LineageOS 18.1 brings Android 11 to over 60 smartphones

The largest aftermarket distribution in the Android community, LineageOS, is now up and running with Android 11. The new version is called “LineageOS 18.1” and versions for more than 60 smartphones are coming to the official servers of brands like OnePlus, Google , Xiaomi, Sony, Motorola, LG and even some older Samsung devices.

The new Lineage 18.1 operating system contains, of course, all the features of Android 11 from the Android Open Source Project (AOSP), such as a new notification panel with a persistent media player, floating “bubble” notifications, Unique permissions, new emojis, a new keyboard autofill system, and more. All Lineage apps now support dark mode, and a fork in the FOSS “Etar” calendar app replaces what Lineage calls the “stagnant and largely unmaintained” AOSP calendar. The FOSS SeedVault app was included as an integrated backup solution, and Lineage’s screen recorder and music apps were revamped.

Google releases the source code for Android under the name “AOSP”, but the Google repository is a big bunch of code that is not ready for the device. LineageOS takes the AOSP code and puts it into shippable form, fixing any missing components with its own code and adding some of its own apps in place of Google’s proprietary apps (although you can also flash Google’s apps above it. of Lineage) and bake several customization and user-friendly features for mods in the operating system. Everything Lineage does is free and open source.

Most importantly, Lineage has an army of volunteer device maintainers who port Lineage versions to each specific device, merging hardware support and debugging compatibility issues so that owners of individual models can actually use the system. operation. This year, the whole process took seven months. (And to all the for-profit device makers who just got beaten up by a team of volunteers with only public access to the source code, shame on you!)

The biggest barrier to Lineage adoption (and one reason you might not be able to install it on your device) is the industry’s affinity for locked bootloaders. Many phone manufacturers and carriers do not want their customers to be able to control the device they own, so they lock the bootloader, which blocks the installation of aftermarket operating systems, root access. , full NAND flash image backups and the ability to resuscitate the phone in recovery mode if something goes wrong during an update. If you can get a device with an unlocked bootloader (officially or via a security exploit) and official LineageOS support, you’ll be set for years, however. Today, 6-7 year old devices like the OnePlus One and Samsung Galaxy S4 are updated to Android 11.

If you’re interested in trying Lineage, the release blog post has links to specific instructions for each supported device. The project is also launching, as always, a call for more device maintainers, documentation writers and translators.