I’ve never used Shizuku but I’m curious about what it can actually do. What are some practical or interesting use cases?
As a side question: I’m running CalyxOS and would like to export my browser history (probably as a SQLite database), the relevant files seem to be protected or inaccessible. Could Shizuku help me access or export them?
For me it’s mainly to enable Canta so I can uninstall all the extra bullshit on my phone.
https://github.com/rikkaapps/shizuku I guess.
I already read it along with https://github.com/timschneeb/awesome-shizuku, I was just curious if and how this community is using it, but thanks I guess
It’s kinda like root-ish privileges. It facilitates doing things that you’re not technically prohibited from accessing, but there simply is no interface for. It uses administrative console commands (administrative in the management sense, not like administrator=root sense) to execute changes that don’t have any pathway built-in for the end-user.
Personally, nearly all my devices are rooted, but I did use Shizuku for some accessories on a few devices. It’s a bit of ado to setup; not difficult just a handful of steps. Worth it if you really need or want to do something the GUI won’t provide and you’ll likely find more uses down the line.
Apparently you can use it to run crankshaft (AA replacement) first I heard about either of those was the other day
Logfox is a big one when using a custom rom. It is super helpful in figuring out why something crashed or didn’t work. Giving Obtainium the ability to reliably update applications in the background is also really nice
I need it to run keymapper which is very cool and lets me map Bluetooth keyboard combinations to map them to app UI elements. Also shizuku-mcp let’s my OpenClaw stack remotely operate my mobile device which is also lots of fun
You can also do that via wireless adb without Shizuku, which is basically what Shizuku is doing locally.
Mihon auto install of extension updates mainly tbh.
Blocker which allows disabling (instead of uninstalling) apps
Android auto has weird checks and requirements for apps to work. I use shizuku for that on GrapheneOS.
It’s also helpful with little things like lemmy redirect or SD maid.
Is it just me, or does SD Maid not do anything it advertises unless you pay?
If you’re in a conversation about Shizuku, you should probably be downloading apps from the source. I’ve donated the equivalent of buying the app, but you don’t have to pay anything to get the full features.
A lot of open source developers subsidize their users by charging on the Play Store while offering the complete app on F-Droid or other code repo (like GitHub).
Does it let you use apps from F-Droid (or side loaded, or otherwise not from Play Store) in android auto?
The short answer is yes.
- Getting a proper error message when apk install fails,
- installing apps designed for older Android versions,
- downgrading to older app release
- “Freezing” apps that i currently don’t use
Also
- giving file managers access to some directories that are normally not accessible to apps
- detecting app crashes and getring full error message of what caused it
- setting a language for a specific app (different from system language). Useful when app forces a shitty machine translation
