BetterKnownInstalled (BKI)

This Magisk/KernelSU/APatch module patches the packages.xml and cleans the packages-warnings.xml files to address DroidGuard's UNKNOWN_INSTALLED status. This helps resolve issues related to app installation and verification on devices with Play Services.

Description

DroidGuard uses several attributes within the packages.xml file to track app installations. This module modifies these attributes to ensure that apps are recognized as properly installed, preventing the UNKNOWN_INSTALLED status and related problems. Specifically, it:

• Sets the installer, installInitiator, and installerUid attributes within each <package> tag in packages.xml to com.android.vending (the Google Play Store's package name identifier) and the corresponding user ID. This helps DroidGuard recognize the installation source as legitimate.
• Removes the installOriginator attribute, as it can sometimes cause conflicts.
• Cleans the packages-warnings.xml file by setting its content to an empty <packages /> tag. This file can sometimes contain warnings that contribute to the playProtectVerdict issues.

This module uses abx2xml and xml2abx binaries if not in your system by default (provided by rhythmcache/android-xml-converter) to convert between binary and text XML formats, as packages.xml is typically in binary XML format. The module includes architecture-specific binaries for aarch64, armv7aeabi, i686, and x86_64.

Important Warning: The environment check verdict modification implemented by this module is a relatively new technique. Google's implementation of this check is not yet robust enough to guarantee that all your packages will be correctly identified. It's possible that some apps might still trigger Play Protect warnings or behave unexpectedly, even after using this module. This is due to limitations and potential inconsistencies in how Google verifies app installations. Use this module with caution and be aware of the potential for these issues.

Installation

1. Install this module through Magisk Manager, KernelSU, or APatch.
2. Reboot your device for the changes to take effect.

Important: Installation from recovery is not supported. You must install this module from within a running Android environment (Magisk/KernelSU/APatch).

Usage

This module works automatically upon installation and reboot. No further user interaction is required. It modifies the necessary XML files during the boot process.

Backups

The module creates backups of the original packages.xml and packages-warnings.xml files in /data/adb/modules/BetterKnownInstalled/backup/ before making any changes. Up to five backups of each file type are kept, including the latest one. The backups are timestamped for easy identification.

Logging

The module logs its activity to /data/adb/modules/BetterKnownInstalled/BetterKnownInstalled.log. This log file can be helpful for troubleshooting.

Credits

• rhythmcache aka winter for the abx2xml and xml2abx binaries.
• @T3SL4 (Me) for creating this module.

License

This project is licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License v3.0. See the LICENSE file for details.