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End of an era: Chainfire is halting development on all root-related apps
XDA Senior Recognized Developer Chainfire is halting development work on all root-related applications such as FlashFire, Live Boot, Recently, and more.
XDA Senior Recognized Developer Chainfire is best known for his work on SuperSU, the root solution that the Android community favored for many, many years. Since retiring from development on SuperSU, Chainfire decided to take a break from developing on Android. Today, he has announced that all of his root-related applications are now end-of-life. That means they will no longer receive any development support from him, and in some cases, may disappear entirely.
Chainfire Releases Source Code for suhide, SuperSU's SafetyNet-Hiding Addon
Chainfire, former SuperSU developer, has open sourced suhide, a SuperSU addon which allows users to pass the SafetyNet check successfully.
These past 2 weeks have been quite a ride for root lovers. First, we got a new Magisk update, which features complete Google Pixel and A/B partition scheme support. Then, we got a minor SuperSU update, which fixes a bug with Android Oreo on the Google Pixel and Google Pixel XL, only to receive sad news days later that Chainfire was retiring from SuperSU development as a whole. Now, we're getting some really unexpected news for suhide - coming from Chainfire as well.
Chainfire Retires from SuperSU, to Leave Fully February 24th
SuperSU was sold to the Chinese company CCMT two years ago, and now finally Chainfire is leaving the development for good.
Two years ago, Chinese company CCMT bought SuperSU from Chainfire, a move which did produce a lot of chatter, and in some cases negative emotions, in the Android enthusiast community. Today Chainfire has finally announced his retirement from working on SuperSU on his Google+ page, becoming only an advisor until February 24th when his contract fully expires. He will no longer be working on SuperSU in any capacity once his contract has ended. He also says that his root applications may be affected in time.
New SuperSU and suhide Updates Bring Minor Bug Fixes
Chainfire has rolled out new updates to SuperSU and suhide that add compatibility to the new version of TWRP and hides some of the left-overs from it.
While many of us were enjoying our weekend off from the stress of our daily lives, Chainfire was busy wrapping up two small bug fix updates for two of his applications. We aren't to expect any big features or changes in these updates, but SuperSU as well as suhide both received new updates that bring some small but important updates. These updates are both now available to the public and it brings SuperSU up to version 2.82-SR5 while suhide is now up to version 1.09.
XDA Senior Recognized Developer Chainfire has announced that SuperSU is being updated to version 2.82. The latest app should be available on the Google Play Store already to most users, as the roll out began last week.
It's really hard to imagine XDA without SuperSU. The most popular and essential root application has been providing root access and management on Android devices for years. Unfortunately, the latest versions weren't working entirely properly, so XDA Senior Recognized Developer Chainfire made a statement to shed some light on the problem.
Yesterday, Chainfire announced the first update after version 2.78 of SuperSU was made stable. As we've mentioned before, the SR updates are basically a different name for beta versions of SuperSU. The name change was put into place as an attempt at reducing the number of people trying to upload beta releases to non-Google Play app stores since it would continue to carry the same version number.
Since September, XDA Recognized Developer Chainfire started a new versioning system for SuperSU. This began with version 2.78 SR1 of SuperSU, and today the man has released 2.78 SR5. Instead of labeling them as a Beta, he changed this to a Service Release naming scheme. He felt this would be a good way of reducing the number of people trying to upload beta releases to non-Google Play app stores since it would continue to carry the same version number.
SuperSU Updated to work with TWRP on Pixel and Pixel XL
SuperSU has just been updated to work alongside the latest TWRP alpha on the Google Pixel and Pixel XL, according to a Google+ post by Chainfire.
Last night, the first alpha release of TWRP was announced for the Google Pixel and Pixel XL. We delved into much detail about the release, including the changes to the installation procedure as well as what's new and what's broken. One of the caveats we mentioned in the article is that installing TWRP would cause SuperSU to no longer function.
TWRP has been released for the Google Pixel and Pixel XL
TWRP has been released for the Google Pixel and Pixel XL, which will finally allow users to flash custom mods, kernels, and ROMS.
Let the custom ROM flashing begin! One of the most common reasons that users come to our forums is to flash custom mods, kernels, or ROMs. Developers pour countless hours into customizing their software for the benefit of the community. But none of this work is feasible without having a means to install these modifications.
SuperSU v2.78 SR1 Released with su Binary Bugfixes and New Versioning Scheme
Chainfire from XDA has released an update to his popular SuperSU app. Read on to see what is new in this update, and what is in store for SuperSU!
XDA Recognized Developer Chainfire has released an update to his SuperSU app, involving a few bugfixes and one critical update to supolicy.
Experimental suhide Mod for SuperSU Hides su Binary from Applications
Suhide Mod for SuperSU hides the su binary from applications that detect root. Read on to find out what makes suhide different from other cloak apps!
XDA Senior Recognized Developer Chainfire needs no introduction in the world of third party development, so we'll spare you some time.
You love to live at the bleeding edge, so you hopped on board and installed Google's new Android N preview builds. If you're running the software as your daily driver (maybe you like things crashing and burning, who knows?) then you've likely noticed many of your favorite apps simply not work at all. You've flashed Chainfire's SuperSU beta for Android N to alleviate some of the misery with better system control, but many root apps also break. Why? And how can they be fixed? According to Chainfire, the reason is because Google is shifting away from toolbox towards toybox (and has been since Android Marshmallow), and has now removed toolbox mount support. If you've had problems with root apps in the past, you've probably seen the word 'toolbox' before. If you haven't, I'll let Chainfire explain what it is:
Android Pay no Longer Working with Systemless Root
Android Pay no longer works with systemless root, and thus any root. Read about it here, and learn how to get Android Pay back!
Tap. Pay. Done. If you're the owner of an NFC enabled Android phone running 4.4+, then you've probably heard of Android Pay. The app supports adding cards from many different banks and works in many major retailers, and it's pretty easy to set-up as well. Google is practically begging you to sign-up!
The Importance of Open Source in Root
Why is open source important for root? Read our explanation to understand why community alternatives are necessary for a safer, more powerful Android space.
Update: Having discussed this with Chainfire, I thought it would be a good idea to add some clarifications here. There are many reasons for software to be open or closed source, and the security of it is not determined by the availability of its source. There's a lot of very secure (and well written) closed source software out there, and a lot of poorly written open source software out there - you only get the benefits of open source if good and competent security experts actually read and audit it.
Chainfire Releases CF-Auto-Roots For Nexus Line
Chainfire updated his CF-Auto-Root to include Android 5.0 root for all the Nexus line: Nexus 4, Nexus 5, Nexus 7 2012, Nexus 7 2013, Nexus 9, and Nexus 10.
Benjamin Franklin, the US Statesman from simpler times, gave the famous quote in 1789 that "...in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes." I can't fault him for not having the forethought to identify that there would be a few more certainties in life, and those would be "Chainfire releasing root for Nexus devices and providing analysis of the state of root on a new Google release."