LineageOS 23

Summary

23 - Primetime Release Hey there! Welcome back! This last year has been a whirlwind to say the least, but we have remained dedicated to bringing an updated LineageOS based on Android 16 to the masses! We’ve been hard at work rebasing all of our changes and features since Android 16’s release in June. Android 16’s first release mainly contained iterative improvements and some UI/UX refinements, but due to our previous efforts adapting to Google’s UI-centric adjustments in Android 12 through 14, we were able to rebase onto Android 16’s code-base faster than anticipated. Yes you read that right: We’re early this year! Other components have complicated our release and security patching efforts, but we’ll get to that shortly. Google’s Patch Cadence, and LineageOS Going Forward Firstly, what even is an ASB? Or a QPR? ASB (Android Security Bulletin) – Google’s monthly roundup of newly fixed security vulnerabilities across the Android ecosystem. Distributed as a list of patches and security branch updates for older but still supported Android versions, with the current version tagged monthly. These updates let projects like ours and OEMs stay aligned with Google’s security baseline. QPR (Quarterly Platform Release) – Mid-cycle updates to a given Android version, landing every few months. QPRs bring not just security fixes but also bug fixes, performance improvements, and feature changes (like Material 3 Expressive in 16 QPR1). Okay, why are you telling me this? You’ll notice we are choosing to release LineageOS 23.0, and not 23.1. That’s because it’s based on Android 16’s initial release (what we’ll call QPR0), even though QPR1 has already rolled out to Pixels. The catch? Google never pushed QPR1’s source to AOSP. They’ve said it’ll come “in the coming weeks” (source), but right now only contracted partners have access. And to answer the immediate question, the likelihood that any custom ROM will ever be a contracted Google partner is near 0. On top of that, Google’s handli...