Shizuku: Reach Deep Into Your Android Without Rooting It

Every Android phone maker sets up its devices the way it sees fit, which is to say the way that suits the company: its own settings, its own software, its own whims. If you have some experience and a streak of daring, you can head for flashing and rooting, reach the phone’s underlying layer, and install whatever suits you from the many custom builds out there. You might even swap the manufacturer’s system for a custom one. Just remember that rooting comes with problems, plenty of them, no matter how experienced you are.

This is where Shizuku comes in, with 31,000 stars on its GitHub repository. It lets apps that support it use system APIs with ADB permissions, no root required. With those permissions, they can remove unwanted apps, adjust the system’s colors, and handle other system functions, so you end up with a phone that fits you without turning it into a Frankenstein’s monster of a device. The manufacturer’s system stays exactly as it was.

A few caveats. ADB permissions are limited and vary by Android version. Running Shizuku from the phone itself, with no computer involved, requires Android 11 or later. And the connection has to be reactivated after every reboot.

Finally, and at your own risk: try it yourself.

Repo link: https://github.com/RikkaApps/Shizuku