Last Updated on April 30, 2023 by Mathew Diekhake
I want to use Magisk but don’t quite understand what it’s SafetyNet feature is or how it works. Answer:
Technically, SafetyNet is a Google feature and not one developed by Magisk. However, it is the feature that made Magisk a household name in the rooting community. Magisk has an option that allows you to turn off root access so you don’t trip Google’s SafetyNet.
Before Magisk, the most common way to get root access was with SuperSU. But Chainfire, the developer who originally created SuperSU, sold his rooting tools because the latest version of Android at the time had changed the way its security worked which changed apps like SuperSU forever. In particular, it had become clear that Android no longer wanted smartphones to have root access with certain apps installed on a device such as Google Pay. This is because when it comes to people’s finances, security is of the utmost importance, and Google prioritized its security over the convieience of simple root access with SuperSU.
Since SuperSU declined in popularity, a new rooting method has come about, namely Magisk, which has a built-in feature that allows you to toggle root access on and off to bypass Google’s SafetyNet. Its purpose is to satisfy Google when you want to use Google Pay and other financial apps while then being able to grant root access when you’re done with your finances. The way Magisk achieves that is by giving you an option to toggle superuser access on and off at the tap of a button. So when you don’t want root access, simply toggle it off from Magisk’s settings and you will not trip Google’s SafetyNet feature.
July 3, 2022 @ 14:04
I was reading about Magisk easlier and was suprised to read that Safety Net has many different versions, and those versions come with all the usual set of problems we always get in different software versions. Presumably this means that I will need the right version of Magisk to match up with the right version of Safety Net. And I may even need to research what problems a particular version of Safety Net has had with versions of Magisk to avoid those problems. Is there a resource you know of where there is lots of Safety net information all in the one place?
July 3, 2022 @ 14:06
I’m not sure about the Safety Net location aspect, but you generally don’t have to worry too much about that type of thing. For starters, the developer of Magisk is also employed by Google and working on Safety Net so chances are there will not be too many compatibility problems. And as long as you use the most recent version of Magisk, it should be fine with regards to compatibility. You don’t have to read about specific versions; only install the latest versions. This is a general rule for all software (at least with the open-source software like Magisk that you have the chance to install).