Firmware & Rooting in the Era of Android 16

Article Content: Google's Android 16 (codenamed "Bakla...

Article Content:

Google's Android 16 (codenamed "Baklava") has fundamentally changed the game for software modification. If you are still using old rooting methods, you are going to brick customer phones.

The sepolicy Crisis

In Android 16, Google changed the binary format of the sepolicy file (which controls SELinux permissions).

• The Problem: Older versions of Magisk (pre-v28.0) cannot patch this new format, leading to immediate bootloops.10
• The Fix: You must use Magisk v30.6 (or newer). For Pixel 7/8/9 and newer devices, you are no longer patching boot.img. You must extract and patch the init_boot.img partition.

Anti-Rollback Warning

Samsung and Google have tightened the noose on downgrading. The May 2025 security patches incremented the anti-rollback counter on the bootloader.

• Danger: If you attempt to downgrade a Galaxy S25 or Pixel 9 from the May 2025 patch to an earlier version (to bypass FRP, for example), the device will hard brick. It will trip the anti-rollback check and refuse to boot, often requiring authorized service center tools to recover.

Pro Tip: Always check the "Bit" or "Binary" number (e.g., U4, U5) in the firmware filename before flashing. Never flash a binary lower than what is currently on the device.