by Niik · Source code & issues: github.com/AlbatrossMicrosystems/lazarus-xposed

Play dead. Stay findable.

Anti-theft for rooted Android: when a thief switches your phone off, it only looks off, and it keeps telling you where it is.

When someone holds the power button, Lazarus only pretends to switch the phone off: the screen, sound and vibration go dead, but Android keeps running, so location, mobile data and your tracking app (e.g. FMD) keep working. Holding power again plays a fake reboot: a buzz, the real boot animation, then the lock screen. The phone never actually restarts. That matters, because after a real restart Android keeps app storage encrypted until the PIN is entered ("before first unlock"), and tracking apps cannot run in that state.

Lazarus is an Xposed module that runs inside system_server.

• Root with Magisk (Zygisk enabled)
• An Xposed framework: Vector (LSPosed successor) or LSPosed
• Developed and tested on Android 16 (crDroid). The hooked internals change between Android versions. Every hook fails safe to stock behaviour, and the app shows how many hooks loaded.

1. Install the APK.
2. In Vector/LSPosed, enable Lazarus with the scope System Framework (android), then reboot.
3. Open Lazarus. The status line should say ● Active (hooks 14/14).
4. (Recommended) Tap Install boot-animation support (root). This installs a tiny Magisk module (lazarus_sepolicy, one SELinux rule: allow system_server ctl_start_prop property_service set) so the fake reboot can show the boot animation. Without it, the fake reboot stays dark for a few seconds and then lights up straight into the lock screen.
5. (Optional) Add the Real power off Quick Settings tile. The guide in the app has a one-tap button for this on Android 13+.
6. Install a tracker if you don't have one. FMD works without Google and is allow-listed for dark wake by default.

On first launch the app opens How to use, a setup checklist that shows what is still missing: module active, boot-animation support, screen lock, and tracking app.

1. Hold power about 1.5 seconds. You feel one buzz and the screen goes black.
2. Press power a few times and tap the screen. Nothing should happen.
3. Hold Vol-Up + Vol-Down together for 3 seconds. The phone wakes up.
4. Hold power 1.5 s again, then hold power about 3 seconds. The boot animation appears, so let go. After about 17 seconds the lock screen is back and the phone is in normal mode.
5. While the phone is "off", open your tracker's website (e.g. FMD Server) and locate it, ring it or take a photo.

Every behaviour can be changed in the app: hold times, total silence, vibration, shutdown protection, fake restart, owner exit, the dark-wake app list, and which system settings Lazarus may change. The master switch turns Lazarus off completely and restores everything it changed.

• You can no longer switch the phone off with the power button. Use the in-app Power off (PIN-protected) or adb shell settings put global lazarus_cmd shutdown.
• Hardware reset. Every phone's power-management chip (PMIC) force-restarts the phone after the power key is held for a fixed time, often 6–10 s, and power + volume-down may do so sooner. No software can block this. Keep the fake-reboot hold time well below your device's limit, so the boot animation appears and people let go first. After a real hardware restart, trackers only work again once the PIN is entered. Lazarus restores its Do Not Disturb change on the next boot.
• Not theft-proof. With an unlocked bootloader, someone who knows Android can still wipe or reflash the phone through fastboot or recovery. Lazarus defeats the common "hold power to turn it off" move.
• Recovery if something goes wrong:
  • In fake-off: hold Vol-Up + Vol-Down, or run adb shell settings put global lazarus_cmd exit.
  • Disable the module in Vector and reboot.
  • Boot into Android safe mode (hold Vol-Down during boot), which makes Magisk disable all modules.

adb shell settings put global lazarus_cmd enter      # fake power-off
adb shell settings put global lazarus_cmd exit       # back to normal
adb shell settings put global lazarus_cmd shutdown   # real power off
adb shell settings put global lazarus_cmd reboot     # real restart
adb shell settings get global lazarus_state          # 1 = fake-off
adb shell settings put global lazarus_cfg_<option> <value>   # see [Keys.java](https://assets.lsposed.org/raw/AlbatrossMicrosystems/lazarus-xposed/main/src/io/github/albatrossmicrosystems/lazarus/Keys.java?sign=295fd0d33f7e8cf08c556ea8f1c84c13&t=6a03bf00) for options

Logs go to the Vector/LSPosed module log, tag Lazarus.

• The app controls the hook through broadcasts guarded by a signature permission (io.github.albatrossmicrosystems.lazarus.permission.CONTROL). Only an app signed with the Lazarus key, adb shell (via settings), or root can send commands.
• Configuration lives in Settings.Global (lazarus_cfg_*). Any app can read it; only system_server, adb or root can write it.
• Fake-off state lives in memory only, so every real boot starts in normal mode.

No Gradle needed. Requires the Android SDK (build-tools 36, platform 36) and JDK 17+.

bash build.sh        # -> lazarus-v<version>.apk

On first build, a release key is created in ~/.lazarus/ (outside the repo). Back it up: updates must be signed with the same key. The stubs/ directory holds compile-only stand-ins for the Xposed API. They are not packaged.

GPL-3.0