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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.
Five-year-old Galaxy Tab S2 receives October 2020 security patch, proving Samsung has truly changed its ways
Meanwhile, the Nexus 9 hasn't seen an update since 2017
Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Tab S2 in July 2015, a time when Android tablets still mattered, and there was much more competition. Sporting a luxurious new design based on the Galaxy S6 and a beautifully bright AMOLED display, it represented the best Android tablets had to offer. But why are we talking about it five years later? Because it just received the October 2020 security patch, and that's incredible.
Three years of software support on an Android device is still a rare occurrence, but Samsung manages to surpass that every once in a while. The company is still pushing security updates to the four year-old Galaxy Tab S2, as evidenced by a T-Mobile support page.
LineageOS is one of the most popular custom Android ROMs available, with over two million active installations. The project officially ended support for the 14.1 (Android 7.1) branch a few days ago, in preparation for LineageOS 16. The 16.0 branch is finally rolling out, and it's bringing Android 9 Pie to dozens of phones and tablets.
The LineageOS custom ROM used to support just about every phone imaginable, but lately the project has been going for quality over quantity. Oreo (15.1) builds have to fulfill stricter requirements to receive official status, and now Lineage is dropping support for 30 unmaintained phones and tablets.
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- According to a new post on the OmniROM blog, the OnePlus 5T and Redmi Note 4 now have Android 8.0 weekly builds.
OmniROM was a popular custom ROM back in the Jelly Bean/KitKat era, especially because of its multi-window feature and wide device support. The project has scaled back its reach over the years, like most custom ROMs (except LineageOS), but it still maintains a dedicated user base.
Team Win Recovery Project, better known as TWRP, is basically a synonym for "custom recovery" these days. It makes it easy to step into the world of custom ROMs and other flashable things for older and newer devices alike. Since our last update earlier this month, TWRP has added 11 more smartphones and tablets to its ever-growing roster, including the Razer Phone and Xiaomi Redmi 5 and 5 Plus.
When I was looking for a replacement for my Nexus 7 (2013) a couple of months ago, I did my due diligence in research and settled on the Galaxy Tab S2 8". I wanted a tablet I could carry around while walking (I edit AP articles like this, so nothing over 8.5"), with a great screen, Android Nougat (by default or updatable to it), and a decent processor, RAM, and storage. The Tab S2 8" filled all those boxes and I ended up paying about $300 for it. Now you can get it for $239.99. I wish I could go back and wait, my Nexus 7 was still working, dammit Rita!Amazon is discounting the 8" 32GB version of the Tab S2 in all its colors: the gold and white versions go for $247.99 but the better deal is on the black one which is going for a little less at $239.99 - you'll need to add it to your cart though to see the price. You'll find a rather similar $247.99-$249.99 price on Best Buy and B&H.But that's not the only Tab S2 deal you can find. The 9.7" version of the tablet, which obviously has a larger display, is also discounted. In this case, only the black color is seeing the significant price drop and all of the retailers have the same price: $279.99. You can find it on Amazon (add it to your cart to see the price), B&H, and Best Buy.Black Friday seems to be Black November this year, with deals starting way too early. All the better for us as consumers, all the worse for our wallets. And consider yourself warned about the deluge of "deal alerts" on Android Police. It's only gonna get worse.
When we last looked at TWRP, the project had added support for a whopping 17 new devices. Granted, most of those were variations of three Samsung devices, but it's still impressive. Since then, three more devices have been added to the official builds - including the LG G6.
Samsung is far from the best company when it comes to product names (remember the Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch?). In a similar vein, there are actually two tablets called the Galaxy Tab S2 - one released in 2015 with an Exynos processor, and another in 2016 with a Snapdragon chip. Verizon's Snapdragon model already received an Android 7.0 update, and now it's the Exynos model's turn.
As great as LineageOS and other ROMs are, they wouldn't be possible without a custom recovery available for the device. TWRP is usually pretty quick to support new devices, with older phones and tablets being added to the list frequently too. Since our last post, TWRP has added support for 17 more devices, including the LeEco Le Pro 3 and Xiaomi Mi 6.
Android O is on the horizon, but in the meantime, Samsung has continued to update its devices to Android 7.0 Nougat. Many of the company's phones and tablets have already received it, including some models of the Tab S2. Now, Android 7.0 has arrived on the AT&T Galaxy Tab S2..
Android 7.0 Nougat is still trickling out to various Samsung phones and tablets. T-Mobile updated its version of the Galaxy Tab S2 to Nougat just a few days ago, and now the Verizon model is getting the same treatment.
Samsung and its carrier partners can take a long time to get big system updates rolled out to older devices, but at least it happens. Some OEMs would have abandoned a phone from 2015 by now, but T-Mobile is rolling out a Nougat update to the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge, which was promised a few days ago. Bonus: the Tab S2 on T-Mobile is getting the update, too.
TWRP is the recovery of choice for most power users - it's super easy to use, can be themed, and works on a massive number of Android devices. Over the past few months, the TWRP team has been working to expand the list of officially-supported devices. New additions include the Honor 6X, Wileyfox Swift 2X, Yoga Tab 3, various Galaxy phones and tablets, and more.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 9.7" (that's a mouthful) was released in July of 2015, and later an updated model with a Snapdragon 652 was released in 2016. But you can now get the S2 9.7" for $279.99 on eBay, and just $252 if you use a discount code.
Well, this is a first. Of all the major OEMs that we cover on Android Police, few give us more headache when it comes to their Android updates than Samsung and LG. HTC, Sony, Motorola have been known to reveal which devices they plan to update to a newer version of Android and to give a timeline of that update, a practice they have followed over the past few years, but Samsung and LG? Radio silence. That frustrated us as reporters and you as users because you never knew if a phone you bought last year would get bumped to a new Android version or not. And you didn't have a timeline. But that has changed today.
Folks who chose to get an LTE-enabled tablet from T-Mobile and went with the Galaxy Tab S2 are starting to receive an over-the-air update bringing Marshmallow to their device. For a few months at least, users will get to have the latest and greatest on their Android tablet.
AT&T is finally catching up on its Marshmallow OTA rollouts to its fleet of Android devices. And today's lucky winner of "Which device will get an OTA?" is the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 2 (T817A).
Samsung owners who are on Verizon are lucky this week. Yesterday, the operator started pushing Marshmallow in an OTA update to the Galaxy S5 and today it's ready to roll out the same Android 6.0 to the Galaxy Tab S2.