LineageOS 23 based on Android 16 is ready

About four months after the release of Android 16, the LineageOS community has brought its custom ROM to version 23, a reasonably current state. The software is now based on the June version of Android 16, which is not the latest version.

LineageOS 23 based on Android 16 has been available for download since the weekend for over 100 compatible models such as Fairphone, Google, Motorola, OnePlus, Samsung, Sony, and others. According to their statements, the creators of the custom ROM are “early” this year.

Google slows down custom ROM development

The developers cite the first version of Android 16, released in June, which contained “mainly iterative improvements and some refinements to the user interface and user experience” as the reason for the rather early release of the new version. “Thanks to our previous efforts to adapt to Google's UI-centric changes in Android 12 to 14, we were able to switch to the Android 16 codebase faster than expected.”

However, Google has placed significant obstacles in the way of custom ROM developers, making the development of new Android versions and updates more difficult. For one thing, Google no longer releases monthly security updates and has switched to a quarterly rhythm instead. Google is also limiting the scope of public, monthly security bulletins.

Secondly, Google is delaying the release of source code in the Android Open-Source Project (AOSP) for Quarterly Platform Releases (QPR). While Google makes these available to its hardware partners early on, the source code for the QPR1 version, which includes Material 3 Expressive, among other things, has not yet been released more than a month after its release. LineageOS 23 is therefore initially based on Android 16 “QPR0,” as Lineage calls the June version. The QPR1 release that appeared in September includes, among other things, the new Material 3 Expressive Design, but also over 100 security patches that could not yet be integrated into LineageOS 23. According to the developers, the new LineageOS version is only based on the August 2025 security patch version.

In its announcement regarding the Android 16 update, Lineage also addresses the code components removed by Google, such as driver binaries, device trees, and the lack of complete kernel source code commit history for Pixel smartphones. These make Android development more difficult, but thanks to the work of CalyxOS, Pixel devices could “likely continue to be well supported.” However, they will no longer be the first devices to receive a new LineageOS version in the future. “Pixel devices are now effectively no easier to support than devices from other OEMs,” it states.

New features in LineageOS 23

Despite the difficult circumstances, the Android 16 version includes various new features: According to LineageOS, the in-house camera app “Aperture” has been redesigned and now offers support for Ultra HDR images in JPEG format and RAW recordings.

While the developers haven't completely overhauled the Twelve music player, they have “polished” it a bit and equipped it with some new features. For example, it has a “Play Random Songs” button, which is intended to enable faster playback from the library. Additionally, the local media storage can be rescanned, so newly added music is displayed without a restart. The “Jellyfin” integration has also been expanded, including suggestions, favorites, and improved thumbnail image processing. Furthermore, the player now supports MIDI playback.

LineageOS has also received a new Android TV launcher called Catapult for smart TV boxes, which is intended to display no ads or recommendations. For tinkerers, LineageOS 23 now supports virtual machines with QEMU. Furthermore, the LineageOS developers have integrated extended mainline kernel compatibility and optimized kernel builds for various Qualcomm processors. They have also modernized a large part of the source code by replacing outdated Android.mk files with the newer Android.bp system. This simplifies future maintenance, speeds up further development, and also prepares for the discontinuation of Android.mk announced years ago.

Further details on the new features and a list of compatible devices LineageOS offers in its announcement.

(afl)