Galaxy S22 could get Android 17 thanks to LineageOS

Samsung officially closed the door on major OS upgrades for the Galaxy S22 series after omitting the flagship lineup from its One UI 8.5 roadmap. However, a massive third-party development has just flipped the script: official LineageOS support has finally landed on the S22, opening a clear, exciting path toward running Android 17 unofficially.

This is particularly interesting because the Galaxy S22 isn’t exactly ancient hardware. Samsung launched the series in 2022, and these phones remain perfectly capable of handling everyday tasks. Yet Samsung’s One UI 9 update excludes the entire S22 lineup, effectively confirming that One UI 8 was the family’s final major OS upgrade.

Thankfully, the open-source software community just handed us an incredible lifeline. As first reported by 9to5Google, LineageOS 23 nightly builds are officially live for the base Galaxy S22, S22 Plus, and S22 Ultra.

LineageOS support means the S22 series has a realistic route to Android 17 even though Samsung won’t officially provide it. LineageOS 23 is currently based on Android 16, but with Android 17 already released, an Android 17-based iteration of the ROM could follow in the coming months. That would effectively give S22 owners another major Android version without requiring them to buy a new phone.

We’ve seen the writing on the wall for the S22 series for quite a while. Earlier this year, a court even ordered Samsung to compensate Galaxy S22 owners over its controversial Game Optimizing Service (GOS), a preinstalled feature that secretly throttled performance during heavy tasks to prevent overheating.

To many of us, that legal saga signaled that Samsung was eager to artificially preserve aging hardware rather than support it indefinitely. Furthermore, unlike newer models enjoying seven years of software support, the S22 series missed out on long-term coverage.

So, for S22 owners who aren’t ready to let go, LineageOS could therefore be more than an alternative skin. It could be the difference between stopping at Android 16 and getting an unofficial taste of Android 17, potentially extending the useful life of a phone that’s still got plenty left in the tank.