LineageOS 24.0 moves to Android 17 and adds browser-based flashing

Serguey Asael Shinder12 October 2026, 08:282 min read

The LineageOS project has published Changelog 32, announcing LineageOS 24.0, its first branch based on Android 17. The team says it rebased its changes faster than expected after Android 17 was released in June, because the heavy refactoring Google did in recent versions had already been absorbed in earlier cycles. The project also notes that it turns ten on 24 December 2026.

Security patch policy. Patches from August 2025 to October 2026 have been merged into the 18.1 through 24.0 branches. Full monthly bulletins — and the matching security patch level string — apply to branches Google still issues bulletins for, which at the time of writing means Android 14 (LineageOS 21) and newer. For 18.1, 19.1 and 20.0 the team keeps backporting patches but will not change the patch level string, because Google provides no attestable patch set for those versions. Legacy branches 15.1, 16.0 and 17.1 have patches through November 2025; some December 2025 fixes could not be adapted, and the project asks anyone able to port them to submit them to its Gerrit.

Installation from the browser. The most visible addition for new users is a set of WebUSB flash tools at flash.lineageos.org, which talk to a connected device straight from the browser instead of requiring separate desktop flashing utilities. The project is explicit that this is an extra option: the wiki's existing per-device instructions remain the default and supported path, and support varies by device, browser, operating system and USB connection.

Updater and apps. The Updater now streams updates by default, which the team says greatly shortens installation on A/B devices; on non-A/B devices the recovery partition is updated automatically on the boot after a successful update. Several core apps moved to Material Design 3 Expressive, and there is a new image editor, Canvas, meant to pair with the Glimpse gallery and Aperture camera. The Android TV launcher Catapult gained a battery indicator for handhelds and better Jellyfin support, and the setup wizard lets maintainers insert device-specific pages.

Engineering process. CI now posts verification votes on most app repositories, and every merged commit triggers a GitHub Actions run that publishes build artefacts. The project also completed a free accessibility audit of installation and apps by the a11y project, with recovery navigation already reworked as a result.

What changes for owners of older phones. Devices on Linux kernels 4.4 and 4.9 will not be accepted for 23.2 or 24.0, even where unofficial ports exist; their official ceiling is LineageOS 22.2, which keeps receiving builds. The team's reason is maintenance cost: those kernels carry many platform workarounds that are hard to carry forward. LineageOS 24.0 starts with what the changelog calls a decent selection of devices; others arrive as maintainers bring them up.

Source: LineageOS, Changelog 32 — https://lineageos.org/Changelog-32