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LineageOS 17.1 arrives on the Essential Phone, Moto X 2014, and more phones
The Android 10 custom ROM keeps on chugging
LineageOS 17.1 is the latest release of the popular custom ROM, based on Android 10. The LineageOS project was already providing daily builds for over 60 phones and tablets, but in the time since we last covered the ROM, a handful of additional phones have been granted official support.
LineageOS 16 drops support for Galaxy S5 Neo, Wileyfox Storm, and other devices
LineageOS 17.1 is here, but the 16.0 branch is sticking around
The LineageOS 17.1 custom ROM, based on Android 10, is finally here. However, until all the devices supported by the custom ROM get updated (or fall out of support through other means), the 16.0 branch based on Android 9 Pie will stick around. Since the last time we covered LineageOS 16, a handful of phones have been dropped.
LineageOS is one of the most popular custom ROMs around, and certainly the one with the most officially-supported devices. The last time we covered the project, it brought Android 9 Pie to ten new devices, including the Nvidia Shield. Since then, ten more phones have been updated to LineageOS 16.0 Pie.
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- Lineage just posted a changelog for all the changes since July 19. Here's the full list:
The last time we visited the LineageOS project, official Oreo builds for the Nextbit Robin, Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1, and other devices became available. In the two weeks since that post, even more devices are receiving Oreo, including phones from Motorola and Wileyfox.
British company Wileyfox has had a whirlwind three years since it released its first budget devices back in 2015. The phones ran Cyanogen OS, but the startup that made the hardware ultimately didn't fare much better than the operating system itself, as Wileyfox entered administration last month in a bid to resolve a severe debt crisis. It was unclear if that would signal the end for the company, but apparently not entirely.
United Kingdom-based phone manufacturer Wileyfox entered the Android smartphone scene in 2015, when it released the Storm and Switft phones. The low-end Spark was released later, in mid-2016. They were budget phones running the short-lived Cyanogen OS, and when Cyanogen collapsed, the company started developing its own ROM.
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.
British smartphone maker Wileyfox has been using Cyanogen OS since it launched its first phone a few years ago. Thus, the demise of Cyanogen Inc. is a big problem for the company. A report making the rounds on the internet claims that Wileyfox has upped its game by hiring former Cyanogen employees as in-house devs, including former Director of System Engineering Ricardo Cerqueira. This claim is based on some very weak evidence, so we've reached out to get the real story.
UK smartphone maker Wileyfox has been one of Cyanogen Inc's most consistent partners lately, releasing new budget smartphones running the software on a regular basis. Cyanogen is over, but Wileyfox is forging onward with a new phone called the Swift 2X. It's running Cyanogen OS right now, which might be a problem, but it's also the most powerful (and expensive) phone the company has made.
Wileyfox is a tiny phone manufacturer based in Britain that focuses on solid budget and mid-range designs, with low profit margins partially enabled thanks to a partnership with Cyanogen Inc. for the phones' Android software. That partnership doesn't seem to be long for this world, after it was announced that Cyanogen is more or less shutting down its full Android development team. That leaves Wileyfox customers (among many others) in something of a lurch. According to a few Reddit posts, the company is actively looking into alternatives.
TWRP is an awesome tool for us Android enthusiasts; it allows users to make and restore backups, flash ROMs and other files, and is often the stepping stone to root access. Now, TWRP has become available for three smartphones and one Android TV device.
CyanogenMod 13, based on Android 6.0 Marshmallow, was formally released back in March, but it's only just arriving for some devices, in the form of nightlies. The most notable of these devices are probably the original HTC One and the Wileyfox Spark, plus the Spark X - the Spark's bigger, more powerful brother.
There aren't a ton of devices running the commercial Cyanogen OS ROM these days, but the Wileyfox Spark and Spark+ are two of the most prominent (which really tells you something). These UK phones launched with Cyanogen OS 12 (Lollipop) earlier this year, but now Cyanogen OS 13 is finally rolling out.
Phones have progressed enormously in the last few years. If I look at my beloved Nexus 4, bought new in 2012, it had a Snapdragon S4 Pro chip, 2GB RAM, and 16GB storage. It cost me £279, or $349 in the US. For a phone of that quality, $349 was a stupendous price, much cheaper than comparable phones from Samsung, Motorola, or HTC. It kept me going for two years before the battery finally gave out.
Wileyfox and Cyanogen formed a partnership last summer to deliver smartphones running Cyanogen OS to Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. The Wileyfox Swift was the second phone to get version 13 of the operating system. Now the Wileyfox Storm is getting that same update.
In London today, Wileyfox, a tiny (CEO Nick Muir says it has 27 employees) British phone manufacturer, announced the Spark: a £89.99 ($120) phone that has razor-thin margins. Specs include a 1.3GHz MediaTek processor, 1GB RAM, and one 8-megapixel camera on each side.
Wileyfox are known - or rather, unknown - for their cheap, but well-specced smartphones. The Swift and Storm launched last year to generally good reviews, praising the affordability, performance, and design of the two phones, while criticising cameras and the occasional build quality issue. Today, the British company is announcing a range of phones, named Spark, Spark +, and Spark X.
Slowly but surely, Android offshoot-slash-alternative Cyanogen OS is gaining ground. The incorporated and semi-proprietary version of the CyanogenMod ROM now powers a handful of retail-available phones from companies like YU, Zuk, and Smartfen, though larger manufacturers like OnePlus and Oppo have seemingly cooled on Cyanogen software. Speaking of OnePlus, its One hardware was the first to get access to Cyanogen OS version 13, based on Android 6.0.1 code. Today the Swift from Wileyfox becomes the second.
Time to dust off your old phones. That Droid 4 in the back of your drawer, that Droid Bionic in the shoe box in your garage, and those RAZR and Droid RAZR that you can't even remember hiding or throwing away, they've all gotten a fresh breath of air. If you own of these you've probably scoured XDA's forums for months and found several custom ROMs based on Marshmallow for them, but if you prefer the CyanogenMod flavor in your ROMs then today is the day you can start flashing it.
You've probably never heard of a smartphone maker from the UK called WileyFox, and with good reason. The company didn't exist until just recently. This upstart London outfit is releasing two new mid-range smartphones, and they'll be powered by Cyanogen OS. They won't be targeting the Americas, though.