LineageOS is an open source Android (AOSP)-based operating system for smartphones, tablets, and set-top boxes. It is community-developed and serves as the successor to CyanogenMod, from which it was forked in December 2016. As of 2025, there are about 4.5 million devices running LineageOS.
In 2009, CyanogenMod was created by Stefanie Jane (Cyanogen). In 2013, Jane obtained venture funding under the name Cyanogen Inc. to allow commercialization of the project. In 2016, as part of a corporate restructure which involved a change of CEO, closure of offices and projects, and cessation of services, Jane either left or was forced out of Cyanogen Inc.
The LineageOS project was formed as a fork of Cyanogen and was officially launched on 24 December 2016. Since Cyanogen Inc. retained the rights to the Cyanogen name, the project rebranded its fork as LineageOS.
The code itself, being open source, was forked around December 2016 under the new name LineageOS and efforts began to resume development as a community project.
On January 22, 2017, the first official builds of LineageOS versions 14.1 and 13.0 became available, following the official announcement in a blog post. In March 2017, it reportedly had one million users with the OnePlus One being the most popular device. Recent development updates were posted on their blog, though this became infrequent after 2019.
During August 2017, the LineageOS team held a Summer Survey in which they asked users for feedback to improve the development of the operating system. The results were published in October and, according to the team, they used the gathered data to improve the upcoming LineageOS 15 release.
As a response to one of the main suggestions received during their first public survey, LineageOS launched a section on their blog titled "LineageOS Engineering Blog" where Lineage maintainers and developers can contribute articles discussing advanced technical information pertaining to Android development.
During the first week of April 2018, LineageOS released new builds with the "LOSGenuine" April Fool's prank that informed unaware users of the software possibly being counterfeit via a persistent notification (which could not be disabled unless the user ran the following command in a root shell):
When the notification was tapped, the software claimed that the device was "uncertified" and needed to mine "LOSCoins", which were a virtual currency and could not actually be spent. Affected builds also had a preinstalled "Wallet" app that showed the current balance of LOSCoins.
Many users mistook the prank for actual malware, and others reportedly found it to be in "poor taste". It was especially criticized for being too "late" for an April Fool's joke, since many users didn't receive the update until days later, making the jest less obvious. On 10 April 2018, LineageOS team director ciwrl issued an official apology for the prank.
No further April Fool's pranks were made after.
A second Summer Survey was conducted in August 2018.
Builds were released on a weekly basis until November 12, 2018, when the release cycle for devices changed: the latest LineageOS branch is built daily, with devices receiving a "nightly" OTA update, while devices on the older branch were moved to a weekly release cycle.
Starting on June 5, 2020, the latest LineageOS branch moved back to a weekly release cycle, as the server couldn't build all available supported devices in just one day, with some devices receiving updates later on the next day.
On March 5, 2024, LineageOS posted a blog to announce the deprecation of version 18.1 shortly after Google had ended security patches for Android 11. A total of 52 devices were dropped and received a final build on that day.
Like its predecessor, CyanogenMod, LineageOS is perceived as free from unnecessary software often pre-installed by a phone's manufacturer or carrier that is considered to be bloatware.
Like CyanogenMod, the LineageOS project is developed by many device-specific maintainers and uses Gerrit for its code review process. It also retained the old versioning format, where the major version number corresponds to the place in the alphabet of the first letter of the codename (and of the commercial name for Android versions prior to 10) (for example, Android 7.1, known as Android Nougat, is LineageOS 14.1). Prior to the official launch of LineageOS, many developers from XDA had already developed unofficial versions of LineageOS from the source code. All the released builds are signed with LineageOS' private keys.
The wiki, containing information regarding installation, support, and development of LineageOS, is also open to contributions through Gerrit. Other Lineage platforms include Crowdin for managing translations, GitLab Issues for bug tracking, and a stats page, which displays the number of active installations from users who opt in to report this statistic. There is also an IRC channel hosted on Libera.chat (#lineageos) and subreddit (r/lineageos).
The XDA Developers forums have been used by members of the Lineage community since the software's inception. Many devices are left unsupported by official releases so community members develop their own unofficial ROMs allowing older phones to use Lineage.
Although Google apps are not included in LineageOS by default due to legal issues, users can flash them with a .zip package, usually referred to as gapps, while installing LineageOS. A side effect of using LineageOS and other custom roms is the impact on Play Integrity API. LineageOS can in some cases be made to work with apps that require passing Play Integrity by installing Magisk and certain modules designed to hide the bootloader status.
LineageOS offers several features that Android Open Source Project (AOSP) does not include. Some of these features are:
LineageOS includes free and open-source apps:
Current
Former
The number of devices supported by LineageOS has changed over time.
In 2019, LineageOS development builds were available for 109 phone models with over 3.0 million active installs.
On February 17, 2024, it was recorded that 118 devices were receiving official LineageOS 21 builds, another 71 devices with LineageOS 20 builds, and the legacy LineageOS 18.1 branch still had a total of 52 devices. On December 31, 2024, a total of 196 devices were recorded on the LineageOS build roster, with 132 devices receiving LineageOS 22.1 builds, and the remaining 64 devices with LineageOS 21 builds.
LineageOS was reviewed positively by 9to5Google, a news website centered around Google products.
Android Police named LineageOS as a good way to extend a device's lifetime, for example with the Google Pixel 4a.
In January 2025, Lifewire described the operating system as "very stable," noting its wide device support, long-standing reputation, and regular updating process. Wired reported in March 2025 that LineageOS can help older Android phones remain functional and updated, while giving users the option to avoid Google services. Similarly, 9to5Google noted that the project provided continued updates for devices that had lost official support, such as the Google Pixel 4a after August 2023.
An Android Authority review in 2025 found that LineageOS delivered a clean interface, fast performance, and improved battery life, though some stock features such as advanced camera modes and NFC payments were not always available.
However, the project has also faced criticism regarding privacy and security. In 2023, German security researcher Mike Kuketz argued that LineageOS had not implemented strong privacy protections, citing its reliance on Google components and inconsistent update practices that vary by maintainer. The technology site Golem.de similarly reported that LineageOS lacks some security features, including Verified Boot, and that delayed security patches and open bootloaders may expose users to additional risks.
LineageOS has a number of notable forks: