How come there is no Lineage nor /e/ availabity for new devices?

Hi there,
I’ve been using Lineage OS with microG for a while now on my Motorola Moto G 4G (thea), but the phone is getting quite old and I will soon need to buy a new one.
I was looking to get one rather recent, and available for Lineage or /e/ OS to install it to.

But when I’m looking at the supported devices list, most of them are quite old. Same thing with Lineage, same thing with /e/. I don’t actually understand why. It’s almost like it’s impossible to buy a recent phone and put an alternative OS on it.

How come ?

Why all supported devices list are that “old” (tech-speaking old, I mean).

It’s almost if it looks like no one is working on making officials builds for newest phones. And I don’t get it. When I first installed Lineage OS 4 or 5 years ago, many “recent” (at that time) devices were added regularly. But now, it seems it’s no longer the case.

I’m not blaming anyone here, I just try to understand what’s going on. Can someone explain to me ?

It’s frustrating, needing to buy new phone but not having the possibility to do so because of the lack of supported devices.

Thanks for sharing info ! (either on Lineage or /e/ of course).
Hope there’s no other feed about that topic, couldn’t find one when searching before posting…

Regain your privacy! Adopt /e/ the unGoogled mobile OS and online servicesphone

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Dear @awouwou, welcome to the /e/ community forum.
This is definitely not the right place for inquiries concerning LineageOS, you’d rather get in touch with them directly (https://www.lineageos.org/community/).

But, as far as I know, LineageOS is a community project, it is depending a on voluntary contribution of developers and other helping hands. Their work is based on the Android Open Source Project, that’s why there will always be a delay between the official Android publications and subsequent LineageOS publications. For instance (afaik) Lineage 18.0 (based on Android 11) has not been officially released yet.
What devices then are going to be supported with Lineage depend on maintainers who are willing to take on the work on specific devices.
For most devices /e/OS versions are based on prior LineageOS releases.
That explains the delay and why for recent phones there are little/no Lineage releases out (yet).
If you are very impatient you could check out https://www.xda-developers.com/ as unofficial LineageOS releases can already be found there.

Hi @awouwou,
even if device-specific customROMs have a higher level of detail compatibility than phones with Generic System Images (GSI), it is possible to switch to AOSP GSI with every “new” phone, theoritically from Stock Android 8.1, practically better from Stock Android 9, for which it must also be possible to unlock the bootloader, and thus use the phone Google-free. My Galaxy S9+, released in March 2018, shows a possibility …

I think a reason is that more and more vendors stop supporting to unlock the bootloader or make it harder or even require paying for it.
Devices like the OnePlus Nord or the Fairphone 3 with unlockable bootloaders got supported fairly quickly.

Another reason could be the growth of individual brands like Samsung and Huawei who don’t support unlocking the bootloader anymore. So less devices which can be supported.

I have also heard from some friends that they stopped thinkering with phones because the stock OS is good enough nowadays without the hassle a custom ROM can bring.

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Hi all,
thanks for answering.
I’m actually interested - but no expert - in all of that so that’s why it was puzzling for me. Now i get it better.
Maybe it’s something obvious for everyone who’s fully aware and skilled in the customing ROM world, but when you’re just a regular guy trying to fight GAFAM & friends with what you have (meaning no specific IT skills), it can sometimes be hard to find your way and understand what is actually going on.
So thank you. That helped.

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