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LineageOS ends Android 9 Pie support, cutting off 24 phones and tablets
Lineage is clearing the way for Android 11 support
LineageOS is the most popular custom ROM around, not only because it brings a stock-like experience to phones and tablets, but also because it has kept many devices supported long after the manufacturer dropped support. The project has offered builds based on Android 9 Pie since early 2019, and now that many devices have been updated to LineageOS 17.1 (and with Android 11 support coming soon), support for Pie is ending.
LineageOS is one of the best custom ROMs around, with official support for dozens of phones and a few unique features. The last time we covered the project, it started offering builds for the Redmi Note 7 Pro, Huawei Honor 5X, and a few others. Since then, a whopping 13 phones are now receiving Pie builds, but there's some bad news for Xiaomi device owners.
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.
The last time we covered LineageOS, the most popular custom ROM in the Android community, Oreo builds for the Nextbit Robin and Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 became available. In the month since that post, even more phones have been added to the Oreo roster, including a long-time community favorite - the ZTE Axon 7.
The last time we covered LineageOS, the project had started supporting seven new phones, including the Xperia Z5 Compact and LG K10. Since then, several additional devices have been added to the official build roster. These include the Sony Xperia Z5, Samsung Galaxy S6, and Redmi 3S/3X.
CyanogenMod is virtually the best-known custom ROM out there, and for good reason: it brings the newest version of Android to devices that would otherwise have to wait much longer to receive it, or would never receive it at all. This week, quite a few popular devices have received CyanogenMod 14.1, which is based on Android 7.1 Nougat.
MIUI splits opinions among Android users - some say it's great, a welcome refinement of the platform, and some say it's a bit too close for comfort aesthetically to Apple's iOS. Whichever way you see it, you should know that MIUI 8 is now out, with the Global stable ROM available for download over on the MIUI forums for supported devices, which are listed below. The 8th version of the Chinese OS was announced back in May with the Mi Max, which David said was gigantic in his hands-on first impressions.
Xiaomi has been pushing the envelope with its mid-range devices in the last few years with low price points and impressive hardware. The just-announced Redmi 3 takes things to a new level, though. For the equivalent of $106 (RMB 699), you get a phone with a brand new Snapdragon chip, a metal chassis, and a massive 4100 mAh battery. And when I say "you," I don't really mean you personally, most likely. This phone is launching in China only for the time being.