Of all the custom ROMs still around, LineageOS remains the most popular. The hard work of the team behind the ROM lays the foundation for several other ROMs. With Android 16 available for a few months now, the LineageOS team has finally released LineageOS 23 — its first build based on the new OS, though not on the very latest version.
Thanks to the LineageOS team’s previous work on adapting to Google’s UI changes, they could push the first stable build of LineageOS 23, based on Android 16, much sooner than previous releases. However, there’s a big catch. The custom ROM is not based on Android 16 QPR1 — the latest release of the OS, which dropped in September — but rather on the initial Android 16 build from June. That’s because Google still hasn’t published the QPR1 source code to AOSP, despite previously saying it would go live in the “coming weeks.”
Sadly, this means LineageOS 23 misses out on Android’s new Material 3 Expressive design and several other bigger Android 16 changes.
There’s another major change on Google’s part that affects the monthly security patches. “…AOSP security updates are no longer released in full on a monthly basis. Instead, only vulnerabilities deemed “high risk” (i.e., actively exploited in the wild) will be published by Google in the monthly ASBs, and even then, the underlying patches are often not made public immediately,” reveals the LineageOS team in their announcement.
Going forward, Google will stick to this release cadence. So, there’s little the LineageOS team can do other than adapt to the changes.
Google’s decision not to release the Pixel kernel source code will also impact LineageOS development. Pixel phones have traditionally been among the first devices supported in every new LineageOS release, but that won’t be the case anymore.
Despite these challenges, the LineageOS team has successfully released its Android 16-based custom ROM for over 100 devices. As part of the release, the team has also revamped many of its core apps.
Revamped system apps and a new Android TV launcher
The camera app — Aperture — has been rewritten from scratch and now supports JPEG Ultra HDR, RAW, and simultaneous RAW + JPEG capture. The redesigned notification island now uses dynamic colors with new indicators for thermal throttling, battery, and more.
With LineageOS 23, the team is also debuting a new Catapult app — their own custom launch for Android TV. Like other LineageOS apps, it features a simple and functional design that’s fast and easy to navigate.
You can find the full list of LineageOS 23–compatible devices and detailed instructions on how to safely update to the latest release in the team’s official announcement.
