Magisk developer topjohnwu might be off serving compulsory military service, but he's still maintained a rapid release schedule for his popular root solution. Magisk v16.4 (and Magisk Manager v5.7.0) were released over the weekend, and they add a handful of technical fixes, app shortcuts, and Android P improvements, but it isn't all smooth sailing. The latest version also removes Magisk's 64-bit binaries, which may break root support for some apps, including the very popular Tasker.
Read MoreMagisk updated with fingerprint security option for root requests
Magisk is probably one of the most well-known and widely used root solutions these days, made famous for its root-detection mitigation strategies. Now both Magisk and the accompanying Magisk Manager have been updated to v15.3 and v5.4.4, respectively, this time bringing the convenience of fingerprint authorization to the dialog which grants root access.
Read MoreXDA's One-Handed Mode app makes it easier to use your giant smartphone
While large displays can be beautiful, using them in everyday scenarios can be anything but. This is particularly the case if you're holding yourself steady on a bus or train with one hand while browsing your smartphone with the other on a daily basis. To address this potential hazard, Samsung, LG, Huawei, Motorola, and other manufacturers offer a one-handed mode on some of their phones, and now a new XDA app called (wait for it) "One-Handed Mode" is bringing the helpful feature to any smartphone running Android 4.3 or higher.
Read MoreOfficial root .zip package for LineageOS available for flashing
So, LineageOS has been out for a few days now. As promised, .zip packages for rooting the ROM have been put up on the community project's site, as it is not pre-rooted when flashed.
Interestingly, this uses Superuser rather than SuperSU to achieve root. Either way, root is achieved through flashing this package once the main ROM has been flashed. It also needs to only be flashed once; subsequent updates will keep root privileges. There are different packages depending on whether the device is 64-bit or not, and also packages to remove root if you so wish.
Of course, this is only the official (and recommended) root package.
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Chainfire's SuperSU Gets A Huge Update To 2.13, With Amazon Appstore Distribution, AOSP And Android L Tweaks, And Better Android TV Support
The SuperSU root permissions manager is probably one of the most widely-distributed power user tools on Android at this point, though it won't be breaking the Top Ten lists in the Play Store any time soon. Developer Chainfire has issued an update to version 2.13, which includes a huge list of additional and adjusted features. As far as usability is concerned, the biggest change is probably the fact that the app is now available on the Amazon Appstore. Kindle Fire modders, this means easy updates for you.
Other major adjustments include improved support for AOSP, Android L, and Android TV (such as they are).
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Simplified Permissions UI In The Play Store Could Allow Malicious Developers To Silently Add Permissions
The latest version of the Play Store hit the scene a little over a week ago and introduced a tweak to the way permissions are displayed at install time, and it left some people feeling a little...uncertain. Gone is the ugly wall of poorly spaced, semi-specific permissions. The replacement is a short set of simplified categories, each with crisp-looking icons and buttons that reveal a brief description when tapped. Google filtered through roughly 145 permissions and narrowed them down to a dozen groups, plus one bucket for anything that remains. The list can be found here.
Left: old Play Store.
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SuperSU Updated To v1.60, Compatible With Samsung's Latest Galaxy S 4 Firmwares With KNOX
These days, it seems like everybody is trying to make Android more secure. As usual, rooting and modding are often casualties of this effort. Just over a month ago Android 4.3 broke the existing model for root, forcing updates to existing methods, and now Samsung is rolling out updated Android 4.2.2 firmwares for the Galaxy S 4 which fully enable the company's heavily secured KNOX environment. Fortunately, Chainfire is already on top of it and has updated his popular root software, SuperSU, to be compatible with the new system.
Samsung has been charging full steam ahead on the movement towards corporate security.
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Did You Root Android 4.3 With Chainfire's SuperSU? Update To v1.43 To Fix The 100% CPU Bug
If you've already updated to Android 4.3, whether via an OTA or by flashing it manually, and rooted it, you're more than likely using Chainfire's SuperSU, which carefully works around the new restrictions Google put in place. Cody has a good write-up about why they did it and what's going on, so go read that if you're interested in the details.
Chainfire created the Android 4.3-compatible root method and the updated SuperSU back when the first leaks showed up for the Galaxy S4 but hasn't updated it for a few weeks. During that time, a good portion of users have discovered that sometimes SuperSU causes CPU spikes and starts eating up 100% CPU.
Read MoreThe Best Of AP
[Updated] Root On Android 4.3 Is Still A Bit Broken, But Chainfire's SuperSU Works, And Here's Why
It's no surprise that Google's latest update to our favorite operating system is in instant demand amongst power users and enthusiasts. Without fail, the people eagerly installing 4.3 are frequently the same ones who consider root privileges a necessity for a good Android experience. Unfortunately, it seems a wrench has been thrown into the works when it comes to exposing ultimate access, and people are experiencing more than a few hiccups because of it.
For those who have already tried playing this game, you're probably aware that the original superuser app (by ChainsDD) and it's replacement authored by Koush aren't exactly compatible with the latest and greatest version of Android.
Read More
Top Android Apps Every Rooted User Should Know About, Part 7: Apps 50-57
From time to time, we like to dive into the murky depths of the Play Store and see what cool root-only apps we can dredge up. If you went to the trouble of rooting your phone, you'll want the best root apps to take advantage of all that freedom. That's just what we have here, the best root apps carefully chosen as must-have additions to your arsenal.
Read on for eight more killer root apps that change the flow of time, liberate your music, test your network, and more.
This article deals with a couple of advanced topics. If you’re unfamiliar with some of the terms, hit up our primers here:
- Rooting Explained + Top 5 Benefits Of Rooting
- Top Android Apps Every Rooted User Should Know About: Part 1 (Apps 1-8),Part 2 (Apps 9-16), Part 3 (Apps 17-25), Part 4 (26-33), Part 5 (34-41), Part 6 (42-49)
- Custom ROMs Explained And Why You Want Them
- How To Fully Back Up And Restore Your Android Phone Using Nandroid Backup
- How To Flash A Custom ROM To Your Android Phone With ROM Manager + Full Backup & Restore
- So You Want To Know About Bootloaders, Encryption, Signing, And Locking?
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