Prismly FAQ

Prismly is an Android utility that puts the apps you choose into the clone space built into Android 14 and later, so the same app can stay signed in to two accounts, such as a work account and a personal one. This is often called app cloning, or dual apps.

Unlike typical app cloners, Prismly doesn't run other apps inside itself (virtualization). A clone is the original app, run directly by Android, so it behaves and uses battery like any regular app, and it updates together with the original.

The trade-off is a higher bar to entry: you need Android 14 or later, and you have to install and start Shizuku first. Prismly checks everything step by step the first time you open it; if your phone isn't supported, it tells you why and changes nothing.

There are three common ways: your phone's built-in dual apps feature, a virtualizing app cloner, or, like Prismly, the clone space built into Android 14 and later.

If your phone's built-in dual apps feature already supports the app you need, it's the easiest option. Consider Prismly when your phone doesn't have that feature, or it doesn't support the app you need.

The clone space is a feature built into Android since version 14. It runs a second copy of an app in a separate space, with its own sign-ins and data.

Android calls it a clone profile internally. Some phone makers' “dual apps” or “app twin” features use this same space. Android allows only one clone space, so you can have at most two copies of an app (the original plus a clone). Prismly creates this space, puts apps into it, and helps you find them on your home screen.

No. Android allows only one clone space, so you can have at most two copies of an app: the original and 1 clone.

Different apps can each have a clone: 1 in the free version, unlimited with Prismly Pro.

Android 14 or later, with Shizuku installed and running.

• Android 14 or later. Android 13 and earlier have no clone space; Prismly explains this during the checks.
• Shizuku installed and running. Shizuku is a tool that gives this app system permissions. No root needed.
• Some phones' built-in dual apps features conflict with Prismly; see “The phone's built-in dual apps feature” below.
• Banking apps and some games may refuse to run in a clone space. That's a restriction of those apps.

Phones running Android 14 or later where the system hasn't turned off the clone space feature.

Prismly's checks on first launch tell you for sure: they're free, and if your phone isn't supported, Prismly explains why and changes nothing. Before you pay, you can also create 1 clone for free to make sure the app you need works.

Things to know:

• Android 13 and earlier have no clone space.
• Some phone makers turn off the clone space feature in their system; those phones can't use Prismly.
• On some phones, the built-in dual apps feature deletes clones created by Prismly (for example, Xiaomi HyperOS does this on restart). Prismly warns you when it detects this and stops creating clones on such phones. See “My phone has a built-in dual apps feature. Can I still use Prismly?”.

No root needed.

Shizuku is a separate third-party tool that lets regular apps call system APIs using Android's debugging permissions. It starts with your phone's built-in Wireless debugging; you don't need to unlock or modify your phone.

Prismly uses Shizuku only for these things: creating the clone space; creating, removing and opening clones; putting clones to sleep and waking them; deleting the clone space. Apart from scheduled sleep that you set up yourself, these only happen when you trigger them.

Shizuku is an open-source third-party tool. It only passes Android's debugging permissions to apps you've authorized, and you can revoke that at any time.

You install, start and authorize it yourself; it doesn't need root and doesn't modify your system. In Shizuku you can see which apps are authorized, revoke an app's authorization at any time, or simply stop Shizuku.

Once authorized, Prismly only uses it to: create the clone space; create, remove and open clones; put clones to sleep and wake them; delete the clone space. See section 6 of the privacy policy.

Start Shizuku again.

Shizuku stops when your phone restarts, and you need to start it again to create or remove clones. Clones you already have are not affected and open from your home screen as usual. Prismly's main page shows “Shizuku not running”; tap “Start Shizuku”.

If Wireless debugging stays on and you're connected to Wi-Fi, newer versions of Shizuku can start automatically after boot.

It's coming soon to Google Play, as a free download. This website doesn't offer APK downloads.

The app is available in English, Simplified Chinese, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Japanese, and follows your system language.

Check your home screen first, then tap “Add to home screen” in Prismly.

Most launchers don't show clones in the app list; that's how Android works. But many launchers put the clone straight onto your home screen when it's created, with a small badge on the icon.

If it's not on your home screen either: tap the app in Prismly to open the clone details and tap “Add to home screen”, or simply tap “Open clone” in Prismly.

The clone hasn't been deleted; some launchers just show it briefly when it's created.

Some launchers (for example the stock launchers on some phones) stop showing clones in the app list after reloading. During the trial run, check your home screen, or use “Open clone” in Prismly.

That's Android 14's system style. A clone is not a work profile.

On Android 14, Android uses the same badge for clones as for work profiles: a briefcase. Your clone is not managed by any organization. From Android 16, Android uses a dedicated clone badge; home screen icons added by Prismly also show Prismly's own badge.

Your phone probably doesn't let apps add icons to the home screen. Allow it in system settings.

When Prismly notices that adding didn't work, it prompts you to go to settings: in system settings, open Prismly's App info → Permissions, allow something like “Home screen shortcuts”, and try again.

App data is kept separate, and sign-ins don't affect each other; photos and files are shared with the main space.

A clone is a fresh copy of the app, like a new install: the first time you open it, you'll see the terms and sign-in screens. When the original app updates, the clone updates too and keeps its data.

A clone shares the same app package as the original; only the clone's own data takes extra space.

Sign-ins, caches and downloads in the clone take up space, counted separately from the original app's data. Removing the clone deletes this data.

The clone and its data are deleted too.

That's how Android works, and Prismly can't prevent it. If the clone has important data, back it up before uninstalling the original app. Prismly also reminds you of this on the clone details screen.

No.

The sign-ins and data in the clone are deleted permanently; the original app is not affected. That's why both actions ask you to confirm, and the confirmation lists what will be deleted.

Prismly doesn't modify apps: a clone is the original app, run directly by Android. Whether one person may use several accounts is up to each app's own rules.

The app in the clone is the same package as the original; Prismly doesn't change its code or fake device information. Some apps' terms don't allow one person to use multiple accounts, or don't allow running in a modified environment; please check and follow their rules yourself.

Some apps check their environment and may refuse to run in a clone space.

For example banking apps and some games. That's a restriction of the app itself, and Prismly can't get around it. Use your free first clone to try the app you need most.

That's standard Android behavior: these icons are shortcuts added by Prismly, so “App info” points to Prismly.

Please don't uninstall Prismly because of this. Uninstalling Prismly doesn't delete your clones or their data, but the icons Prismly added will disappear.

Your clones and their data stay, and you can open them from your launcher as usual.

The home screen icons Prismly added disappear, and you can no longer open, remove or put clones to sleep with Prismly. If you reinstall Prismly, the setup checklist finds the existing clone space and manages the clones in it again.

When you clear Prismly's data, Android removes every icon Prismly added to the home screen.

Your clones and the clone space are not affected; add the icons again in Prismly.

Some launchers turn the clone icon they placed automatically into a second icon for the original app. You can remove it from your home screen.

For example Pixel Launcher. Tapping this icon opens the original app.

The clone has been removed, or the clone space has been deleted.

In that case Prismly disables the icon it added, so you don't tap it by mistake. The icon comes back automatically when you create the clone again.

Clone space sleep doesn't grey out icons: while asleep, home screen icons stay the same, and Prismly's main page shows the clones as asleep.

You may need to open the clone once, or allow it to start automatically in system settings.

Some phones don't let apps start automatically by default (apps in the main space too), so after a restart a clone may only receive notifications once you've opened it. In system settings you can allow “Autostart” or “Background activity” for that app.

The clone space has its own browser and other system apps, so Android may ask you to choose between two apps with the same name.

The one with the clone badge is in the clone space.

Usually yes, but on some phones the built-in dual apps feature deletes clones created by Prismly.

Android allows only one clone space, so Prismly shares it with the phone's built-in dual apps feature. This is usually fine, but on some phones that feature manages the apps in this space:

• For example, Xiaomi HyperOS “Dual apps” deletes clones on restart that other apps put into the space, together with their data.
• When Prismly detects such a space, it warns you first; once it finds that clones were deleted by the system, it stops creating clones so you don't lose more data.

Yes, they are deleted too.

The delete confirmation lists every clone that will be deleted and marks those that weren't created in Prismly.

One.

The checks, the trial run, opening clones, adding them to the home screen, removing clones and the compatibility report are all free, so you can make sure your phone and the apps you need work before you pay. After a one-time purchase of Prismly Pro, there's no limit on clones.

It's not a subscription. It's a one-time purchase that you keep.

Google Play shows the price for your region, both on Prismly's “Unlock Pro” screen and on the store page. There are no ads, and no account is needed.

Pro includes: unlimited clones, clone space sleep (with schedules), the tile and widget, asking when new apps are installed, and Pro features we add in the future.

Yes.

Your purchase is tied to your Google account and restores automatically on a new phone or after reinstalling. If it doesn't, tap “Restore purchase” on the “Unlock Pro” screen.

Pro features stop working; your existing clones remain usable.

Refunds are handled by Google Play under its policies. After a refund or a revoked purchase:

• Your existing clones (including any beyond the first) still open and can be removed as usual; you just can't create more than 1.
• Scheduled sleep and “Ask when new apps are installed” are paused, and your settings and rules are kept; when Pro is restored, they continue as before.
• “Wake” doesn't need Pro, so you can wake the clone space even if it's asleep.
• Prismly tells you once that Pro is no longer active.

The same happens if you switch the Play Store to a Google account that hasn't bought Pro; switch back to the account you bought it with to restore it.

Stop all clones with one tap or on a schedule, so your second account stays quiet and stops running in the background.

Tap “Sleep” on Prismly's main page, or set time ranges in Settings → Scheduled sleep (for example every day around 23:00 – 7:00, up to 2 rules). While asleep, Prismly's main page shows the clones as asleep; tap “Wake” to bring them back. This is a Pro feature.

Scheduled times are approximate: to avoid asking for the “exact alarm” permission, Android may delay them by a few minutes up to a quarter of an hour or so. After you wake the clones manually, they keep running until the next sleep period.

A clone runs like a regular app, so its battery use depends on the app itself, just like having one more app installed.

Prismly doesn't run clones inside itself, so there's no extra virtual environment. A clone uses battery like any app when it receives push notifications or syncs in the background; when you don't need your second account, clone space sleep stops all clones (a Pro feature).

No.

Sleep stops all clones, so they don't run in the background and don't receive push notifications; they receive them again after waking.

Opening a clone from Prismly, from a home screen icon added by Prismly or from the widget wakes the clone space automatically. If you tap the launcher's own icon for a clone instead, only that clone opens; the others stay asleep, and Prismly's main page still shows the clone space as asleep.

Clones that are asleep stay asleep after a restart.

Shizuku needs to be running when a scheduled rule is due; if it isn't, Prismly catches up once Shizuku is running.

The tile, “Clone space”, is in Quick Settings (swipe down from the top) and puts the clone space to sleep or wakes it with one tap; the widget, “Clones”, sits on your home screen, and you tap an icon to open that clone.

The widget comes in 2×2 and 4×1 sizes and shows clones in the order you last opened them; when the clone space is asleep, a “Wake” button appears on it. The tile and widget are Pro features.

The same way as for any other app's tile or widget.

• Tile: swipe down to open Quick Settings, tap edit (the pencil icon), and drag the “Clone space” tile up.
• Widget: long-press an empty spot on your home screen → Widgets → find Prismly's “Clones” and drag it onto the home screen.

Where to find these depends on your phone and launcher. The tile and widget are Pro features; in the free version, tapping them opens the “Unlock Pro” screen.

No ads, no account. Anonymous usage statistics and crash reports are off by default and are only sent if you agree.

Your installed apps, your clones, sleep rules and so on are stored only on your phone. Purchases are handled by Google Play, and Prismly never receives your payment information. For details, see the privacy policy.

They're only sent if you agree, and you can turn them off at any time in Prismly's Settings.

After you complete the setup checklist, Prismly asks you once whether to turn them on. When on:

• Usage statistics (TelemetryDeck, data stored in the EU): a randomly generated installation identifier (hashed), app version, Android version, phone brand and model, system language and region, and feature usage events, such as the result of each check, whether creating the clone space succeeded, and whether a Pro purchase was opened or completed (without order number, amount or Google account). Kept for 24 months.
• Crash reports (Sentry, using its EU data center): a randomly generated installation identifier, app version, Android version, phone manufacturer and model, and technical information about the crash or error (error type, code stack trace, and Prismly's internal screen changes before the error). Deleted automatically after 30 days.
• Never sent: your app list, the names or package names of your clones, accounts, contacts, photos, files, precise location, advertising ID. Crash reports contain no screenshots or view recordings, and IP addresses are not stored.

When you turn them off, sending stops immediately, and the random identifier and any data not yet sent are deleted from your phone. See section 3 of the privacy policy.