If you have Magisk installed as your root method then you likely prefer things done in a systemless way. With Xposed Framework now available for Oreo, this tutorial will show you how to install systemless xposed on the OnePlus 5 and OnePlus 5T.
Going full systemless with the modifications that we do on Android makes it so much easier if/when we decide to install an official OTA update. I have previously shown you how to install Xposed Framework on the OnePlus 5 and the OnePlus 5T but that method was a full install.
That means things are much more difficult to restore back to an unmodified state and that makes it harder to install an official OTA update from the OEM or carrier.
That guide was for Nougat too and since then the developer of Xposed has released an update that supports Oreo. Shortly after that release, the developer of Magisk ported those updates so they could be installed in a systemless way and that’s what I want to focus on in this guide. The process might not seem as straightforward as you would expect, but after trying a few things out I figured out how to get things working properly.
And just to reinforce this point, you will need to follow the guide on how to install Magisk on the OnePlus 5 and do so in a systemless way (by temporarily booting TWRP instead of completely installing it). This will continue to work if TWRP is fully installed, it just creates another barrier of getting to install that official OTA update from the company.
Installing Systemless Xposed on the OnePlus 5
- Launch the Magisk Manager application
- Tap the hamburger menu icon at the top left
- Tap the Downloads option
- Scroll all the way down to the bottom where the Xposed Framework modules are
- Choose the right SDK version for your Android install (SDK 26 = 8.0 Oreo and SDK 27 = 8.1 Oreo)
- Tap the down arrow icon of the correct SDK version
- Tap the Install button when asked
- Wait for Systemless Xposed Framework to be installed
- Tap the Reboot option at the bottom once the install is finished
- Open the Magisk Manager application again after the reboot
- Tap the hamburger menu icon at the top left
- Tap the Downloads option
- Tap the text of the Xposed Framework module you installed
- Then tap the link for the special modified version of the Xposed Installer APK
- Confirm you want to download the APK and then open it
- Install the modified Xposed Installer APK
This should be all that is needed, but since this is all beta I noticed something was out of place. When I opened the Xposed Installer application after it was installed, I was told that Systemless Xposed was installed for the OnePlus 5, but it wasn’t active. To fix that I need to go back into the Magisk Manager application, open up the hamburger icon menu, tap on the Modules option and tap the yellow check mark box twice (the first tap deactivates and the second tap activates. Then I rebooted the OnePlus 5T and Xposed Installer detected everything was working properly.
Explanation
As you can see here, there are a lot of steps that we must go through in order to things working properly. The first half of it though is the standard process for installing a Magisk Module so you may or may not be familiar with that already. So to start, we need to open up the Magisk Manager application and then access the Downloads section within the hidden menu on the left side of the screen. From here, you want to scroll all the way down to the bottom.
You’ll see a number of different Systemless Xposed Framework versions that you can install. If you’re on Android 8.0 Oreo then you want to install the one labeled SDK 26 and if you’re on Android 8.1 Oreo then you’ll want to pick the SDK 27 one. If you’re still on Nougat then choose the correct SDK version for your installed version of Android. To install it, we just need to tap on the down arrow icon to the right and then tap the Install button when it appears.
Once installed, you’ll need to tap the reboot option to let it fully install on the OnePlus 5 or OnePlus 5T. Once booted back up, go back into the same Downloads section and tap the text for the Xposed Framework module you just installed. This will open up a dialog box with a link to let you download a modified version of the Xposed Installer APK file. Tap it so that you can download the application and then open it so that you can install it. This should be the end of the guide but since this is beta there was a bug for me.
It may not happen to you but after doing this I opened the Xposed Installer application and was told that systemless Xposed was installed but it wasn’t active. If this happens for you, go back into the Magisk Manager application and open the Module section within the hidden left menu. You should see a yellow check mark box that, for me, was already checked. This normally indicates that it’s active but since it wasn’t I tapped it twice and then reboot the OnePlus 5T.
Once the device booted back into Android I opened up the Xposed Installer application and was told that everything was good to go.
