LineageOS Statistics Reveal the True Scale of the Custom Android Ecosystem
I am sharing the latest data from the LineageOS project to highlight the vibrant community keeping custom Android alive. These statistics showcase device adoption rates and user engagement, proving that independent development remains a powerful force in the mobile world. The numbers reflect a dedicated user base that values privacy, control, and longevity over stock manufacturer software.
The LineageOS project stands as a testament to what a passionate community can achieve without corporate backing.
- pavon
Wow LineageOS really is a bazaar, and not a cathedral.
* 74% of installs are unofficial builds, not ones released by LineageOS.
* 2/3 of US installs are on non-phones (waydroid, nintendo switch, rpi, etc)
* Most of the installs on actual phones are in China, Brazil and Vietnam
* Less than 21% of installs are on versions that receive security updates, and less than 9% of installs are on the latest version (mostly because device's binary blobs don't support newer android versions?)
- XiS
It's quite sad to see these stats. It used to be the defacto standard for custom ROMs. These dwindling numbers make me think either people aren't as interested in custom ROMs anymore and using the (bloated/Google) factory ROMs or maybe there's some new standard.
Didn't these numbers used to be much, much higher in the past?
NB: Since I'm on GrapheneOS now I haven't looked back
- jeroenhd
Note that these are the statistics coming from people who are willing to share statistics. Quite a few privacy-minded individuals use these ROMs but don't want to send telemetry, which means those installs don't make it into the statistics.
The large amount of Waydroid and Switch installs surprised me a little, but overall this is about what I expected in terms of distribution.
- linzhangrun
Notice the most LineageOS installs is Waydroid...
I miss the free era from 10 years ago. Back then it was probably still called CM.
Now manufacturers are extremely closed: Xiaomi started by making Android ROMs, but today the most practical way to unlock its BL is through exploits...
- RajT88
PSA: LineageOS has some unofficial builds which works on earlier gen Amazon devices. I turned an Echo Show from an annoying ad machine into the device a Chumby always could have been.
- 40four
Recently installed LineageOS on an old Samsung tablet I had laying around. The thing was barely usable with whatever the highest Android version was it was comparable with. Now it works wonderfully! Really happy with it. Privacy features aside, Lineage can do wonders to revive old hardware
- 28304283409234
Note that these stats are based on opt-in data gathering.
- NooneAtAll3
> San Marino: 1 install
I feel like there's a problem in privacy in this dataset...