Magisk v20.1 and Magisk Manager v7.4.0 introduces new hiding mode for Android 9+ devices

Magisk is an incredible tool for Android rooting enthusiasts. It is a systemless interface created by XDA’s Recognized Developer topjohnwu and can be used for much more than just rooting your devices. The interface helps users tinker with the system settings without actually making changes to the system files. Besides allowing the installation of a wide range of modules, Magisk is immensely popular because its ability to bypass Google’s SafetyNet which prevents games, OTT and banking applications, etc. Last month, topjohnwu introduced Magisk V20.0 with full compatibility for Android 10 including devices with A-only partitioning scheme. Now, they have released v20.1 along with Magisk Manager 7.4 with a log of bug fixes and a new hiding mode for devices running Android 9 Pie and upwards.

The new hiding mode part of the Magisk Manager v7.4.0 ensures that associated packages remain undetected by means of a “heavily obfuscated stub APK.” The resources required to run the Manager will be downloaded into its internal files of the stub app and loaded whenever you need to use the full Manager app. You can also change the name of the app while hiding it.

The developer notes that since this hiding mode requires “a special way to communicate with the app,” it might not work in the case of certain custom Android skins or overlays. The updated version, thus, has a new feature to check compatibility for the new hiding mode.

The update also fixes some bugs from the previous version and here’s the complete changelog:

Magisk 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

Magisk Manager 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

To make use of the new hiding mode, you’ll have to update Magisk as well as the Manager app. If you’ve already hidden the Manager, tap on an app named “Unhide Magisk Manager” from your app drawer, update the app, and then reboot the smartphone.

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Source 1: XDA Forums thread / Source 2: GitHub

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[Update: Will be reversed with OTA] The Nokia 7.2 could be the first HMD Global phone to ship with an unlockable bootloader

Update (11/04/19 @ 4:00 AM ET: HMD Global has clarified that the ability to unlock the bootloader on the Nokia 7.2 and Nokia 6.2 was unintentional, and as such, will be reversed with an upcoming OTA. Scroll to the bottom for more information. The article as published on October 31, 2019, is preserved as below.

If there’s one thing that hasn’t sit well with our users regarding Nokia/HMD Global devices, is how developer-unfriendly these phones are. After all, these phones are not bootloader unlockable. Without bootloader unlock, most mods, including rooting and custom ROMs, become simply impossible to achieve, closing a lot of doors for power users interested in modding their devices. Nokia’s constant reluctance to allow bootloader unlocking, as well as broken promises to allow it in the past, has not helped its cause either, but the Finnish company may be looking into reversing course in this stance. The Nokia 7.2 was recently launched as one of HMD Global’s most competent midrange devices, but it’s also apparently the first phone to ship with an unlockable bootloader.

Indeed, the device’s bootloader can be unlocked very straightforwardly without going through any weird hoops and workarounds by enabling OEM unlocking in developer settings and unlocking it through fastboot just like you would unlock any other phone out there. Once the bootloader is unlocked, users are free to do whatever they want with their phones, including, but not limited to, installing a custom recovery like TWRP, rooting, and flashing custom ROMs (either in the form of GSIs or device-specific ROMs). Previously, Nokia users were mostly out of luck when it came to unlocking their phones’ bootloaders, and as such, were forced to remain completely stock.

Have in mind, however, that there is a possibility that this is just a massive accident or mistake on HMD Global’s part, and that they didn’t mean to ship the phone with an unlockable bootloader. This is something that can be easily fixed with a software update if they wanted to. As such, if you bought a Nokia 7.2 and you want to mod it, then go ahead and unlock your phone as soon as possible, and avoid taking any over-the-air updates until HMD Global actually speaks out on this.

How to unlock the Nokia 7.2 bootloader

Source: Techmesto

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Update: Ability to unlock bootloader will be reversed with future OTA

As widely feared, the ability to unlock the bootloader on the Nokia 7.2 and Nokia 6.2 was a mistake and completely unintentional. There has been no change in HMD Global’s stance on unlocking bootloaders. A company spokesperson issued the following statement to Nokiamob.net:

There is no change to our policy of allowing unlocking bootloader on Nokia phones. This was an inadvertent miss in the case of Nokia 7.2 and we will be issuing a maintenance release to remove the option. We regret the inconvenience and would like to remind our consumers that unlocking the bootloader will lead to the warranty on their Nokia phone becoming void.

This is a tricky situation for users who were looking forward to getting their bootloaders unlocked, as not only do they lose warranty, but there is also a possibility of bricking their devices if they inadvertently accept an OTA (depending on how HMD Global executes this maneuver). It’s a bad situation to be in, as locking the bootloader will curtail the scope of development on the device, because of which there will be fewer notable development projects available for interested users.

If you are interested in unlocking the bootloader of your Nokia 7.2 or Nokia 6.2, do it while you still can.

Source: Nokiamob.net

The post [Update: Will be reversed with OTA] The Nokia 7.2 could be the first HMD Global phone to ship with an unlockable bootloader appeared first on xda-developers.

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[Update: Will be reversed with OTA] The Nokia 7.2 could be the first HMD Global phone to ship with an unlockable bootloader

Update (11/04/19 @ 4:00 AM ET: HMD Global has clarified that the ability to unlock the bootloader on the Nokia 7.2 and Nokia 6.2 was unintentional, and as such, will be reversed with an upcoming OTA. Scroll to the bottom for more information. The article as published on October 31, 2019, is preserved as below.

If there’s one thing that hasn’t sit well with our users regarding Nokia/HMD Global devices, is how developer-unfriendly these phones are. After all, these phones are not bootloader unlockable. Without bootloader unlock, most mods, including rooting and custom ROMs, become simply impossible to achieve, closing a lot of doors for power users interested in modding their devices. Nokia’s constant reluctance to allow bootloader unlocking, as well as broken promises to allow it in the past, has not helped its cause either, but the Finnish company may be looking into reversing course in this stance. The Nokia 7.2 was recently launched as one of HMD Global’s most competent midrange devices, but it’s also apparently the first phone to ship with an unlockable bootloader.

Indeed, the device’s bootloader can be unlocked very straightforwardly without going through any weird hoops and workarounds by enabling OEM unlocking in developer settings and unlocking it through fastboot just like you would unlock any other phone out there. Once the bootloader is unlocked, users are free to do whatever they want with their phones, including, but not limited to, installing a custom recovery like TWRP, rooting, and flashing custom ROMs (either in the form of GSIs or device-specific ROMs). Previously, Nokia users were mostly out of luck when it came to unlocking their phones’ bootloaders, and as such, were forced to remain completely stock.

Have in mind, however, that there is a possibility that this is just a massive accident or mistake on HMD Global’s part, and that they didn’t mean to ship the phone with an unlockable bootloader. This is something that can be easily fixed with a software update if they wanted to. As such, if you bought a Nokia 7.2 and you want to mod it, then go ahead and unlock your phone as soon as possible, and avoid taking any over-the-air updates until HMD Global actually speaks out on this.

How to unlock the Nokia 7.2 bootloader

Source: Techmesto

---

Update: Ability to unlock bootloader will be reversed with future OTA

As widely feared, the ability to unlock the bootloader on the Nokia 7.2 and Nokia 6.2 was a mistake and completely unintentional. There has been no change in HMD Global’s stance on unlocking bootloaders. A company spokesperson issued the following statement to Nokiamob.net:

There is no change to our policy of allowing unlocking bootloader on Nokia phones. This was an inadvertent miss in the case of Nokia 7.2 and we will be issuing a maintenance release to remove the option. We regret the inconvenience and would like to remind our consumers that unlocking the bootloader will lead to the warranty on their Nokia phone becoming void.

This is a tricky situation for users who were looking forward to getting their bootloaders unlocked, as not only do they lose warranty, but there is also a possibility of bricking their devices if they inadvertently accept an OTA (depending on how HMD Global executes this maneuver). It’s a bad situation to be in, as locking the bootloader will curtail the scope of development on the device, because of which there will be fewer notable development projects available for interested users.

If you are interested in unlocking the bootloader of your Nokia 7.2 or Nokia 6.2, do it while you still can.

Source: Nokiamob.net

The post [Update: Will be reversed with OTA] The Nokia 7.2 could be the first HMD Global phone to ship with an unlockable bootloader appeared first on xda-developers.

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Xiaomi Poland shares a 108MP camera sample from the as-of-yet unteased Mi Note 10 Pro

Xiaomi has been on a teaser spree for the upcoming Mi CC9 Pro, using Weibo as the social media platform of choice to drum up interest and hype for their upcoming smartphone. Over the week, we have come to know several details of the smartphone through official teasers, and there isn’t much left for the official unveiling in China tomorrow. The Xiaomi Mi CC9 Pro will also make its way to the international market as the Mi Note 10, so by extension and equality, we also know a lot about the Mi Note 10. However, what we do not know much about is the Mi Note 10 Pro. Today, we have confirmation of the fact that it does exist, and that it will likely make its way to international markets very soon.

The Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Pro first popped up on Thailand’s telecom regulator NBTC’s certification website as the M1910F4S. But curiously, Xiaomi has been avoiding mentioning the device in its teasers. This is understandable for the Chinese market, as the Mi CC9 Pro will be the center of attention. For its European markets like Spain and Poland, Xiaomi has continued with the same set of teasers, indicating that only the Mi Note 10 will be made available in those regions. One of their latest teasers involves looking for details in a Halloween themed photo, taken from the 108MP sensor on what was presumed to be the Mi Note 10. However, the EXIF data from the image indicates that the photo was taken from the Mi Note 10 Pro instead of the regular Mi Note 10.

This image serves as a confirmation for the fact that the Mi Note 10 Pro does indeed exist, and that it will be released in international markets. We speculate that we will see both the Mi Note 10 and the Pro variant at Xiaomi’s launch event in Spain on November 6, a day after the Mi CC9 launches in China.

We still do not know the exact differences between the Pro and the regular variant. Usually, Pro variants tend to beef up the camera specification, the processor and often the display. The Mi Note 10 already comes with the beefed-up camera setup, so we might see a bump up in the display resolution and processor. The Mi Note 10 Pro could come with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Plus SoC, which would be a logical step up from the Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G — but please note that this is still speculation on our end, as we do not have any concrete evidence on this end, yet.

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Source: Mi Community

Thanks to XDA Member kacskrz for the tip!

The post Xiaomi Poland shares a 108MP camera sample from the as-of-yet unteased Mi Note 10 Pro appeared first on xda-developers.

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Xiaomi Poland shares a 108MP camera sample from the as-of-yet unteased Mi Note 10 Pro

Xiaomi has been on a teaser spree for the upcoming Mi CC9 Pro, using Weibo as the social media platform of choice to drum up interest and hype for their upcoming smartphone. Over the week, we have come to know several details of the smartphone through official teasers, and there isn’t much left for the official unveiling in China tomorrow. The Xiaomi Mi CC9 Pro will also make its way to the international market as the Mi Note 10, so by extension and equality, we also know a lot about the Mi Note 10. However, what we do not know much about is the Mi Note 10 Pro. Today, we have confirmation of the fact that it does exist, and that it will likely make its way to international markets very soon.

The Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Pro first popped up on Thailand’s telecom regulator NBTC’s certification website as the M1910F4S. But curiously, Xiaomi has been avoiding mentioning the device in its teasers. This is understandable for the Chinese market, as the Mi CC9 Pro will be the center of attention. For its European markets like Spain and Poland, Xiaomi has continued with the same set of teasers, indicating that only the Mi Note 10 will be made available in those regions. One of their latest teasers involves looking for details in a Halloween themed photo, taken from the 108MP sensor on what was presumed to be the Mi Note 10. However, the EXIF data from the image indicates that the photo was taken from the Mi Note 10 Pro instead of the regular Mi Note 10.

This image serves as a confirmation for the fact that the Mi Note 10 Pro does indeed exist, and that it will be released in international markets. We speculate that we will see both the Mi Note 10 and the Pro variant at Xiaomi’s launch event in Spain on November 6, a day after the Mi CC9 launches in China.

We still do not know the exact differences between the Pro and the regular variant. Usually, Pro variants tend to beef up the camera specification, the processor and often the display. The Mi Note 10 already comes with the beefed-up camera setup, so we might see a bump up in the display resolution and processor. The Mi Note 10 Pro could come with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Plus SoC, which would be a logical step up from the Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G — but please note that this is still speculation on our end, as we do not have any concrete evidence on this end, yet.

---

Source: Mi Community

Thanks to XDA Member kacskrz for the tip!

The post Xiaomi Poland shares a 108MP camera sample from the as-of-yet unteased Mi Note 10 Pro appeared first on xda-developers.

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ASUS rolls out the Android 10 update for the ZenFone 6/6Z

ASUS made a dramatic shift in its mobile strategy last year. They decided to cater to power users and games more, and true to their word, the ZenFone 6 and ROG Phone II seem to tick all the right boxes in the minds of these two groups. Although ASUS has done a great job packing with ZenFone 6 and ROG Phone II with hardware components that enthusiasts all want, the company had yet to prove whether they can deliver on software updates. Well, it looks like ASUS isn’t all talk, as they’ve managed to join the shortlist of OEMs that have managed to roll out a stable Android 10 update for an existing device. Today, the Taiwanese smartphone brand started rolling out Android 10 for the ZenFone 6, known as the ASUS 6Z in India.

The 809.89MB update brings the software version to 17.1810.1910.63 with ZenUI 6 on board. ZenUI doesn’t seem to have been changed much in this update, but I don’t see that as a problem since, in my view, ZenUI is already up there with OxygenOS and Pixel software. It offers a ton of features but without making the software seem bloated since they’re almost all optional.

Screenshot courtesy of XDA Senior Member micky387. The full changelog seems unchanged from the public beta.

If you have the international version of the ASUS ZenFone 6, you can sideload the OTA by downloading the incremental OTA package. We don’t have the full OTA image for the international version, nor do we have the incremental OTA for the U.S. or Indian versions. However, we have seen reports on Reddit that the update is rolling out in the U.S. and India, so this does seem to be a global rollout. An ASUS representative confirmed the update is on a staggered rollout and that kernel source code should be released in the coming week.

Google released Android 10 for the Pixel smartphones just 2 months ago. Essential, as always, immediately followed suit with an update for the Essential Phone. Since then, both OnePlus and Xiaomi have released stable updates for some of their smartphones, while Samsung, Huawei, LG, and ASUS themselves started beta programs for some of their devices. ASUS may not have been the fastest to release an Android 10 update, but they’ve now proven their commitment to software updates. We look forward to the upcoming update for the ZenFone 5Z and the ROG Phone II.

Keep an eye out on our forums for new developments. As a reminder, ASUS sent multiple ZenFone 6 units to custom ROM and kernel developers. There are already a few custom ROMs, notably LineageOS 17, available. The latest GSI from XDA Recognized Developer phhusson even supports the flip camera on the device. There are kernels that overclock the display refresh rate, and each week, new releases of the Google Camera port that improve picture performance. This device has strong developer support, so it’s a good device to have for the long-term.

ASUS ZenFone 6 Forums

The post ASUS rolls out the Android 10 update for the ZenFone 6/6Z appeared first on xda-developers.

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ASUS rolls out the Android 10 update for the ZenFone 6/6Z

ASUS made a dramatic shift in its mobile strategy last year. They decided to cater to power users and games more, and true to their word, the ZenFone 6 and ROG Phone II seem to tick all the right boxes in the minds of these two groups. Although ASUS has done a great job packing with ZenFone 6 and ROG Phone II with hardware components that enthusiasts all want, the company had yet to prove whether they can deliver on software updates. Well, it looks like ASUS isn’t all talk, as they’ve managed to join the shortlist of OEMs that have managed to roll out a stable Android 10 update for an existing device. Today, the Taiwanese smartphone brand started rolling out Android 10 for the ZenFone 6, known as the ASUS 6Z in India.

The 809.89MB update brings the software version to 17.1810.1910.63 with ZenUI 6 on board. ZenUI doesn’t seem to have been changed much in this update, but I don’t see that as a problem since, in my view, ZenUI is already up there with OxygenOS and Pixel software. It offers a ton of features but without making the software seem bloated since they’re almost all optional.

Screenshot courtesy of XDA Senior Member micky387. The full changelog seems unchanged from the public beta.

If you have the international version of the ASUS ZenFone 6, you can sideload the OTA by downloading the incremental OTA package. We don’t have the full OTA image for the international version, nor do we have the incremental OTA for the U.S. or Indian versions. However, we have seen reports on Reddit that the update is rolling out in the U.S. and India, so this does seem to be a global rollout. An ASUS representative confirmed the update is on a staggered rollout and that kernel source code should be released in the coming week.

Google released Android 10 for the Pixel smartphones just 2 months ago. Essential, as always, immediately followed suit with an update for the Essential Phone. Since then, both OnePlus and Xiaomi have released stable updates for some of their smartphones, while Samsung, Huawei, LG, and ASUS themselves started beta programs for some of their devices. ASUS may not have been the fastest to release an Android 10 update, but they’ve now proven their commitment to software updates. We look forward to the upcoming update for the ZenFone 5Z and the ROG Phone II.

Keep an eye out on our forums for new developments. As a reminder, ASUS sent multiple ZenFone 6 units to custom ROM and kernel developers. There are already a few custom ROMs, notably LineageOS 17, available. The latest GSI from XDA Recognized Developer phhusson even supports the flip camera on the device. There are kernels that overclock the display refresh rate, and each week, new releases of the Google Camera port that improve picture performance. This device has strong developer support, so it’s a good device to have for the long-term.

ASUS ZenFone 6 Forums

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