data/adb/
Chainfire said:
Android Pay comes blacklisted out-of-the-box
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Derp. That's what I get for not reading the entire sentence under 'Install' in the OP......thanks!
PedroM.CostaAndrade said:
how to install it? which file should I flash ? Both?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please don't quote a large post like that just to ask a single question.
Please read the first post, so you know what to do.
OnePlus 2 here, stock 6.0.1, systemless rooted with SuperSU Pro v2.76, flahed using Flashfire.
Passes SafetyNet check, does not pass my bank's root check, propably for the reasons the OP states above.
thdervenis said:
OnePlus 2 here, stock 6.0.1, systemless rooted with SuperSU Pro v2.76, flahed using Flashfire.
Passes SafetyNet check, does not pass my bank's root check, propably for the reasons the OP states above.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need to blacklist the UID for your bank. Directions are in the OP.
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Welcome to the Magisk Release / Announcement thread!
For all up-to-date info and links, please directly check Magisk's GitHub PageInstallation
Download count of previously XDA hosted files: 25,490,945
v1: 8746 v2: 2251 v3: 3790 v4: 1220 v5: 2914
v6: 138838 v7: 119744 v8: 116796 v9: 203836 v10.2: 215176
v11.1: 573322 v11.6:438886 v12.0: 3263706
1300: 274438 1310: 1018692 1320: 403556 1330: 1844372
1350: 39188 1360: 69874 1400: 4456314
1410: 11512 1420: 112020 1437: 247988 1455: 30652
1456: 253042 1468: 85978 1500: 434572 1510: 460120
1520: 927436 1530: 218164 1531: 3143686 1540: 97368
1600: 6043710 1610: 87628 1620: 140382
Changelog
Magisk
v20.3
- [MagiskBoot] Fix lz4_legacy decompression
v20.2
- [MagiskSU] Properly handle communication between daemon and application (root request prompt)
- [MagiskInit] Fix logging in kmsg
- [MagiskBoot] Support patching dtb/dtbo partition formats
- [General] Support pre-init sepolicy patch in modules
- [Scripts] Update magisk stock image backup format
v20.1
- [MagiskSU] Support component name agnostic communication (for stub APK)
- [MagiskBoot] Set proper header_size in boot image headers (fix vbmeta error on Samsung devices)
- [MagiskHide] Scan zygote multiple times
- [MagiskInit] Support recovery images without /sbin/recovery binary. This will fix some A/B devices unable to boot to recovery after flashing Magisk
- [General] Move acct to prevent daemon being killed
- [General] Make sure "--remove-modules" will execute uninstall.sh after removal
v20.0
- [MagiskBoot] Support inject/modify mnt_point value in DTB fstab
- [MagiskBoot] Support patching QCDT
- [MagiskBoot] Support patching DTBH
- [MagiskBoot] Support patching PXA-DT
- [MagiskInit] [2SI] Support non A/B setup (Android 10)
- [MagiskHide] Fix bug that reject process names with ":"
- [MagicMount] Fix a bug that cause /product mirror not created
v19.4
- [MagiskInit] [SAR] Boot system-as-root devices with system mounted as /
- [MagiskInit] [2SI] Support 2-stage-init for A/B devices (Pixel 3 Android 10)
- [MagiskInit] [initramfs] Delay sbin overlay creation to post-fs-data
- [MagiskInit] [SARCompat] Old system-as-root implementation is deprecated, no more future changes
- [MagiskInit] Add overlay.d support for root directory overlay for new system-as-root implementation
- [MagiskSU] Unblock all signals in root shells (fix bash on Android)
- [MagicMount] Support replacing files in /product
- [MagiskHide] Support Android 10's Zygote blastula pool
- [MagiskHide] All random strings now also have random length
- [MagiskBoot] Allow no recompression for ramdisk.cpio
- [MagiskBoot] Support some weird Huawei boot images
- [General] Add new "--remove-modules" command to remove modules without root in ADB shell
- [General] Support Android 10 new APEX libraries (Project Mainline)
v19.3
- [MagiskHide] Hugely improve process monitor implementation, hopefully should no longer cause 100% CPU and daemon crashes
- [MagiskInit] Wait for partitions to be ready for early mount, should fix bootloops on a handful of devices
- [MagiskInit] Support EROFS used in EMUI 9.1
- [MagiskSU] Properly implement mount namespace isolation
- [MagiskBoot] Proper checksum calculation for header v2
v19.2
- [General] Fix uninstaller
- [General] Fix bootloops on some devices with tmpfs mounting to /data
- [MagiskInit] Add Kirin hi6250 support
- [MagiskSU] Stop claiming device focus for su logging/notify if feasible
This fix issues with users locking Magisk Manager with app lock, and prevent
video apps get messed up when an app is requesting root in the background.
v19.1
- [General] Support recovery based Magisk
- [General] Support Android Q Beta 2
- [MagiskInit] New sbin overlay setup process for better compatibility
- [MagiskInit] Allow long pressing volume up to boot to recovery in recovery mode
- [MagicMount] Use proper system_root mirror
- [MagicMount] Use self created device nodes for mirrors
- [MagicMount] Do not allow adding new files/folders in partition root folder (e.g. /system or /vendor)
v19.0
- [General] Remove usage of magisk.img
- [General] Add 64 bit magisk binary for native 64 bit support
- [General] Support A only system-as-root devices that released with Android 9.0
- [General] Support non EXT4 system and vendor partitions
- [MagiskHide] Use Zygote ptracing for monitoring new processes
- [MagiskHide] Targets are now per-application component
- [MagiskInit] Support Android Q (no logical partition support yet!)
- [MagiskPolicy] Support Android Q new split sepolicy setup
- [MagiskInit] Move sbin overlay creation from main daemon post-fs-data to early-init
- [General] Service scripts now run in parallel
- [MagiskInit] Directly inject magisk services to init.rc
- [General] Use lzma2 compressed ramdisk in extreme conditions
- [MagicMount] Clone attributes from original file if exists
- [MagiskSU] Use ACTION_REBOOT intent to workaround some OEM broadcast restrictions
- [General] Use skip_mount instead of auto_mount: from opt-in to opt-out
v18.1
- [General] Support EMUI 9.0
- [General] Support Kirin 960 devices
- [General] Support down to Android 4.2
- [General] Major code base modernization under-the-hood
v18.0
- [General] Migrate all code base to C++
- [General] Modify database natively instead of going through Magisk Manager
- [General] Deprecate path /sbin/.core, please start using /sbin/.magisk
- [General] Boot scripts are moved from <magisk_img>/.core/<stage>.d to /data/adb/<stage>.d
- [General] Remove native systemless hosts (Magisk Manager is updated with a built-in systemless hosts module)
- [General] Allow module post-fs-data.sh scripts to disable/remove modules
- [MagiskHide] Use component names instead of process names as targets
- [MagiskHide] Add procfs protection on SDK 24+ (Nougat)
- [MagiskHide] Remove the folder /.backup to prevent detection
- [MagiskHide] Hide list is now stored in database instead of raw textfile in images
- [MagiskHide] Add "--status" option to CLI
- [MagiskHide] Stop unmounting non-custom related mount points
- [MagiskSU] Add FLAG_INCLUDE_STOPPED_PACKAGES in broadcasts to force wake Magisk Manager
- [MagiskSU] Fix a bug causing SIGWINCH not properly detected
- [MagiskPolicy] Support new av rules: type_change, type_member
- [MagiskPolicy] Remove all AUDITDENY rules after patching sepolicy to log all denies for debugging
- [MagiskBoot] Properly support extra_cmdline in boot headers
- [MagiskBoot] Try to repair broken v1 boot image headers
- [MagiskBoot] Add new CPIO command: "exists"
v17.3
- [MagiskBoot] Support boot image header v1 (Pixel 3)
- [MagiskSU] No more linked lists for caching su_info
- [MagiskSU] Parse command-lines in client side and send only options to daemon
- [MagiskSU] Early ACK to prevent client freezes and early denies
- [Daemon] Prevent bootloops in situations where /data is mounted twice
- [Daemon] Prevent logcat failures when /system/bin is magic mounting, could cause MagiskHide to fail
- [Scripts] Switch hexpatch to remove Samsung Defex to a more general pattern
- [Scripts] Update data encryption detection for better custom recovery support
v17.2
- [ResetProp] Update to AOSP upstream to support serialized system properties
- [MagiskInit] Randomize Magisk service names to prevent detection (e.g. FGO)
- [MagiskSU] New communication scheme to communicate with Magisk Manager
v17.0/17.1
- [General] Bring back install to inactive slot for OTAs on A/B devices
- [Script] Remove system based root in addon.d
- [Script] Add proper addon.d-v2 for preserving Magisk on custom ROMs on A/B devices
- [Script] Enable KEEPVERITY when the device is using system_root_image
- [Script] Add hexpatch to remove Samsung defex in new Oreo kernels
- [Daemon] Support non ext4 filesystems for mirrors (system/vendor)
- [MagiskSU] Make pts sockets always run in dev_pts secontext, providing all terminal emulator root shell the same power as adb shells
- [MagiskHide] Kill all processes with same UID of the target to workaround OOS embryo optimization
- [MagiskInit] Move all sepolicy patches pre-init to prevent Pixel 2 (XL) boot service breakdown
v16.7
- [Scripts] Fix boot image patching errors on Android P (workaround the strengthened seccomp)
- [MagiskHide] Support hardlink based ns proc mnt (old kernel support)
- [Daemon] Fix permission of /dev/null after logcat commands, fix ADB on EMUI
- [Daemon] Log fatal errors only on debug builds
- [MagiskInit] Detect early mount partname from fstab in device tree
v16.6
- [General] Add wrapper script to overcome weird LD_XXX flags set in apps
- [General] Prevent bootloop when flashing Magisk after full wipe on FBE devices
- [Scripts] Support patching DTB placed in extra sections in boot images (Samsung S9/S9+)
- [Scripts] Add support for addon.d-v2 (untested)
- [Scripts] Fix custom recovery console output in addon.d
- [Scripts] Fallback to parsing sysfs for detecting block devices
- [Daemon] Check whether a valid Magisk Manager is installed on boot, if not, install stub APK embedded in magiskinit
- [Daemon] Check whether Magisk Manager is repackaged (hidden), and prevent malware from hijacking com.topjohnwu.magisk
- [Daemon] Introduce new daemon: magisklogd, a dedicated daemon to handle all logcat related monitoring
- [Daemon] Replace old invincible mode with handshake between magiskd and magisklogd, one will respwan the other if disconnected
- [Daemon] Support GSI adbd bind mounting
- [MagiskInit] Support detecting block names in upper case (Samsung)
- [MagiskBoot] Check DTB headers to prevent false detections within kernel binary
- [MagiskHide] Compare mount namespace with PPID to make sure the namespace is actually separated, fix root loss
- [MagiskSU] Simplify su_info caching system, should use less resources and computing power
- [MagiskSU] Reduce the amount of broadcasting to Magisk Manager
- [ImgTool] Separate all ext4 image related operations to a new applet called "imgtool"
- [ImgTool] Use precise free space calculation methods
- [ImgTool] Use our own set of loop devices hidden along side with sbin tmpfs overlay. This not only eliminates another possible detection method, but also fixes apps that mount OBB files as loop devices (huge thanks to dev of Pzizz for reporting this issue)
v16.4
- [Daemon] Directly check logcat command instead of detecting logd, should fix logging and MagiskHide on several Samsung devices
- [Daemon] Fix startup Magisk Manager APK installation on Android P
- [MagiskPolicy] Switch from AOSP u:r:su:s0 to u:r:magisk:s0 to prevent conflicts
- [MagiskPolicy] Remove unnecessary sepolicy rules to reduce security penalty
- [Daemon] Massive re-design /sbin tmpfs overlay and daemon start up
- [MagiskInit] Remove magiskinit_daemon, the actual magisk daemon (magiskd) shall handle everything itself
- [Daemon] Remove post-fs stage as it is very limited and also will not work on A/B devices; replaced with simple mount in post-fs-data, which will run ASAP even before the daemon is started
- [General] Remove all 64-bit binaries as there is no point in using them; all binaries are now 32-bit only.
Some weirdly implemented root apps might break (e.g. Tasker, already reported to the developer), but it is not my fault
- [resetprop] Add Protobuf encode/decode to support manipulating persist properties on Android P
- [MagiskHide] Include app sub-services as hiding targets. This might significantly increase the amount of apps that could be properly hidden
v16.3
- [General] Remove symlinks used for backwards compatibility
- [MagiskBoot] Fix a small size calculation bug
v16.2
- [General] Force use system binaries in handling ext4 images (fix module installation on Android P)
- [MagiskHide] Change property state to disable if logd is disabled
v16.1
- [MagiskBoot] Fix MTK boot image packaging
- [MagiskBoot] Add more Nook/Acclaim headers support
- [MagiskBoot] Support unpacking DTB with empty kernel image
- [MagiskBoot] Update high compression mode detection logic
- [Daemon] Support new mke2fs tool on Android P
- [resetprop] Support Android P new property context files
- [MagiskPolicy] Add new rules for Android P
v16.0
- [MagiskInit] Support non skip_initramfs devices with slot suffix (Huawei Treble)
- [MagiskPolicy] Add rules for Magisk Manager
- [Compiler] Workaround an NDK compiler bug that causes bootloops
v15.4
- [MagiskBoot] Support Samsung PXA, DHTB header images
- [MagiskBoot] Support ASUS blob images
- [MagiskBoot] Support Nook Green Loader images
- [MagiskBoot] Support pure ramdisk images
- [MagiskInit] Prevent OnePlus angela sepolicy_debug from loading
- [MagiskInit] Obfuscate Magisk socket entry to prevent detection and security
- [Daemon] Fix subfolders in /sbin shadowed by overlay
- [Daemon] Obfuscate binary names to prevent naive detections
- [Daemon] Check logd before force trying to start logcat in a loop
v15.3
- [Daemon] Fix the bug that only one script would be executed in post-fs-data.d/service.d
- [Daemon] Add MS_SILENT flag when mounting, should fix some devices that cannot mount magisk.img
- [MagiskBoot] Fix potential segmentation fault when patching ramdisk, should fix some installation failures
v15.2
- [MagiskBoot] Fix dtb verity patches, should fix dm-verity bootloops on newer devices placing fstabs in dtb
- [MagiskPolicy] Add new rules for proper Samsung support, should fix MagiskHide
- [MagiskInit] Support non skip_initramfs devices using split sepolicies (e.g. Zenfone 4 Oreo)
- [Daemon] Use specific logcat buffers, some devices does not support all log buffers
- [scripts] Update scripts to double check whether boot slot is available, some devices set a boot slot without A/B partitions
v15.1
- [MagiskBoot] Fix faulty code in ramdisk patches which causes bootloops in some config and fstab format combos
v15.0
- [Daemon] Fix the bug that Magisk cannot properly detect /data encryption state
- [Daemon] Add merging /cache/magisk.img and /data/adb/magisk_merge.img support
- [Daemon] Update to upstream libsepol to support cutting edge split policy custom ROM cil compilations
Magisk Manager
v7.5.1
- Fix toggling app components in MagiskHide screen
- Update translations
v7.5.0
- Support new MagiskSU communication method (ContentProvider)
- Fix several issues with hidden stub APK
- Support using BiometricPrompt (face unlock)
v7.4.0
- Hide Magisk Manager with stub APKs on Android 9.0+
- Allow customizing app name when hiding Magisk Manager
- Generate random keys to sign the hidden Magisk Manager to prevent signature detections
- Fix fingerprint UI infinite loop
v7.3.5
- Sort installed modules by name
- Better pre-5.0 support
- Fix potential issues when patching tar files
v7.3.4
- App is now fully written in Kotlin!
- New downloading system
- Add new "Recovery Mode" to Advanced Settings
v7.3.0/1/2
- HUGE code base modernization, thanks @diareuse!
- More sweet changes coming in the future!
- Reboot device using proper API (no more abrupt reboot)
- New floating button in Magisk logs to go to bottom
v7.2.0
- Huge UI overhaul
- More sweet changes coming in the future!
v7.1.2
- Support patching Samsung AP firmware
- Much better module downloading mechanism
v7.1.1
- Fix a bug that causes some modules using new format not showing up
v7.1.0
- Support the new module format
- Support per-application component granularity MagiskHide targets (only on v19+)
- Ask for fingerprint before deleting rules if enabled
- Fix the bug that causes repackaging to lose settings
- Several UI fixes
v7.0.0
- Major UI redesign!
- Render Markdown natively (no more buggy WebView!)
- Support down to Android 4.1 (native Magisk only support Android 4.2 though)
- Significantly improve Magisk log disply performance
- Fix post OTA scripts for A/B devices
- Reduce memory usages when verifying and signing boot image
- Drop support for Magisk lower than v18.0
v6.1.0
- Introduce new downloading methods: no longer uses buggy system Download Manager
- Introduce many new notifications for better user experience
- Add support for Magisk v18.0
- Change application name to "Manager" after hiding(repackaging) to prevent app name detection
- Add built-in systemless hosts module (access in settings)
- Auto launch the newly installed app after hiding(repackaging) and restoring Magisk Manager
- Fix bug causing incomplete module.prop in modules to have improper UI
v6.0.1
- Update to use new online module's organizing method
- When fingerprint authentication is enabled, toggling root permissions in "Superuser" section now requires fingerprint beforehand
- Fix crashes when entering MagiskHide section on some devices
- Remove support to Magisk version lower than v15.0
- Ask storage permissions before patching stock boot image
- Update dark theme CardView color
v6.0.0
- Update to latest AndroidX support library
- Fix crashes when online repos contain incomplete metadata
- Optimize BootSigner to use as little memory as possible, prevent OutOfMemoryError
- Support new communication scheme between Magisk v17.2 and Magisk Manager
- Enable excessive obfuscation to prevent APK analysis root detections (still not 100% obfuscated due to backwards compatibility with stable channel)
2016.10.04
Magisk-v7 is quite a significant update compared to v6. A lot has changed, new features are added, and improved compatibility a lot, especially in selinux issues.
Open Source!
My previous releases has some controversy due to the fact that I included closed source property with unexpected intentions. I had worked hard to create/improve open source tools, so that they can fit my own needs. Magisk is now 100% open source, including the binary it uses.
Brand New Magisk Manager
The Magisk Manager is completely a different application compared to the previous crappy app. It has now packed with features, and it is now part of the core experience of Magisk itself. New features and improvements are still planned, so stay tuned in this application's development!
Repo System, Module Management
We've been putting a lot of effort into constructing this repo system. This change is to make installing Magisk Modules a lot more easier. What I'm aiming is to make Magisk something like Xposed, an interface and a platform for developers to work on. Providing a repo system is a good step towards the goal, as it makes installing new stuffs and receiving updates super simple. I also drastically simplified the Magisk Module template. Right now, I believe anyone with basic knowledge can create their own Magisk Module easily. Changing a few values into a config file should make porting existing mods to Magisk much easier.
Safety Net
My decision to remove root management from Magisk seems to cause some debate. People might wonder why I would remove such feature that made Magisk so popular. Well, I have to emphasize again, Magisk is never meant for bypassing Safety Net. The Xposed and root bypasses are some fun projects that I'm messing with what Magisk is capable of. One of the two main reasons I dropped this feature in Magisk is
1. Xposed is no longer working with Safety Net enabled. I had tried to bypass it with some mounting tricks and process killing, but all of those are not able to fix the issue. Soon suhide is available and it is able to bypass Xposed had made me really frustrated, as I do not want to keep working on a "not complete solution".
2. On the open source side, phh is also developing his own "suhide". phh just released a test build for hiding root (link to his test build), I'm gonna take a look and include it into the Magisk version of phh root.
These two methods are much better than the one I was using. It doesn't need a toggle, it is per app basis, and many more. Also, I'm not creating a root solution, I'm creating an interface that root solutions can rely on. So I decide to give the hiding root "responsibility" to the root solutions, not managed by the interface, Magisk, itself.
Just to let all of you know, one of Magisk Manager's future feature will be a GUI to manage these two root hiding solutions. It will need some time to develop, and I also wanted to do some things in the core Magisk side to add this support natively. So please don't be pissed that I dropped the whole root management thing. It is for a bigger plan
Due to a bug in the template zip, there will be issues flashing the zip files if the path has spaces.
This commit in magisk-module-template should fix the issue.
All repos online is updated with this fix, developers please include this patch into your modules.
2016.10.19 Magisk v8
This release is aimed for bug fixes, and most importantly the ability to hide itself from Safety Net's detection.
Template Cache Module Fix
Due to a bug in the template script, if your module is a cache module, your scripts might not be executed correctly, also flashing in Magisk Manager will cause the UI to break.
This particular commit is the fix, only cache modules are needed to be updated, other modules are working fine.
Search Bar in Download Section
Magisk Manager 2.1 brings search bar to the "Downloads Section", so that it's easier to find a module once the list gets too long.
SuperSU Integration
In the previous release (v7), I decided to automatically convert SuperSU into a Magisk module while installing Magisk. In this release (v8), I make Magisk 100% compatible with SuperSU out of box, not needed to modify how SuperSU work in anyway. For v8 and future releases, Magisk will detect SuperSU patched boot image, and only add the required additional patches to the boot image.
Also, I created further integration for Magisk and SuperSU: Magisk will create a script placed in /data/custom_ramdisk_patch.sh when SuperSU detected. What this means is that the next time you upgrade SuperSU by flashing SuperSU zip in custom recovery, Magisk will automatically be injected. You can also apply OTA updates with FlashFire, and enable SuperSU injection, which will also inject Magisk on-the-go!
For users that was using v7 with SuperSU along with the Helper Module, please manually restore your boot image (should be stored in /data/stock_boot.img), and flash the latest SuperSU, then flash Magisk-v8.
Magisk Hide
This feature should've been released a few weeks ago, but university is killing me lately; overwhelming schoolwork prevents me to finalize the tool, so please pardon my absence and lack of support. But it's still better late than nothing .
In the weeks I have been inactive, Safety Net got a couple updates, each makes bypassing more of an hassle. Magisk v8 introduce "Magisk Hide", the tool to properly hide Magisk, preventing Magisk to break Safety Net features. What it can do is hide all Magisk modules' files and mounts from target processes (e.g. Safety Net), including Magisk compatible phh root maintained by myself.
It cannot hide SuperSU, it cannot hide Xposed. If you want to hide any of them, please use suhide developed by Chainfire.
It should not cause issues as I have been testing quite some while, but if you replace some files with Magisk (known: /system/etc/customize/ACC/default.xml), Google Play Service will constantly crash. Due to this fact, this feature is not enabled by default. You have to manually enable it in the settings of Magisk Manager v2.1 after you upgraded to Magisk v8, and reboot to apply the settings.
Right now, you can manage your own hide list with ways similar to suhide, no GUI:
Code:
(All commands should be run in a root shell)
# Show current list
/magisk/.core/magiskhide/list
# Add new process (the package name should work fine)
/magisk/.core/magiskhide/add <process name or package name>
# Remove a process (might need a reboot to make an effect)
/magisk/.core/magiskhide/rm <process name or package name>
The process com.google.android.gms.unstable (Safety Net) will always automatically be added to the list if Magisk Hide is enabled, so if you just want to bypass Safety Net, just enable in Magisk Manager and you're good to go.
Safety Net - The Already Lost Cat-And-Mouse Game
Keep in mind, in the latest update of Safety Net that just happened in a few hours, Google seems to step up the game, and it might got to the point that no modifications are allowed, and might be impossible to bypass.
Currently on my HTC 10, no matter what I did to the boot image, even just a repack of 100% stock boot image, Safety Net will not pass under any circumstances. On the other hand, my Nexus 9 running stock Nougat seems bypass without issues, with root and modules all enabled and working fine. The boot verification might vary from one OEM to another, HTC's implementation might just be one of the first included into Safety Net, but eventually all major OEMs' method will be included, and at that time I think any Android "mod", including custom kernels, will pretty much break Safety Net. These verification should be coded deep into the bootloader, which is not that easy to crack. So the conclusion is that I will not spend that much time bypassing Safety Net in the future.
The attachment is a screenshot about where to enable Magisk Hide in the app
Magisk MultiROM - POC
I spend some time playing with the possibility of Universal MultiROM by only using Magisk.
Surprisingly, it is not that difficult at all! Here is a small POC video demonstrating my HTC 10 dual booting stock rom and CM 13.
No other dependency is required (e.g. modified TWRP recovery, kext kernel patch etc.). You only need Magisk injected into the boot image, and along with proper settings, by swapping out the boot image, you can load any rom systemless-ly.
What this means is that all Magisk supported device can enjoy MultiROM features! What a great news for flashaholics LOL.
NOTE! The process showed in this video in far from what it will be eventually. I will make the process nice and smooth
2016.11.14 Magisk v9
This release comes with significant updates and changes, doing adjustments to pave the road for the next major update v10: the update with Multirom support!
Please spend some time reading this lengthy release note, the most important information are included in quotes, or bolded and colored in RED.
Also, many other fixes not mentioned here are listed in the changelog.
The End of Cache (post-fs) Modules
This shall be the biggest change for this update. One of Magisk's cool feature is that it can mount files before data and build.prop is loaded (post-fs). Most modules only uses this advantage to modify read-only props (e.g. DPI, fake device model etc.) without modifying build.prop, however with a new tool included in this release (will be introduced in the next section), dealing things in post-fs is not needed anymore.
Instead of having both "Cache Modules" and "Normal Modules" at the same time, confusing both developers and users, creating complexity in module management, the decision is made that "Cache Modules" are no longer supported after this update.
How about some features that require mounting in post-fs mode (known: Changing Boot Animation)? No worries, post-fs mode is still there (as Multirom will depend on this), I only removed the interface for modules.
Magisk no longer let you install cache modules, you have to manually add the files you want to replace, which is actually super easy.
You can place your new files into the corresponding location under /cache/magisk_mount, Magisk will automagiskally manage selinux contexts, permissions and the mounting for you.
For example, you want to replace /system/media/bootanimation.zip, copy your new boot animation zip to /cache/magisk_mount/system/media/bootanimation.zip with any root explorer, Magisk will mount your files in the next reboot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Magisk v9 will remove all installed cache modules under /cache/magisk, which is the previous path where cache modules locate.
Further more, to push developers to upgrade their cache modules, the latest Magisk Manager (v2.5) will filter out cache modules, which means cache modules available in the Magisk repo are NOT shown under the "Download" section in Magisk Manager.
Cache Module developers please refer to the following instructions to update your current module:
Take a look at the changes in this commit (if you're famlier with git, you can just cherry pick this commit, and deal with some minor merge conflicts)
Check the "resetprop" section to understand how to change props without using a cache module, and update your modules accordingly. For example, if you want to replace the build.prop, you no longer need to enable "automount", or bind mount the file manually in your script, as nothing will load it again.; instead, you should enable post-fs-data script, and read your new build.prop file with proper commands. If you want to change certain prop values, just switch from post-fs script to post-fs-data script, and instead of calling "setprop", please call "/data/magisk/resetprop" to set your props.
Remember to remove the "cacheModule" entry or set to false in the module.prop file, or else your module will never show up in the Magisk Download section in the Magisk Manager!
New Badass Tool - resetprop
To be honest, this tool itself deserves a new thread on XDA, as it is super powerful and super cool.
"resetprop", originally named "xsetprop", was initially developed by @nkk71 to bypass the crazy tough detections for Safety Net. Developers found method to bypass the check by modifying the kernel source code, which served the need but the solution is far from perfect as it requires the source code to be available and kernel compiling.
The tool was originally made to directly modify the system prop database. With seeing the potential of this tool, I contacted @nkk71 and start collaborating together, which brings the original simple tool into a full-fledged, all-in-one prop management tool.
Here are some technical details:
System props are handled by "init", a binary located in the ramdisk which starts right after kernel is loaded. "props" are supposed to only have a single writer, and multiple reader, which means only the process "init" has the full control to the prop database. We modify the props (by calling setprop) through an interface called property_service, which will pass the request to init; property_service also handles the triggering of "events" that should be triggered by a prop change. What read-only props means is that property_service will block all requests for modifying props starting with "ro.", as those props are not allowed to be changed once set. To overcome this difficulty, we can mimic how init behaves by directly modifying the trie structured database. However we will not be able to trigger events, as we completely skipped the property_service part. This might be ideal for SN bypasses, but not applicable for Magisk, as I want to load any prop, which should trigger some events to make some changes. So we went a step further and added a feature to "delete" a system prop! As a result, by directly deleting the prop entry in the database, then send a request to property_service, property_service will accept the request and trigger events if needed.
The new tool - resetprop can modify/delete any system prop, including read-only props (prop names starting with "ro.")
You can also read a whole build.prop, overwriting all existing props. The binary will be installed to /data/magisk/resetprop.
Here are some examples for cache module developers to adapt to the new changes:
Code:
# Set any prop (with trigger)
/data/magisk/resetprop ro.sf.lcd_density 480
# Set any prop (without trigger)
/data/magisk/resetprop -n ro.crypto.state encrypted
# Delete any prop
/data/magisk/resetprop --delete magisk.version
# Read props from a prop file
/data/magisk/resetprop --file /magisk/somemod/new_build.prop
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The tool is originally built with AOSP source, I spent some time to make it much more portable.
Here is the link to the NDK-buildable source of the resetprop used in Magisk: https://github.com/topjohnwu/resetprop
Magisk Hide - Greatly Improved
Another update to pass SN, please grab it before it expires lol
People started to panic when Google device to check boot loader / boot-verity etc. As stated in the previous section, resetprop fixes the issue easily with setting all detecting props to the valid values. However, more detection has been added. One of those is that simply adding Magisk directories into PATH will break Safety Net. Not sure if I should be glad because the word "magisk" is now officially on the tech giant's blacklist......
So in order to hide root (here I'm only referring Magisk phh superuser, as SuperSU users shall always rely on CF's suhide, not MagiskHide), I had to change the way things works.
For the new changes that are required to NOT modify PATH, the phh's superuser has to be upgraded.
Please make sure your phh superuser is upgraded to r266-2 (or any version higher).
Older version will NOT work with Magisk v9, please upgrade phh's su before upgrading.
Also, along with the new Magisk Manager v2.5, we finally had an GUI to add/remove apps from the MagiskHide list!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Development
I added build.sh into the main Magisk repo, you can call the script and it will guide you with help messages.
Custom version names are supported, both in Magisk and Magisk Manager (if using custom name, update will disable)
So feel free to clone the repo and develop Magisk yourself! Pull requests are appreciated!
For Magisk Manager, you can provide translations for the app, just translate the strings, create a pull request, and I'll merge it into the main app, many thanks!
Those Pixels
I stated before that the new Google Pixel devices are using a complete different partition structure, as the ramdisk is now stored along with the system partition, and a kernel modification is inevitable.
Without much surprise, our mighty developer Chainfire had released a systemless root for Pixel devices. What it does in a nutshell is bringing back the ramdisk to the boot image, and still do modifications in the ramdisk (rootfs). However it still requires 1. custom init binary 2. binary patch directly to the kernel. If I decide to use the provided closed source solution, it shall not be difficult to port Magisk to the Pixels and start all the systemless craziness, but still I need an device to test and debug. In addition, I would love to see if I can create an open source tool to achieve similar results to make Pixel (which means maybe all future devices) running Magisk.
But the huge issue is: I live in Taiwan, and there is no sign that the Pixels will be available for purchase here, well at least not possible in 2016.
I could ask my buddy studying in the US to bring me one when he comes back at the Christmas vacations (which is still quite some time from now, but still better late than nothing.....), however the problem is that Pixel XLs (the model I prefer) are currently out of stock on the online Google Store, and I will never know if ordering now will make the package show up in my friend's place in time before he comes back to Taiwan.
If anyone seeing this post has access/can purchase brand new Pixel XLs (anywhere should be OK), and possible to deliver them to Taiwan in a reasonable time and a reasonable shipping fee, please contact me and I'll be very happy.
Lastly, I just bought my new HTC 10 within a year. I'm just an university student, the money I earn from tuition could afford me the super expensive Pixel device, but any additional donation to support my open source development is highly appreciated . I'd be really happy that many people love my work!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here are some news....
Lack of Support
School have been super busy lately (getting the last metro to home nearly every day...), I have little if any time to spend on Android development. Another big factor is that I'm still waiting for my laptop to be repaired.
Sorry for all the private messages sending to my inbox, I've got way too many PMs that I'm not in the mood to read through dozens and dozens of them, since a large fraction of them are simply just asking for instructions for installing Magisk on their device.
I prefer REAL issues to be opened on Github, as I check them from time to time, and I can keep track of which are not yet resolved.
Build Friendly
I added build script for Unix-like systems (Linux and macOS) and also for Windows. I tested on all three platforms and all of them are working as expected. For people interested in the latest feature added to Magisk but not included into an official release yet, feel free to build it yourself. I automated the process that even people with no experience in NDK or scripting can build it easily.
Also for people willing to report bugs, please test Magisk built against the latest commit before opening issues on Github, thanks a lot!
Magisk Module Repo?
It has been a while since I last updated the Magisk Module Repo. I know there are a few requests for adding their own modules to the repo. I'm gonna change the way for requests to be handled from the current "posting in a request thread on XDA", to most likely handled through Github. When the new way for requests is decided, I'll add the current requests at once, and close the current thread.
I really appreciate every person who is interested in making a Magisk Module and willing to share it with others, once the new method is decided, the requests should be addressed in a timely manner.
Multirom? Updates?
I've spend my extremely limited free time to fix current Magisk issues, and so far (the latest commit on Github) it has improved a lot compared with the current v9 release.
I haven't really spend much time in the multirom feature, however I found an interesting open source project: DualBootPatcher.
It exists for quite a while, and it is very impressive just like the Multirom Tasssadar created. I haven't looked into how DualBootPatcher works, so I'm not sure if it is using similar tactics method that I switch between systems in a super simple way through Magisk.
2017.1.2 Magisk V10
Happy New Year! What is a better way to celebrate 2017 than a Magisk update
Another massive update!
Official Icon
Instead of using the picture grabbed online, the official Icon for Magisk is now live!
Magisk Hide Back On Stage
This is the most awaited fix, isn't it?
The issue of losing root is haunting since day 1 of the release of Magisk Hide, although it can be temporary recovered with a reboot, it is still quite annoying. I spend a lot of time trying to identify the reason, and soon found out that the issue is caused by MagiskHide reacting "too fast". Most processes starts from Zygote, and it requires a small period of time to isolate the mount namespace apart from Zygote. When MagiskHide reacts too quickly, it will unmount all mounts in the Zygote namespace, which literally means that all processes will lose the mounts (including root).
After adding checks and retries before switching namespaces, it leads to another issue: MagiskHide reacting "too slow". When critical files like framework is Magic Mounted, and the unmounting doesn't happen in time, it will break the SafetyNet checking process (Google Play Service FC), and can never recover until a reboot (or full restart of Google Play Service). I added tons of safety precautions (I won't go into the details here, it will be another few hundred of words), and I can "almost" eliminate all possible breakages.
Due to the fact that Magisk Hide DOES NOT hijack app_process (Zygote), it can only react passively, so there is a limitation to the effectiveness.
The best practice is to NOT add a lot of apps in the blacklist of MagiskHide (managed in Magisk Manager), so that the MagiskHide daemon has the time to react.
Personally I only hide SafetyNet (the preset), and it passes all excessive tests without any issue. However my tester still managed to break it a few times when adding 6 additional apps, and having 10+ accounts syncing at the background all the time. So I guess it is good for most users lol
Magic Mount With No Limits
I'm glad to announce that starting from this update, Magic Mount can do ANYTHING! Thanks to the new mirror implementation and some workarounds in the algorithm, it can now handle adding files to /system root (and /vendor root if separate partition). Also thanks to the new MagiskHide, all mounting combinations can pass SafetyNet!
Magisk Powered Custom ROM: One Click to Custom ROM, Another Click You're Back to Stock
I am a member of an HTC custom ROM developer team - Team Venom, and without too much effort, The world's first Magisk Powered Custom ROMhttp://venomroms.com/worlds-first-100-percent-magisk-rom/ was born!
The advantage over traditional full packaged custom rom is that we ROM developers no longer need to port carrier features (Wi-Fi calling, VOLTE etc.) to our ROMs. Users can install Magisk on their stock devices, load the Custom ROM module, reboot and BOOM all done, along with 100% fully working carrier features. Also, it is just cool to load a custom ROM fully systemless, isn't it!
Developers in the HTC 10 community soon realized the "power of Magisk", and currently trying to push out more and more Magisk Custom ROM Modules.
I hope all developers feel the excitement, and port all stock modified custom ROM to be implemented with Magisk!
For ROM developers interested, please check the link and download the zip to get an idea how to create your own Magisk Custom ROM Module!
Magisk Can Now Root Your Device
I decided to fork the phh Superuser and start doing modifications. From Magisk v10 and after, Magisk will root your device with the bundled root if
a. No root installed b. Root that isn't Systemless SuperSU or older Magisk phh versions installed
Right now you still have to install the phh Superuser application, however the root management should move to Magisk Manager soon, please stay tuned.
Currently it is nearly the same as official phh root with only a few tweaks, but I might add more in the future.
Magisk Manager Now On Play Store
It seems that some already found out that Magisk Manager is now available on Play Store! All future updates will be pushed through Play Store.
Download links will still be posted here, since there are still places where Play Store isn't available.
Documentations Updated, Module Template Updated, New Repo Requests
The documentations here on XDA is pretty outdated, I updated them with more info to assist developers and users to create their own modules.
Module template is updated for an addition option to load a prop file.
Repo requests are also updated, please check out the new instructions!
Sorry guys, in v10 (and the v10.1 if you're fast), when updating within the Magisk Manager, my scripts didn't handle the phh upgrading correctly.
For those got stuck with no root, please flash the latest phh zip downloaded in this thread in custom recovery (or Magisk Manager, because it is the only app that have root access).
Sorry for the inconvenience, please forgive me lol, I'm only one man!
2017.1.11
Magisk Manager v3.1
I'm still dealing with my finals (got an exam tomorrow, and 3 more projects to do......), but the online repo is no longer accessible on Magisk Manager, which forces me to push out an update.
Apart from that critical bug fix, it also comes with a lot of updates and improvements, please check the changelog for further info.
Please update your Magisk Manager from Play Store. The direct link is also updated with the new v3.1 version
Magisk v11.0
2017.2.6 Magisk v11.0
Came back from Chinese New Year holiday with some significant updates!
Introducing MagiskSU
Magisk officially becomes its own rooting solution!
Initially I just want to add root management features into Magisk Manager, but ended up updating lots of code.
Since the changes are quite significant, and no longer compatible with older versions, I'll just name it MagiskSU instead of phh Superuser.
The code is based on phh's approach to update the CM Superuser. I spent quite some effort to achieve SuperSU standards, so far the functionality should be nearly equivalent, my only concern now is compatibility, which is what I will focus on in future releases.
Please note, Magisk is still fully compatible and functional with the latest SuperSU (tested against v2.79-SR3)
The Fully Re-factored sepolicy-inject tool
To accompany with the fresh new MagiskSU, I also spent a ton of effort re-factoring the tool sepolicy-inject.
The tool now accepts policy statements, you can get more info about it from from this section of @Chainfire 's wonderful How-To SU documentation.
Basically I aimed to follow the same syntax as SuperSU's supolicy tool, as it is straight forward and same as the .te policy sources. I added a few additional features in sepolicy-inject, you can directly execute the binary with no options to refer to the help info.
See all changes in the changelog
(I named it "sepolicy-inject" instead of "supolicy", since it still differs in many ways (e.g the built-in rules) even though the syntax is now nearly identical. Root app developers might want to handle this difference when live patching sepolicies)
Pseudo SELinux Enforce Mode
Thanks to the new sepolicy-tool, pseudo enforced mode is now possible (the status shows enforced, but actually is permissive).
In some versions of Google Play Services, setting SELinux to permissive causes Safety Net to fail; however some custom ROMs require the system to be in permissive to be fully functional (although it should be considered as a bad practice). This shall be the perfect solution.
This will not be as a switchable option within Magisk Manager, since Google has a history of pulling apps from the Play Store when related to SELinux (see the tragic example of developer @flar2 's awesome app, and there are still more incidents).
MagiskHide binary is now updated to detect the permissive state, patch the current sepolicy to pseudo enforced mode, then switch back to enforced.
ROM developers don't have to change anything, just simply set to permissive on boot with a bundled app or a boot script as usual. If a user decided to enable MagiskHide, it will handle everything itself.
General Purpose Boot Scripts
I removed this feature in Magisk v4 and favored the per-module scripts. Now I decided to bring it back again.
The scripts should be placed in /magisk/.core/post-fs-data.d and /magisk/.core/service.d. The directory name should be self-explanatory.
If you have no idea which to choose, the post-fs-data.d will be a nice bet.
So Magisk will now execute script named post-fs-data.sh in each module, and all files within post-fs-data.d. The same applies to service.
Future
Thank you for everyone providing translations to Magisk Manager, and huge thanks to all donated.
I appreciate all the support, and that is my motivation to continue pumping stuffs out!
I will be maintaining MagiskSU continually; support won't end, at least in the near future.
Magic Mount features and better Magisk Module support are also on my list.
I spent zero time on adding more support to devices in v11, all the effort were put in MagiskSU and MagiskManager and major bug fixes.
The whole project is now in the state I consider "feature-packed" enough, most users/developers haven't used the full potential of the features.
I'll stop adding major new features and instead focusing on bringing Magisk to more devices that currently isn't supported.
And yes, that means I will postpone the long planned but never worked on Multi-ROM feature (I barely spent time on it after the POC video)
Hope you all will enjoy the update
(P.S. It's 9 AM here and I haven't slept. I'll update documentations after some sleep)
Before I got the in-app guides done, here are some tips for you
Many people seems missing these details
2017.2.19 Magisk Manager v4.2
Magisk Manager v4.2 is now live on Play Store. OP direct links are also updated accordingly.
Tons of improvements to the app, check the changelog for more info
Where is the Magisk Update?
I'm aware there are issue in Magisk v11.1 (vendor mount issues, and MagiskSU system rw issue)
I already fixed the system rw MagiskSU issue (so TiBack now 100% functional), you can check the Superuser sources if you're interested into the solution
I'll push an update soon after I fixed all currently known issues, AND add compatibility to more devices.
Please note that I'm only one single man, and also got a real life to deal with, so I can only focus one thing at a time.
I decided to first improve the Magisk Manager application to a point I think it's acceptable. Android application development is quite tedious, I have to put quite some time and effort into it.
After this Magisk Manager update, I will put all my attention on the core Magisk part, so please stay tuned!
New Online Module Info Display
I updated the way Magisk Manager show the details of Online Magisk Modules in the repo.
Previously I let each module include a changelog.txt, donate link, and support link
However, I think it would be better to let module developers to write anything they want
And considering the text rendering needs to be nice and clean, I think Markdown is the best choice here!
You can include links to your thread, links to your donation link, download link for an app required, changelog.... anything!
All Repo Developers Aware!
In Magisk Manager v4.2, the app will read the README.md file within your repo, and render the file properly
The changelog.txt file, support and donate entry within module.prop are no longer read, they can be removed.
Please update your README.md file ASAP to let the new app properly display what your modules do.
Here is an example, I updated the Xposed module's README.md, you can see the results in attachments
This is also a screenshot of what the new UI looks like
Magisk Manager v4.2.5 is live!
Hot fix for Samsung crashes (theoretically, no device to test), also did several adjustments here and there
As usual, full changelog in 2nd post, direct links and Play Store (might need to wait a few hours) are also updated
Sorry for the inconvenience!
Magisk Manager v4.2.6
Finally got the Samsung crash fixed!! Thank you for everyone reporting giving feedback, really appreciate the community!
As a compensate for the frequent updates and inconvenience, I added another feature that was requested to Magisk Manager - add a setting to disable update notifications
Play Store might take a few hours to update, direct link in OP is updated
Finally, I can now focus on the core part, which IMO is much much more important
Device compatibility should be GREATLY improved once the work is done, stay tuned!
For Pixel support though, I'll need to borrow my friend's Pixel XL for a couple of weeks to develop, but this might not happen soon since school is quite busy.
2017.3.21 Magisk v11.5/v11.6
It's about time for some Magisk update!!
Magisk Binary Changes
The original tool sepolicy-inject is now renamed to magiskpolicy. However, for backward compatibility, a symlink named sepolicy-inject will be created, which simply just links to magiskpolicy
The original tool bootimgtools is now renamed to magiskboot, which is a complete rewrite of the existing boot image patching tool. More info later.
Starting from this release, magiskpolicy, sepolicy-inject, resetprop, and if MagiskSU is installed, su, and supolicy (this is NOT the SuperSU supolicy, it just links to magiskpolicy, exists for compatibility) are all added to the PATH, which means you can directly call these commands through shell (and apps) without explicitly calling "/data/magisk/XXXXX"
In a nutshell:
Code:
/sbin/su -> /data/magisk/su
/sbin/resetprop -> /data/magisk/resetprop
/sbin/magiskpolicy -> /data/magisk/magiskpolicy
/sbin/sepolicy-inject -> /data/magisk/magiskpolicy
/sbin/supolicy -> /data/magisk/magiskpolicy
/data/magisk/sepolicy-inject -> /data/magisk/magiskpolicy
New Boot Image Tool: MagiskBoot
I spent a lot of time rewriting the whole boot image patching tool. For now it shall GREATLY improve the compatibility of Magisk. Key features:
Complete rewrite boot image extracting process
Proper MTK header support
Sony ELF type boot image support
Native ramdisk compression method support : gzip, xz, lzma, bzip2, lz4
This means custom kernel developers can now use a different ramdisk compression method with their custom kernels!
Native cpio patching support: auto ramdisk backups, auto ramdisk restores, auto dm-verity patch, auto forencrypt patch, native cpio extract/mkdir/add
This means boot patching process itself does not require root access anymore (it usually does)
Native LG bump and Samsung SEANDROIDENFORCE flag detection
More Magisk installation methods shall come soon!
I believe some of the features above do not exist in any existing rooting methods, I hope this will bring more users on the Magisk bandwagon
MagiskSU Fixes
In all current open source root methods, a common issue is that some apps (most well-known: Titanium Backup) cannot properly mount /system to read-write. Here I'll only briefly explain the technical details.
After spending very many hours, the victims are narrowed down to programs that directly use the "mount" system calls instead of calling the "mount" command. Also, the issue does not only happens to /system, but instead any read-only partitions. The only way to remount them to rw is through the toybox implementation of the mount command, which should be the default of all devices. This means that any external mount command (e.g. busybox) cannot remount them to rw either. After digging through the AOSP toybox source code and some search through the commits, I finally found the culprit: this commit in AOSP. What that commit does in a nutshell is that all blocks mounted read-only will be locked to read-only.
So starting from this release of MagiskSU, all blocks will be unlocked when the daemon is started (this does NOT break your system integrity, meaning it does not break OTAs), everything should work fine.
Another subtle change is that the command "-cn" will not do anything starting from now. All root developers can call the "-cn" command on both SuperSU and MagiskSU, it shall work in both cases.
I had tried to add the "-cn" command in the previous release, which only exists in SuperSU, but it was not implemented correctly, and apps depending on it will not work correctly.
However, this "context switch" command is originally added to SuperSU due to the way it managed selinux back in the old days. The way I deal with selinux, starting from Magisk v7 (Chainfire switched to similar method in his latest beta) DOES NOT need any context change, as all root procedures and processes are running in a permissive domain (in Magisk's case it's a domain that allows everything, which is slightly different to permissive. This is because permissive does not work on Sammy)
Magic Mount Vendor Issues
In Magisk v11.1, devices with a separate vendor partition (newer Nexus devices) will fail to properly magic mount files in vendor, the most common issue is using the ViPER4Android Magisk module.
It is now fixed in v11.5
Module Template Update
The Magisk Module Template is now updated. All developers please adapt your modules to the newer version
An entry in module.prop called template now indicates the template version number.
In future Magisk Manager updates, it will only show the modules that are using the latest two versions of the template.
e.g. If the latest template version is v13, only v13 and v12 modules will be showed in the repo
This gives the time for developers to update their modules, but also enforcing them to adapt to newer scripts, so I don't need to support the old template formats.
I apologize that I was busy and didn't add the existing module requests, I'll add them once you have migrated your module to the latest template
Also please note that I will NOT add modules that ONLY change some props using resetprop, as this is a upcoming feature to Magisk Manager in the near future.
What's Next?
Magisk v11.1 got over 500K downloads! Thank you for all the support!
The next short term goal is to add more features into MagiskManager (including the mentioned prop management, and a new installation method)
The long term goal will be migrating the current script-based magic mount to C program, which shall be run as a daemon in the background, combining resetprop, magiskhide etc. all-in-one. This will take some time to finish though.
For the long awaited Pixel support, I think I'll start working on it, but the complexity of that device might take a very long time for me to understand, since I do not own the device. I can only borrow my friend's device for not that long of a period of time, so progress shall be really slow. I'll not get the Pixel device now, because I don't think it is worth the price and the hassle for me to import it into Taiwan, but I'll definitely get the Pixel 2 to replace my current daily driver lol.
Magisk v11.6 Hotfix
The issue turns out to be a veeeery minor issue, but causes the whole script unable to run correctly on Samsung devices.
Also, I fixed the incorrect value for selinux prop patching for MagiskHide, so people with selinux issues should now be settled.
I guarantee all future releases will go through serious beta testing, especially Samsung devices. This project is in a scale that these kind of mistakes cannot be tolerated.
I'm sorry for all the inconvenience the previous release gave you, and the mess and headaches for all broken devices.
The Module Template is again updated. This bug will also affect module templates, so please update accordingly, thanks!!
But still, I hope you will enjoy this new release
2017.3.31 Magisk V12.0
The major version bump should label this release as a stable release (at least this is what I hope)
This release is thoroughly tested by all my testers, especially focusing on Samsung devices
Unless major issues, the next release should be a complete new redesign, and requires more time, more info later
The FAQ in OP is updated, please check them out!!!
Samsung, Samsung, oh Samsung
My previous release was widely criticized for breaking tons of Samsung devices, the rating on Play Store also reflected this fact
Thanks to helpful testers and developers, we ironed out all the quirks of Sammy, and in addition added more Samsung specific features.
One is adding proper support for Samsung permissive kernels. Another is faking KNOX to 0x0 if MagiskHide enabled.
Is that good enough to compensate my mistakes in the last release?
Sepolicy Live Patch Moved
Another critical update is that the sepolicy live patching is now moved from the post-fs-data mode to the service mode.
This decision is done due to the fact that on some devices (e.g. Samsung), there are too much to patch, which greatly delays the bootup time if the live patching is done in a blocking stage. However, this will require some updates for the minimal sepolicy rules.
The minimal patch is now a little more complete, which requires 20-80KB of ramdisk size (previously 1-4KB). Still not large to be honest.
However, this makes post-fs-data mode NOT completely unrestricted. post-fs-data mode can still do any file related operations, setting system props etc., a lot more than normal users would use. However, service mode would be guaranteed to be executed AFTER the full sepolicy patch is done.
It is recommended to run most scripts in the service mode (service.d/service.sh), except a. mounting files; b. patching system props; c. time critical operations
Magisk Core Only Mode
People complain that Magisk has "too many features", they don't want to use such "complete" solution.
Here I introduce Core Only Mode. It can be enabled in the new Magisk Manager.
What will still be started: MagiskSU, post-fs-data.d, service.d, (if enabled: MagiskHide, systemless hosts, systemless busybox)
What will not be started: Cache (post-fs) mounts, magic mount (system mirror etc.), all modules, all module scripts
So it literally limits Magisk to root + boot scripts. MagiskHide is still there for those who want some Mario Run lol.
Say Goodbye to Outdated Modules
This day finally comes. All modules on the repo that aren't using the latest template (v3 for now) are now hidden.
This not only guarantees that the modules are using the latest scripts, but also a nice way to filter out modules that are no longer maintained by the uploader.
You have to add/update template=(ver) in your module.prop. Magisk Manager will not know if you only updated the scripts
Upcoming Features
Here are some planned features (sorted in priority)
Magisk Manager resetprop GUI
MagiskSU multiuser support
Unified Magisk daemon: As stated before, I'm planning to write Magic Mount in code to achieve more efficiency and features.
All current Magisk features (magiskpolicy, magiskhide, resetprop, superuser, magic mount) will be in a unified daemon
Pixel (XL): Some developers has done some progress, I'll contact them and sort things out
Android O: I bought a Nexus 5X now, finally got some O love
Some details are changed in v12.0, I'll update the documentation (wiki) soon.
Some Recent Updates
I wish I can be more vocal in the forums, so more information can be spread to the community, but being a university student in Taiwan, studying engineering specifically, is not easy.
It has been a while since the last release, I think I would shed some light regarding the next big update.
Unified Binary
First, the most obvious change is that Magisk no longer rely on the overly complicated scripts, but instead replaced with pure C/C++ programs. Along with Magisk's development, more and more features were added, and those cannot be done with scripts are added as binaries (magiskhide, magiskpolicy, resetprop etc.). As a result, in the last build (v12.0) there are tons of binaries scattered, loosely working together with poor communication.
So the first thing to do is to combine everything as a single program, something like busybox, which is a single binary that acts as multiple utilities. This took me quite some time to finish, especially merging the existing superuser with other parts that also requires daemon connection. Another tricky part is to port the spaghetti shell script into proper C code. The good news is that both of them are done (though, some small bugs might exist and I'm currently hunting them down)
No More Busybox!
Second is the decision to remove the bundled busybox. Initially I added busybox into Magisk due to lack of proper commandline tools in native Android environment (e.g. lack of losetup in Android 5.0), and also many selinux specific options for several utilities do not exist in official AOSP toolbox/toybox. The big problem is that the busybox causes more issues than I would ever expect. Many features in v12 are implemented to only work with that specific busybox bundled with Magisk. However due to the variety of configurations of custom roms, the assumption that the target busybox is always there, working as expected obviously isn't true, leading to numerous breakage and headaches. This is one of the reason why tons of issues submitted to Github are not addressed, because all pre-v13 are haunted with the same issue - the environment Magisk is running is a mess.
However, thanks to ditching shell scripts completely, currently I handle everything by natively calling system calls, or by implementing the functions directly into the binary (another tedious task...). So Magisk now works as a complete package itself, no more dependency and requirements in the environment. Due to this change, the Magisk Manager would need to include a busybox in order to provide the environment to install Magisk modules/Magisk updates, which I think many tracking the development on Github would already notice this change.
Those wondering how to add busybox if they want? I'll release a new module in the repo.
Android O
Finally, Android O support! As expected, Android O has quite some security changes, but since I'm gonna start everything from scratch anyway, things are all quickly sorted out. Also thanks to the arrival of my Nexus 5X, I can finally test things on an actual device, as a result Magisk is now 100% working on Android O DP1. The module template might need some slight updates regarding Android O changes, please stay tuned for the announcement!
Of course, tons of other improvements are also included, I won't list all of them here and will leave them for the release post and changelogs. Updates to Magisk Manager are also work in progress (application development is very tiresome...). There are still tons of features/support bugging in my mind and I would hope I can implement all, but the reality and school prevents me to do so, I am now aiming more towards a stable release rather than rushing out poorly designed features and making me regret in future maintenance lol.
I won't have time to publish lots of informative posts as this one, for those who are interested in the active development of Magisk/Magisk Manager, please keep track of the Github repos. I always keep the development work transparent, anyone curious can spend a little effort to build it themselves and have a sneak peak of what's currently going on. Just keep in mind that the cutting edge master branch does not always work properly