What is Shizuku? It’s an Android app that allows X-plore to solve major problem: accessing /Android/data folders (and also obb folder).

Note that this problem affects only newer Android versions. If your device is not restricted in access to Android folder, or you don’t need to access this folder, simply don’t care about Shizuku.

Shizuku app must be configured a bit so that it works. You must do few steps:

• enable developer mode on your device
• start Wireless debugging on device, or use PC and connect over USB cable, and run special command to make Shizuku running (no worry, Shizuku will guide you through that)
• typically Shizuku app runs until you reboot your device, then you need to enable it again

If it’s worth for you, and you truly want access to protected Android folders, go on and continue.

Once Shizuku is enabled, X-plore connects to it (you should get one simple confirmation dialog), and then X-plore will be able to use Shizuku’s gained extra power to list protected Android folders without hassle (and without more Android dialogs).

Technically it works so that you grant Shizuku to access your device in developer mode, which gives it slightly more permissions than normal Android app. Shizuku runs small parts of X-plore code in separate process with these extra permissions. Then X-plore calls itself through Shizuku to make file operations, and we’re there – working with files as super user.

That’s similar to how rooted device works, but you don’t really get that much power. We get only permissions of shell user, but that’s enough for overcoming Android’s sandboxed file protection.