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LineageOS 17.1 adds official support for OnePlus 2, Moto X Play, and other phones
Android 10 on phones from 2015
LineageOS is the most popular custom ROM around, and version 17.1 is based on the newest Android 10 release. The Lineage project has been slowly updating older devices to 17.1, and in the time since our previous coverage, even more devices have arrived in the official roster.
LineageOS is one of the most popular custom ROMs available, with somewhere around two million active installations. It typically takes a while for the project to update to newer versions of Android, since development is largely done by maintainers in their spare time. Six months after the public release of Android 9 Pie, it looks like LineageOS is about ready to make the jump — but not before dropping older devices.
CyanogenMod has seen better days as an organization, but the team behind the open-source Android custom ROM doesn't seem to be slowing down its prodigious output. In the last week new nightly builds have been added for no less than ten new phones and tablets, including notable models from Motorola, Samsung, OnePlus, and Amazon. All of them now have CM 14.1 (based on Android 7.1.1 AOSP code) builds available.
Got an old phone that the manufacturer or carrier has stopped pushing updates to? Chances are, there's a CyanogenMod ROM that will breathe life back into it. This week, CM maintainers have brought CyanogenMod 14.1, which is based on Android 7.1.1 Nougat, to the AT&T and T-Mobile versions of the Samsung Galaxy S III, the LTE model of the second-generation Moto E, the Moto X Play, and more.
CyanogenMod 13 comes with Android 6.0, and it has been around since the fall. But bringing each device up to date takes time. Many have spent the past few months on 12.1. My Moto G 2015 (the one I showed off last week) is one of those devices.
No, the 2nd gen Moto E LTE doesn't have Android Marshmallow in the US, but the spiffy little phone did get the update elsewhere. Now Motorola has posted the open source kernel files for said release onto GitHub.
Some 2nd gen Moto E owners have it better than others.The long-awaited Marshmallow update appears to be making its way to handsets in India.
When Marshmallow was first released, Motorola released a list of devices that it deemed Marshmallow-worthy. Noticeably absent from that list was the Moto E 2015 (2nd gen), despite the company promising timely updates in its marketing of the device 219 days earlier. That caused a legitimate online uproar from Moto E users who weren't expecting to be left behind so abruptly and cold-bloodedly. So what's the company to do to silence the cries of scorned loyal users? Do an about-face and fix the issue, that's what. Except it still didn't manage to fully solve the problem for everyone.
I'll be blunt—it's been a long time since I've cared about the availability of CyanogenMod nightlies. It's not that I have anything against flashing custom ROMs. It's just in the past several years, stock Android has been pretty good. Even the skinned versions like HTC Sense have reached a point where I feel fine leaving them alone.
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Today, Motorola published a list of the devices it would be updating to Android Marshmallow. And to be clear: that list is of planned updates. All of them. If a device is not on that list, Motorola is not planning on upgrading it to Marshmallow at this time, and that means those plans are unlikely to change. We even have explicit confirmation that Moto X 2014 AT&T and Verizon models, which do not appear on this list, will not be getting Android 6.0. It seems quite safe to say any device not on this list will not be getting Marshmallow.
The CyanogenMod team continues to develop builds for new phones, and today we get support for two budget-oriented options that are popular with the unlocked crowd. The Moto E 2015, a phone with a relatively small screen and a tiny price, and the Huawei Mate 2, a phone with a relatively enormous screen and a price that's still pretty small, both have CyanogenMod 12.1 (Android 5.1) ROMs waiting for them on the official download site.
Google and the various major Android device vendors and carriers are scrambling to patch the recently-discovered Stagefright exploit, a weakness in Android's multimedia processing that can allow remote access via a simple MMS message. Google has already begun patching Nexus devices, and Samsung is working its way through its extensive product range starting with flagships. Yesterday Motorola released its plans to update its phones.
Motorola is slowly making its way through its current product line, updating all its phones to the latest version of Android. (My poor, neglected DROID MAXX from 2013 is still waiting, Moto.) That means releasing the open source kernel files for said phones and each update as well. The latest device to get the treatment is the 2015 version of Motorola's low-cost wonder, the Moto E. The phone itself was updated with an OTA package back in May.
Republic Wireless is a good option if you really want to save some cash on your monthly bill. The MVNO's hybrid WiFi-cellular plans cost between $5 and $55, depending on what you want. However, you need to buy phones directly from the carrier. Now you've got another phone option on Republic—the 2nd Gen Moto E with LTE.
The 2nd Moto E is Motorola's cheap phone, but it's really not that bad for less demanding use. Normally it goes for $120 - $150 depending on whether you want LTE. Today Amazon is apparently selling them for significantly less. Global and US GSM models are going for just $90. LTE models are selling for only $10 more.
On Google+ today, Motorola's David Schuster announced that the AT&T version of the 2nd generation Moto E would be receiving its Android 5.1 soak test today, meaning a general OTA shouldn't be far away.
Hey Verizon, you do know that your flagship and completely exclusive DROID Turbo is still running on Android 4.4, right? Right? That being the case, does it seem a little odd that the cheapest of the Moto line, the Moto E, which is only sold to pre-paid Verizon customers, now runs the latest version of Android? No? Well OK, then. If you have the second-gen version of the Moto E, expect an update sometime in the next few days. If you have a DROID Turbo, buy a Moto E.