Hi,
I had the same concern upgrading my “lavender” (Note 7) from 1.8 (dev) to 1.14 (dev - beta). My recovery is TWRP and I did a sideload without any problems: no erased data, all apps are working after the upgrade. As I said: no guarantee for XA2 - but no problems on my lavender.
Don’t forget to save good backups before being brave.
You should be able to simply save the new zip file to, or copy it to, your microSD card in the phone. Then boot into recovery (TWRP), create a backup just to be safe, then install the zip. This is called a “dirty flash,” and all your data, installed apps, and settings should be unaffected. If the new build doesn’t play nicely with your phone, you can go back to TWRP and restore the backup of 1.8.
Probably not.
No, you will not lose your data.
This is just an update of the installed build. As long as you’re not upgrading from one Android version to another (e.g. Android 10-based /e/OS to Android 11-based /e/OS), nothing will be lost unless something goes wrong. That’s why you always make a backup first, just in case.
Indeed I forgot to mention Android version. The current version is 11 (corresponding to R).
According to this page (/e/OS version) : https://images.ecloud.global/dev/pioneer/
1.14 is on Android 12 (S). So in fact, there’s an upgrade of Android…
Or am I wrong ?
No, it’s true - but: my upgrade from 1.8 dev (Q) to 1.14 dev / beta (R) via sideload didn’t force me to erase data.
No guarantee - try at your own risk (or not).