Android 12-based LineageOS 19 is here with all the features you love

However, it is possible that older devices will no longer be supported by LineageOS due to changes in AOSP

Custom ROMs are an endangered breed, but the popularity of LineageOS is undeniable – it remains one of the best third-party ROMs you can try on your device. After releasing Android 10-based LineageOS 17.1 builds in February and releasing the stable version of LineageOS 18.1 to nearly 60 devices in April, the team has officially announced Android 12-based LineageOS 19.

Thanks to all the hard work of the Android 11-based LineageOS 18.1, the developers have been able to transfer their features to Android 12 more efficiently. Some of the ROM’s popular additions such as the built-in firewall, limited network mode and app isolation are already part of the initial Android 12 builds.

The team has also changed the naming scheme to “LineageOS 19” instead of 19.0 or 19.1, a switch made to match the AOSP conventions and due to Android’s shift to a quarterly maintenance release model.

A changelog of the new features in LineageOS 19 can be found below:

Security patches from March 2021 to April 2022 have been merged into LineageOS 16.0 to 19.
19 builds is currently based on the android-12.1.0_r4 tag, which is the Pixel 6 series tag. WebView has been updated to Chromium 100.0.4896.58.
We completely redesigned the volume panel that was introduced in Android 12 and instead made it a pop-out expansion panel on the page.
Our branch of the AOSP Gallery app has seen a large number of fixes and improvements.
Our Updater app has seen a large number of bug fixes and improvements.
Our web browser Jelly has seen a number of bug fixes and improvements!
We have contributed a number of changes and improvements upstream to the FOSS Etar calendar app, which we integrated some time ago!
We have contributed a number of changes and improvements upstream of the Seedvault backup app.
Our Recorder app has seen several bug fixes, enhancements and added features.
Android TV builds now come with an ad-free Android TV launcher as opposed to Google’s ad-enabled launcher.
Android TV buildings now come with a key manager that allows us to support custom keys on a wide range of bluetooth and IR remotes.
Our adb_root the service is no longer tied to the build type property.
Our extraction tools now support extraction from most types of factory images / packaged OTA images, which greatly simplifies unit upbringing and blob extraction.
High-touch polling rate support has been added to our SDK, enabling it to be enabled on supported devices.
The AOSP Clang tool chain is now the standard tool chain we use to compile our kernels.
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon camera has been dropped, and devices that previously used it will now use Camera2.
Dark mode is now enabled by default.
We have a brand new setup guide with all new Android 12-style icons, animations and lots of new configurable pages!
We have a brand new set of icons for almost all apps, including system!
(18.1 also) We have a brand new standard wallpaper, and a complete set of wallpapers to choose from, check them out! These wallpapers are designed with Android 12s Monet theme features in mind, so try them on and see what accent color you like best!
(18.1 also) Wi-Fi screen is available for all devices that choose to sign up, either via Qualcomm’s proprietary interface or the newly restored older Miracast interface!
(18.1 also) We now support custom charging sounds for different types of charging, wired or wireless.

The bad news here is that LineageOS 19 is dropping support for more older devices due to changes in how networks work in AOSP. Instead of using Linux ‘iptables, AOSP has switched to eBPF, which is supposed to be more efficient, but only supports devices that use Linux kernel 4.9 or later. While it may be possible to back up BPF to older Linux kernel versions, all current implementations are hacked and not up to the standard that the LineageOS team adheres to. This may be the end of the road for many older phones, at least when it comes to official support.

The initial builds of LineageOS 19 are available for the Google Pixel series, Asus ZenFone 5z and 8, Moto G7 series and Moto One Power / Action / Vision, OnePlus 6 / 6T and selected devices from Samsung, Lenovo and Sony. The list of supported devices will continue to grow in the coming days and weeks. Grab LineageOS 19 build for your device from here.

If you are already running an unofficial build of LineagOS 19, delete your device while upgrading to the official release. If you are already running an official but older version of the ROM, a clean wipe is not required unless specifically stated in your device’s Wiki.

Thanks: Mishaal Rahman

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