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Out with the old, in with the new: LineageOS cut support for Android 9 Pie earlier this year, and to make up for the loss, the open-source project has just released version 18.1 based on Android 11. It comes with official support for about 60 phones and tablets.
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LineageOS is the most-used custom Android ROM around, but that doesn't mean there isn't room for others. Paranoid Android was a popular choice back in the KitKat days, and while the ROM returned in full force with Nougat builds in 2017, there hasn't been much news since. Now the project is back (again), touting Android 10 builds for nine phones so far.
LineageOS ROM releases first builds based on Android 10 (Update: Builds are back)
LineageOS 17.1 is here
LineageOS is the most popular custom ROM in existence, and the project prides itself on bringing newer versions of Android to unsupported devices. However, Lineage has been a bit slow to roll out a version based on Android 10 — the Pie-based ROM was already available by this time last year. Thankfully, the next major version of LineageOS seems to be just around the corner.
Xiaomi's Poco F1 has had an Android 10 beta in testing for more than a month already, and it looks like the company is finally ready to take the software to stable. In a forum post, it has announced that it will start rolling out the latest version of the OS globally, and the first owners report that they are indeed receiving the update.
Although many of Xiaomi's devices have already picked up a taste of Android 10 courtesy of MIUI 11, the popular budget flagship Poco F1 has been curiously excluded to date. That changes now that it's an independent brand, as the first official Android 10 release lands for the device, though it is a beta that you have to manually flash via TWRP — pretty weird.
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Last month, a tweet by Poco's global head Alvin Tse led to speculation that the Pocophone F2 might launch sometime in 2020. Now, we have concrete evidence that the device is on its way, thanks to a recently discovered trademark application.
Xiaomi is starting to look like a car manufacturer with how many sub-brands it has: Redmi, Poco, Mito, CC, Black Shark, the list goes on. Only one phone was ever released under the Poco name, the wildly-successful Poco F1, which was developed by Xiaomi. Poco is now being spun off as Xiaomi's new sub-brand, with a (somewhat) independent team.
Like most Chinese manufacturers, Xiaomi's Android phones come with heavy UI customizations and many pre-installed apps featuring advertisements no one asked for — in fact, this release model is part of the reason why Xiaomi is routinely able to undercut its competition in price. However, the company might be too thirsty about collecting personal data to show individualized ads, as its Quick apps application has been blocked by Google Play Protect because of potential tracking issues.
The LineageOS project is busy as always, adding support for more devices and implementing new features. The last time we covered the popular custom ROM, official builds for the OnePlus 6T and 7 Pro arrived, and there have been plenty of additions (or re-additions, in some cases) since then.
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.
Chinese Android phone makers have it rough when it comes to bringing on software updates to their customers. There's a totally different expectation as to how long these devices get supported there and the issue gets compounded when taking into account the proprietary UIs and services for each OEM's spin on the OS. In Xiaomi's case, it has taken up the challenge of bringing at least 13 devices up to Android Q over the next year.
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$1,000 flagship phones are an unfortunate reality in today's market, but there are plenty of options out there with most of the performance at a fraction of the price. One of the newest entrants to this game has been Xiaomi's Pocophone F1, which offers flagship-level specs at just $300. In case the low, low price wasn't incentive enough to pick one up, the Poco team will be adding a bunch of features and fixes in the coming weeks.
Xiaomi's Pocophone is the new OnePlus One — a powerful package with a low price tag, and something you shouldn't buy in the US market. While many users decide to flash a custom ROM on this device due to Xiaomi's custom MIUI interface, there is some good software bundled with it that you can even use on other manufacturers' phones. I'm talking about the POCO Launcher, which now includes a dark mode and some other goodies in its latest update.
Google Lens was a big unveiling at I/O a while back, but the feature isn't particularly discoverable on phones. It's become a bit more prominent with camera integrates on phones from Motorola, Google, and others. Now, you can add Xiaomi to the list.
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.
Popular custom ROM maker Paranoid Android came back from the dead in 2017 and has just announced its long-awaited first Android 9 Pie beta builds, with initial availability for a handful of Xiaomi devices. PA is also changing the way it develops its ROM to include Generic System Images (GSI) which should allow support for a greater number of devices.
The Pocophone's excellent value has made it a prime target for modders, and there are plenty of custom ROMs already available. Unofficial builds of TWRP have been available for months, but now Team Win has officially started supporting the device.
The Xiaomi-made Pocophone F1 has been one of the hottest releases of 2018, as long as you live in a region where the phone exists. However, it came with Android Oreo. As you know, Pie is the new hotness, and now the Pocophone is getting its update. No OTA on your end yet? No problem—there's a download option.
Xiaomi is celebrating a strange milestone today. According to a tweet by the company's global VP, Xiaomi has 700,000 users, which presumably means the company has seen about as many sales. It's an odd milestone to be celebrating — 700K in "over three months" doesn't exactly roll off the tongue — but it's a good indicator of the company's success in its Pocophone experiment, especially when compared to OnePlus.
In the smartphone world, Xiaomi is the epitome of value for money. Now ranked fourth worldwide, it sells nearly one of every ten smartphones. But when companies start operating at such a large scale, the start-up mentality takes a backseat to more important considerations, and innovation can be stifled.