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It's been eight months since we last looked at a major update to the popular Android rooting tool Magisk, and a lot's happened since then — like the release of Android 12 back in October. That makes it high time for an update, and on Wednesday developer John Wu (a.k.a. topjohnwu on GitHub) shared some good news for anyone anxiously awaiting root, with the announcement of the public beta for the powerful new Magisk v24.0.
Android modding tool Magisk is alive and well, MagiskHide not so much
Creator John Wu will continue to manage the project
Magisk is one of the most powerful Android mod tools around, and a godsend to users who buy a phone without a strong custom ROM community. But ever since its creator John Wu was hired by Google itself in May, its future has been somewhat fuzzy. Earlier today Wu updated his Medium site for the Magisk project, stating that the open source tool will continue development ... but with some notable changes.
Google hires an Android community rooting guru
Magisk developer John Wu now works for the Android Platform Security team
Magisk developer Hung-Lin "John" Wu (aka topjohnwu at many venues) has just started working for Google — on the Android Platform Security team, no less. For those without the context to pick up on the irony, that means John Wu is now working for the group inside Google that Magisk and SafetyNet-circumventing Magisk Hide have been playing cat and mouse with for the last several years.
Magisk v23 arrives with SafetyNet fixes, but legacy support is dead
No more support for Jelly Bean or KitKat
Magisk is one of the most powerful tools available for Android that can not only root your smartphone but even help it bypass Google's SafetyNet, which stops certain apps like Google Pay from running on modified devices. While the focus of the latest update is fixing bugs, it brings about a couple of notable developments.
Magisk gets its biggest update in months, bringing features like Android 11 support and a brand new UI to stable
Rooters are rejoicing
For advanced Android enthusiasts, Magisk is one of the most popular tools for achieving systemless root access to a device. Since each yearly Android release introduces new underlying code changes, there's usually a lot of work to be done before Magisk can be made compatible. Developer John Wu started with the first canary builds back in April, and now it looks like Magisk version 21 is officially ready for Android 11 — as well as a completely rewritten version of Magisk Manager.
Google's dreaded SafetyNet hardware check has been spotted in the wild
The end of an era — unless a solution is found
If you're part of the root and ROM Android enthusiast crowd, then you probably freaked out a bit back in March when it was revealed Google's SafetyNet check was getting a hardware-backed component with no easy workaround. Now, these changes have been spotted live in the wild, and some phones are already using hardware-backed SafetyNet attestation. Cue "the end is nigh" wailing.
First Magisk canary builds are now available for Android 11
Magisk Hide is functional, too, but SafetyNet changes are still looming on the horizon
It's the same procedure as every year: Google releases new development builds for the latest version of Android, and the developer community begins digging through the code to see how it can achieve root. That's true for this year, as well, as Magisk developer John Wu has published the first canary builds of his systemless root solution for Android 11's developer preview.
Latest SafetyNet improvements threaten to finally kill Magisk Hide
The developer has overcome other big obstacles before, though
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Magisk and Google have been playing a game of cat and mouse for years: Google's SafetyNet technology is supposed to be triggered when it notices a rooted device, but MagiskHide does its best to keep banking apps, Pokémon Go, and other root-despising applications going, no matter what you do with your phone. However, the latest update to SafetyNet, apparently rolling out via the Play Services, seems to put an end to the game permanently. Magisk developer John Wu isn't convinced he'll find a solution that would keep his tool intact once Google fully implements the change.
Earlier today, well-known developer John Wu — the name behind Android's current go-to root solution Magisk — penned an explanation over on Medium for precisely how the Mate 30's Google apps workaround worked. It was a pretty interesting read for folks interested in the minutiae of Android, as parts of it are a bit concerning from a security perspective. Based on the timing, it seems like it may have also worried some other folks as well, as the site hosting the installer APK for the Play Store workaround has been taken down.
Among Android root and ROM enthusiasts, the name John Wu is well known, being attached to the developer responsible for Magisk. Wu's systemless root solution has had a blistering development pace, repeatedly beating Google when it comes to the cat and mouse game imposed by SafetyNet and other system changes. But today the 23-year-old developer has announced a surprising career move: He's going to be an intern at Apple for the next four months.
Magisk developer John Wu has a history of quickly rooting both new phones and Android versions almost as soon as they land, but he's exceeded his own already high standards today. Android Q may only exist for consumers as leaked, half-built, buggy builds circulating among forums, but Wu has already rooted it.