Galaxy S3 And Galaxy Note 2 Receive Android 14, Albeit Unofficially
Damien Wilde/Android Authority
TL; doctor
- The developer has released Lineage OS 21 based on Android 14 for the Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note 2.
- The Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note 2 were released in 2012 and Samsung has finally updated them to Android 4.4 KitKat with Touchwiz.
Samsung released the Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note 2 in 2012, and they are iconic devices in their own right. Of course, phones last a long time and if you are using one after 12 years, we recommend that you upgrade to the latest Samsung phone. Those hobbyists and enthusiasts who have their phones sitting in their drawers will be happy to know that you can now update both phones to Android 14 using a custom ROM, although not officially.
Third-party custom ROM developer Lineage OS has released 21 custom ROMs for the Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note 2. These custom ROMs are based on Android 14. Lineage OS is especially known for taking the pure Android experience and making small changes. . But significant changes.
Samsung's last official release for older devices was Android 4.4 KitKat with a similar version of TouchWiz listed above. Even if you don't have a unified user interface on these phones, installing the latest version of Android with the help of the market's developer community is commendable.
Since this is an unofficial release, there are some bugs (which can be expected on a device older than ten years). There are stability issues and storage encryption does not work. Needless to say, the custom ROM is considered an alpha version and should not be installed in your daily driver (and I'll be surprised if you're still using a 2024 Galaxy S3).
Installing it on your device is a little more complicated than a simple official software update. First, you need to boot your phone, flash a custom recovery like TWRP through Odin or Heimdall, and then flash that custom ROM through TWRP. The custom ROM also does not come with Google Apps, so you need to flash the GApps package after installing the custom ROM.
However, fan-supported projects show us that maintaining a device over the long term is less a technical challenge and more a business decision. Luckily, Samsung promises Android updates for its current phones with a long period of software support.
