Damien Wilde / Android Authority
TL;DR
- A developer has launched Lineage OS 21, primarily based on Android 14, for the Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Be aware 2.
- The Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Be aware 2 have been launched in 2012 and have been final up to date to Android 4.4 Kitkat with Touchwiz by Samsung.
Samsung launched the Galaxy S3 and the Galaxy Be aware 2 again in 2012, and so they’re legendary units in their very own proper. In fact, the telephones have lengthy been discontinued, and if you’re nonetheless utilizing one 12 years later, we suggest upgrading to a newer Samsung telephone. For fans and hobbyists who nonetheless have the telephone of their drawer, you’d be glad to know that you would be able to now improve each telephones to Android 14, albeit unofficially, by means of a customized ROM.
A 3rd-party customized ROM developer has posted Lineage OS 21 customized ROMs for the Galaxy S3 and the Galaxy Be aware 2. These customized ROMs are primarily based on Android 14. Lineage OS, specifically, is thought for taking the clear Android expertise and making minor but significant modifications.
Samsung’s final official replace for these historic units was Android 4.4 KitKat, with the related TouchWiz launch on prime. Whilst you gained’t get One UI on these telephones, it’s commendable that you would be able to set up the newest Android model on them with the assistance of the aftermarket developer group.
Since that is an unofficial launch, there are just a few bugs (which you need to anticipate on units over a decade outdated). There are some stability points, and storage encryption is just not working. For sure, the customized ROM is taken into account an alpha launch and shouldn’t be put in in your every day driver (and if you’re nonetheless utilizing a Galaxy S3 in 2024, then wow, colour me very shocked).
Putting in it in your gadget can also be a bit extra difficult than your common official software program replace. You’d first must unlock your telephone’s bootloader, set up a customized restoration like TWRP by means of Odin or Heimdall, after which set up (aka “flash”) this practice ROM by means of TWRP. The customized ROM additionally doesn’t ship with any Google apps, so you will want to flash a GApps bundle after your customized ROM is put in.
Nonetheless, such enthusiast-driven initiatives present us that supporting a tool for a very long time is much less of an engineering problem and extra of a enterprise resolution. Fortunately, Samsung presents among the best Android replace guarantees for its present telephones, with an extended software program assist window.
