The developers of LineageOS, which succeeded CyanogenMod, have released LineageOS 19, based on the Android 12 platform. It is noted that the LineageOS 19 branch has reached feature and stability parity with the 18 branch, and is recognized as ready for transition to form the first release. Builds have been prepared for 41 device models.
LineageOS can also be run in the Android Emulator and Android Studio environment. It provides the option to build in Android TV and Android Automotive mode. By default, all supported devices offer a custom Lineage Recovery that does not require a separate recovery partition. The formation of LineageOS 17.1 builds was discontinued on January 31.
Support for many older devices has been declared obsolete due to the removal of iptables from AOSP and the transition of Android 12 to the use of eBPF for packet filtering. The issue is that eBPF can only be used on devices for which Linux kernel 4.9 or newer releases are available. Support for eBPF has been backported for devices with kernel 4.4, but porting for devices tied to kernel version 3.18 is complicated. Workarounds have provided the ability to load Android 12 components over older kernels, implemented through a fallback to iptables; however, these changes were not accepted into LineageOS 19 due to interference with packet filtering. Until an eBPF port for older kernels emerges, LineageOS 19 builds for such devices will not be provided. If LineageOS 18.1 builds were formed for 131 devices, only 41 devices currently have builds available for LineageOS 19.
Compared to LineageOS 18.1, in addition to changes specific to Android 12, the following improvements have also been proposed:
- The transition to the android-12.1.0_r4 branch from the AOSP (Android Open Source Project) repository has been completed. The WebView browser engine has been synchronized with Chromium 100.0.4896.58.
- Instead of the new volume control proposed in Android 12, control panel a fully reworked custom panel has been implemented, which slides out from the side.
- A dark interface theme is enabled by default.
- The Clang compiler provided in the AOSP repository has been used as the primary tool for building the Linux kernel.
- A new Setup Wizard has been proposed, which includes a large set of new settings pages, as well as new icons and animations from Android 12.
- A new collection of icons has been launched, covering almost all applications, including system ones.
- The photo gallery management app has been improved, which is a branch of the Gallery app from the AOSP repository.
- Improvements have been made to the update installation program, the Jelly web browser, the Recorder app, the FOSS Etar scheduling calendar, and the Seedvault backup program. Enhancements added to FOSS Etar and Seedvault have been returned to the upstream projects.
- A version of the navigation interface (Android TV Launcher) has been proposed for use on Android TV devices, free from advertisements. An additional button handler has been added to Android TV builds, allowing the use of extra buttons on various remote controls working via Bluetooth and infrared.
- Support for building in the Android Automotive target platform mode has been added for use in automotive infotainment systems.
- The binding of the adb_root service to the property defining the build type has been removed.
- The image unpacking utility now includes support for extracting data from most types of archives and update images, simplifying the extraction of necessary binary components for device operation.
- The SDK now allows increasing the polling rate of touchscreens to reduce touch response time.
- For accessing cameras on Qualcomm Snapdragon-based devices, the Camera2 API has been used instead of the Qualcomm-specific interface.
- The default desktop wallpapers have been replaced, and a new collection of wallpapers has been added.
- The Wi-Fi Display function, which allows remote output to an external screen without a physical connection to the monitor, has been implemented for all devices, including those supporting Qualcomm's proprietary wireless interface and Miracast technology.
- The option to assign different sounds for different charging types (wired charging or wireless charging) has been provided.
- The built-in firewall, limited network access mode, and features related to application isolation have been rewritten in light of the new network isolation mode in AOSP and the application of eBPF. The code for data restriction and network isolation has been consolidated into a single implementation.
Source: opennet.ru
