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LineageOS 17.1 ROM arrives on 2016 Pixels and Nexus 6
Shamu, Marlin, and Sailfish live to see another day
LineageOS is the most popular custom ROM out there, with dozens of supported devices and a few nice features over stock Android. The new Android 10-based LineageOS 17.1 was just released earlier this month, and now the project is bringing back support for two classic Google phones.
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After months of anticipation, the popular LineageOS custom ROM finally released a version based on Android 9 Pie last month. The project has already updated 30 devices to Pie, but now a few more have been added. Also, two phones now have official Oreo builds.
The Nexus devices of old were some of the best phones when it came to custom ROMs, and while the Pixels are still popular options for software mods, CyanogenMod/LineageOS has never offered official builds. I'm not sure why, but I assume it had something to do with the A/B partitioning scheme, or perhaps there was not a maintainer available to work on it.
Qualcomm's latest generation Snapdragon 821 chipset was announced back in July, but details have remained scarce until now. Today, Qualcomm has shared a lot more information on what we believe will likely be the processor that powers the next generation of Google's flagship phones.
It's been reported that this year's Nexus devices will be built by HTC for quite a while now. We've had recreations, we've had photos, and now we've got FCC certifications. These applications were granted earlier today for both Sailfish and Marlin.
You've all been asking: "how is this crazy weird new home button with the little colored dots going to work?" Today, we finally have an answer for you. In animated GIF form. Because that's the best kind of answer. Before the GIF - a bit of background. At this point, it is our basic assumption that the reasoning behind the home button's rather radically colorful redesign is in order to promote Google Assistant (possibly via Now / On Tap functions), which has been teased by Google in the past using these four little colored dots.
Google will introduce a new layout for its settings apps on the upcoming 2016 Nexus phones to accommodate its new Google Support tool (which we previously showed you), a new way to activate the ambient display mode via double-tap, as well as a "Night Light" to tint the display red (turn off blue pixels) for easier evening viewing, we've learned from a trusted source. The new settings UI and the Night Light mode are pictured below. We do not have any visuals of the support tab itself, unfortunately, though as we said in our previous exclusive, we believe the Google Support app will allow for live screen sharing with customer support reps for owners of supported Nexus devices.
According to multiple reliable sources, we believe that Google plans to debut a brand-new launcher for Nexus devices some time in the near future, likely on its 2016 Nexus (if they are Nexuses) smartphones Marlin and Sailfish.
Qualcomm officially announced the Snapdragon 821 processor this morning, and with it there has been growing speculation about just which phones will be among the first to feature the new alleged king of the chipset hill. Based on information from multiple and reliable sources, we believe it is extremely likely both of Google's upcoming Nexus phones, Sailfish and Marlin, will be using the Snapdragon 821.
