This guide takes you from nothing installed to TinyKit running in about five minutes.
- What you need
- 1. Install Shizuku
- 2. Start Shizuku
- Starting Shizuku from TinyKit
- What works without Shizuku
- Finding your way around
| Phone | Android 7.0 (API 24) or newer. No root. |
| Shizuku | thedjchi's fork (recommended) or the original |
| A way to start Shizuku | TinyKit's Start button: Wireless debugging on Android 11+ (it pairs itself), root, or adb over the network; or a computer with adb |
Shizuku runs a small background service with the same privileges
as adb shell. TinyKit sends its commands through that service, which is why it needs no root.
We recommend thedjchi's fork. Its Watchdog restarts Shizuku if Android kills it, and it supports start and stop intents with an auth token, which TinyKit can use (see below). The standard Shizuku from shizuku.rikka.app works too, including TinyKit's Start and Stop buttons (see below).
Shizuku has to be started again after every reboot. Choose whichever method suits you:
Tap Start on the Shizuku tab (or use the Shizuku tile). TinyKit starts Shizuku itself through Wireless debugging, with its own adb client. The first time it needs one thing Android won't let an app do alone: a pairing code. TinyKit opens Developer options for you (turn on Developer options first if they're off: Settings → About phone, tap Build number seven times), you switch on Wireless debugging, tap Pair device with pairing code, and type the six digits into TinyKit's notification. That's all. After that, Start needs nobody: TinyKit turns Wireless debugging on by itself (once Shizuku has let it change that setting), connects and starts Shizuku, also after a reboot. Wireless debugging needs Wi-Fi.
adb shell sh /sdcard/Android/data/moe.shizuku.privileged.api/start.shShizuku shows the exact command for your version under Start by connecting to a computer.
The Shizuku tab has Start and Stop buttons, and there is a one-tap Shizuku tile. The buttons work with the standard Shizuku app and with forks. Start tries these in order:
- The auth token, if one is saved and your Shizuku has start intents.
- TinyKit's own adb start: root, adb over the network, or Wireless debugging.
thedjchi's fork can be started and stopped with an intent carrying a secret token.
- In Shizuku, open Settings and find the start/stop intent parameters. Copy the token.
- In TinyKit, tap Auth token on the Shizuku tab and paste it.
Start and Stop then go straight to Shizuku. Stop also works properly with the Watchdog on, because Shizuku knows the stop was intentional.
If Termux is installed, Start goes through it first, in the background (no Termux window opens), and TinyKit prepares Termux itself the first time:
- Android asks you to allow TinyKit to run commands in Termux. Allow it.
- TinyKit copies one command and opens Termux. Paste it (hold, Paste) and press Enter. It switches
on the one Termux setting that lets other apps run commands there (
allow-external-apps, keeping your other settings), makes Termux read it, installsadbif needed, and brings TinyKit back to the front, which then carries on by itself. Once only; no other repo, no folder to pick. - TinyKit runs its own start script in Termux (built in; no other repo). It tries, as shizuku-termux does:
already running, root, adb over the network (port 5555 or 50000), then Wireless debugging. It installs
adb(android-tools) in Termux by itself the first time it needs it.
If Termux can't do it (not installed, not allowed, no working adb there), TinyKit's own adb client takes over:
Once a start has worked without anyone (TinyKit is paired, or root, or Termux is set up, or the auth token is saved), Start by itself (Shizuku tab, off by default; switch it on) starts Shizuku again on its own after every restart and whenever you open TinyKit with Shizuku stopped. It runs quietly: it never asks for a pairing code or shows a "turn on" notice, and gives up after a minute and a half if Wi-Fi isn't there yet. Starts are fast too: TinyKit remembers Wireless debugging's port and tries it first. The notices that do appear open Developer options straight on the Wireless debugging switch.
With no token saved, Start runs TinyKit's own adb client (Adb.java, no library, no Termux, no other
app). It tries, in this order, the same three ways shizuku-termux does, so it works on any Android:
- Root, if the phone has it and you allow TinyKit.
- adb over the network, if it is on (
adb tcpip 5555, oradb tcpip 50000, from a computer once; it lasts until the phone restarts). The phone may ask you to allow USB debugging the first time. - Wireless debugging (Android 11+): it finds the service (by service discovery, and by asking each port when that shows nothing), switches Wireless debugging on if TinyKit may, and the first time asks for the pairing code in a notification (see Option A) and pairs.
Then it runs Shizuku's own starter as that user, after lifting Android 12's limit on background processes (which would kill a Shizuku started this way within minutes). The notification says what it is waiting for and ends by itself. Android shows "Allow wireless debugging on this network?" once for each Wi-Fi network.
Without root, Android decides the rest. On Android 11 and newer Wireless debugging is the way in,
and the pairing code is the one thing an app can't do for you. On Android 10 and older there is no
Wireless debugging, so without root one cable session with a computer is needed (adb tcpip 5555 or adb tcpip 50000), once
per restart. No app can start Shizuku with neither: Android doesn't allow it. TinyKit says so, in those words,
instead of opening Shizuku.
You can always start Shizuku from its own screen instead (its Start button, or its pairing guide). TinyKit notices Shizuku is running and connects by itself.
- Forks with the auth token saved: Stop uses Shizuku's own stop intent.
- Otherwise: Stop closes the Shizuku app first, so a Watchdog can't start Shizuku again, then asks Shizuku's server to end, and makes it end if it hasn't within 3 seconds.
The Shizuku tab, the Shizuku tile and Shut Up all stop Shizuku this same way.
These keep working when Shizuku is stopped (the tiles thanks to the one-time self-grant):
- These Quick Settings tiles: Developer options, USB debugging, Hide dev options, Ad-block DNS, Grayscale, Extra dim, Screen timeout and Caffeine (the matching switches inside the app still need Shizuku)
- Phone info, Network info, Charging info, Temperatures and Device IDs (some show fewer details)
- Speed up phone and the Free RAM tile on Android 13 and older (closing cached apps only)
Everything else needs Shizuku running: per-app tools, logs, file recovery, saved Wi-Fi networks, and more. While Shizuku is off, those rows are dimmed and marked Requires Shizuku, and rows that work without it look normal.
| Tab | What's there |
|---|---|
| Shizuku | Shizuku status, Start and Stop, the auth token, the Shizuku tile, and the search bar |
| Privacy | Privacy toggles, all sensors off, analytics and telemetry, saved Wi-Fi networks |
| Apps | Fake permissions, default apps, hide, unused, storage, recent access, mixed audio, running and background apps, APK backup |
| System | Force dark, disable HW overlays, animation speed, quick panel editor, TinyKit tiles, run a command, file recovery, settings backup, advanced reboot, cleanup, network tweaks |
| Info | Phone, network, charging, temperatures, device IDs, battery usage, wake-ups, vibration, app and crash logs, updates |
The search bar at the top of the Shizuku tab searches every tool by name and description.
Every search word has to match, so wifi qr finds Saved Wi-Fi networks. Tapping a result
opens it.
Next: the full feature reference, or the Fake permissions guide.