Xposed framework developer hints at Lollipop version soon to be released

It looks like the Xposed framework will soon be ported to Android Lollipop. This popular tinkerer tool doesn’t yet work with the ART runtime that Google introduced with the Lollipop versions, but developers have gotten the framework up and running.

On the XDA Developers forum, one of the lead developers posted a screenshot of a Nexus 5 running on Android 5.0.2. From the log file shown, it can be concluded that the Xposed framework is now running on Android 5.0 and higher, codenamed Lollipop, in combination with the ART runtime. That suggests that Xposed will be released to users soon, although no date has been announced.

Until now, much was unclear about whether Xposed would be made suitable for the ART runtime. The developers indicated that they would only develop compatibility for ART once it was set as the default by Google. That is now the case with Android Lollipop: in previous Android versions, the use of ART was still experimental.

Xposed is a so-called plug-in framework that allows Android users to extend the functionality of the operating system without having to work with applications. For example, there are plug-ins to adjust privacy settings or to block advertisements. Root access is required to install Xposed.

A group of developers announced last week that they are working on an alternative to Xposed for Android Lollipop under the name El Pollo. That project is still at an early stage. It’s unclear whether the imminent arrival of Xposed for Android Lollipop will cause the makers of El Pollo to halt development.