LineageOS is currently installed on 1.5 million Android devices

Honestly, Custom ROMs have been in decline of usage since few years. There are also Other ROMS like Pixel Experience, PixyOS, Havoc, evolutionX, PixelOS, Paranoid, Derpfest, CrDroid and lot more.
The reason for the drop is due to a combination of reasons like better OEM UI, unpublished Kernel code (Chinese OEMs, Mediatek), locked bootloaders and Safetynet issues.
I'm currently rocking CrDroid it has currently ~85K active devices (https://stats.crdroid.net/).
- Before i got my Pixel 6 Pro, i've been running Custom Roms on everything. The Pixel 6 Pro is probably the first device, i'm actually okay running Stock. It just does what it should. And i'll be honest, the hassle of getting it to work properly (Banking, Netflix, etc) is just too much for my everyday phone...Google really did a number on that one, both positive and negative. I kind of hate it...
  
  Ironically that's one of the only phones that you have the choice of not running stock
  
  I used to turn to custom roms to extend the life of my phone. My first smartphone didn't get an official update after I purchased it for example. The custom roms often made the phone snappier too.
  These days I'm on a mid range Samsung phone released almost 4 years ago and it's still getting updates.
  
  Ditto on a Pixel 6 Pro. There were a ton of people with issues when this thing came out, but I was lucky enough to dodge all the issues.
  
  Google really did a number on that one, both positive and negative. I kind of hate it...
  And yet you bought a Pixel and supported them in this.
- Safetynet issues
  Fun part of this is that it relies entirelly on Googles tracking framework.
- Do custom ROMs still have issues with some apps not allowing them? It's been an eternity since I tried one and I don't know if it's a hard requirement, but at least when I did try it, I had (?) to root my device and my bank apps refused to work after that.
  
  Many applications especially banks require Google Safetynet to be functional, even without root. I am running DivestOS, a hardened version of LineageOS without gapps, and I can't have access on my bank because I chose freedom. Democracy at its finest...
  
  Some banking or payment apps can detect root and won't let you use them.
  When I used to run Custom ROMs I just used magisk to hide the root and these apps would work fine afterwards.
  
  I haven't encountered such a thing yet (been using for 5 months).
  There are lot of methods to bypass those checks even now, and often many ROMs do this by default. (LineageOS doesn't do that afaik)
- better OEM UI
  Very subjective.
  Unpublished kernel code
  Don't use those phones.
  Locked bootloaders
  Plenty of OEMs allow bootloader unlocking, stop buying Samsung.
  Safetynet issues
  It's Google Play Integrity checking now, and as someone who has been using LinageOS on unrooted phones for a while, I've never had these issues. Not to say people out there aren't having them, but it's not as bleak as people seem to believe it is.
  I have one phone that's rooted, and I have to use magisk to hide it, and that occasionally has issues, but not the non-rooted ones running custom roms.
  
  Where are these OEMs that allow proper bootloader unlocking on most of their range?
  Google, Sony ...? Huawei stopped doing it, Oppo & Samsung doesn't last I checked.
  
  It's Google Play Integrity checking now, and as someone who has been using LinageOS on unrooted phones for a while, I've never had these issues. Not to say people out there aren't having them, but it's not as bleak as people seem to believe it is
  Maybe a week ago they borked the integrity of custom ROMs. GPay/Wallet doesn't work anymore with Magisk shenanigans. Happened to every ROM I checked.
  
  I'm talking from a general user perspective who often can't even differentiate between chipsets let alone look for such details.
  People used to got to Custom ROMs because OEMs were really doing shit job, that's not the case now given now.
  
  Now try to use most of Banking applications (even McDonalds app lol) Most of these application require Google Play Integrity. So practically, you are enforced to use Google Play Services or buy a second device to run android with gapps and then power it off (that's what I did)

Lineage OS is really great, I recommend the forked version with MicroG bundled to use google apps.
- Depends on how pure you want to be. If you are a purest, that is a bad thing to do.
  
  Well yes you are right, but being completely pure is borderline impossible IMO, and most people transition slowly.
- I want to move away from GSF, how is MicroG working nowadays? I used it some years ago but it was buggy with any app related to mapping, and some other quirks.
  
  It works perfectly in my case can't say for others. You should check their issues page in github about your device.
  
  Works perfectly fine for me. I've also used an app that used Google Maps in it and it worked perfectly fine. Instead of Google Maps it displayed the map on OpenStreetMap.
- Or, just skip that step altogether
  
  If you aren't sure if you can fully degoogle then it a great offer. Unfortunately many apps depend on GSF so its understandable.
- Is it equal to a regular android? Will the usual banking apps work on it, for example?
  
  They work in the browser;)
  For now
  
  With the right Magisk modules I got my banking apps working
  
  The Sparkasse (german bank) app works perfectly fine. I use LineageOS with microG and I'm not logged in with a Google account or anything.
  
  Nowadays with SafetyNet hardware checks it's a dangerous game to rely on that.
  
  No. Banking won't work and you can't lock bootloader. As far as I know there's no Recovery password so someone could just adb and pull data. If you want to use banking apps you could use magisk to pass safety net but that will make your phone less secure. Personally I have no banking app so I don't give a shit

1hr 45mins?!
- It's a podcast. Most people listen to it while doing other things and don't watch it in a single sitting.
  If you don't want to watch it, then don't, but it really is a great podcast.
- Damn, Sweet Brown. Ain't seen her in forever!

I used LineageOS before switching to GrapheneOS
- Why did you switch?
  
  Quarantined google play services on an alternate profile was a big sell for me. I don't use anything google related in my day to day but occasionally I need traffic updates or alternative routes and I'm forced to use google maps. There's a few other exceptions where I very rarely will need to use google play services.
  In those situations, I can boot to an alternate profile for each app I need to use, and I know google is unable to harvest the majority of my data.
  GrapheneOS has hardened security compared to lineageOS.
  LineageOS did some type of takeover on cyanogenmod and I forget the details but I remember the whole situation left a sour taste in my mouth.
- I'm the opposite. I was running graphineos until the device ran out of the support window, and then it became lineage os.

Here you can take a look at popularity by device
- And it could've even been useful, had they not chosen to show the code names instead of the make and model...
  
  I second this. Definitely not gonna be looking up for each entry.
- Daaamn sagit (xiaomi mi 6) number 3. Writing this from a sagit with LOS, such a great phone. This is why it's great to have community supported roms, this phone hasn't been updated for many many years and would be close to being unusable if it wasn't for them.
  I have this phone since December 2017 and I've had no issue so far to make me change. I've thought many times about upgrading, but it's so smooth, camera with gcam is great and new things like quick charging and 5g are things that I don't really need, so I haven't changed yet. I'm afraid of choosing a device that won't be as good as this one and that it won't last as long.
  It's sad that community made Roms are less and less popular, I feel like phones are evolving less each year and Roms are a great way to have more control and extend the lives of your phone.
  
  I had a similar experience with the Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1. It was a budget phone but it had tons of custom roms and it lasted a good 4 years for me. I had to change phones because it broke during a motorcycle accident.

I'm obstinate as fuck, and I have a downright unhealthy resentment of having software capabilities taken away. As long as there's a single setting or feature that I can get from a custom ROM that I can't get on stock, I will use them.
Many versions ago, Google removed the "hold back button to kill foreground app" functionality, and I'll use LineageOS soley to keep that (but there's plenty of other reasons). The ability to restore useful features that Google and OEMs take away is an absolute necessity for me.
It's almost enjoyable; I get a kick out of telling Google to fuck itself and restoring my device's capabilities.
- I feel the same way, though on LineageOS, I wasn't able to get the double-click-power-for-camera to ever work properly. Do you happen to have/use that feature?

There are DOZENS OF US! DOZENS!!

Lineage os is great

It's hard to find estimates of android devices, but most reports I found indicate around 3 billion, and this makes us around 0,05%. I expected it to be low, but not like that...
- But how much of that is phones? There's a lot of other devices running Android.
  
  Good point. I found no data making that distinction, so we can't really know.
  
  See the calculator some guy made run doom or a barcode scanner at my job.
  Android is a fairly good target development platform, it's still getting updates, apps built for older versions of android still work on newer versions, large active tallent pool both perfessionally and hobbyist, absolute metric fuck ton of tutorials. Yeah, if you're making a new product it isn't hard to just make it an android computer and throw am app on there that you make that does the thing.
- Billion or million? :P

I've been using LineageOS on my OnePlus 8, after a couple buggy updates from the manufacturer. I haven't looked back once.
I use my phone pretty averagely and never run into bugs or problems, and the added features make it a no brainer.
I've rarely run into app compatibility issues, but there's usually a simple solution available. Or a different app!

do banking apps work on it again?
- It's a constant cat and mouse game with Google. You can use Magisk with Zygisk enabled, Shamiko, and Play Integrity Fix (there's also a few other combos that work) to get baking apps to work. I have no issues on my rooted Pixel 8 Pro, but it's always a gamble if Google updates their end and then you get locked out of Google Wallet for a day once you update your fixes (not banking apps).
- @bort @ijeff As long as you don't root it, yes... and if you root it there is workarounds that might work.
  
  @bort
  You talking to me?
  
  Unfortunately GPay / Google Wallet has been borked on most ROMs since the recent Google shenanigans about a week ago. Even those not rooted. I got hit by that, running ArrowOS and not being rooted.
  My bank's app works though so eh, lost some convenience but can get things done.
- Depends on your bank. My bank's app (Sparkasse) has always worked, even when I had Magisk installed.

How did they measure this?
- I don't know the exact modus operandi, but usually this is achieved by using some "phone home" mechanism which sends a device identifier (to ensure uniqueness) along with an OS version (and maybe some other fingerprints to ensure integrity of the data - like a hash of CPU hardware, etc).

Will be +1 when have official support for the poco X5 pro. (If I can pay with mobile)
🤓
- (If I can pay with mobile)
  Correct me if I'm wrong, but so long as you root with Magisk and configure the denylist, installing the SafetyNet Fix and changing the Props if you need to spoof a device ID, then you'll always be able to use Google Pay/contactless, regardless of whether on Lineage or another custom ROM.

I had LineageOS on my Nexus 4. Every damn phone I've had since hasn't had any custom ROM available (and one couldn't even be rooted; fuck Samsung). I want it back.
- Here bro, once you get to choose a new device, you know where to look for
  Https://lineageosdevices.com
  All these are excellent rootable devices
  
  I like the filtering this site has got but it's missing an option for the one thing I want most that is becoming increasingly more difficult to find: a 3.5mm audio jack. Other than that, though, this is pretty slick even for just finding a new phone in general.

I wish I could install lineage on my s10+ snapdragon. I just got this phone and now I just ordered a pixel to get grapheneos. I was willing to pay this guy on telegram to unlock my phone so I could try to get lineage to work or at least a custom rom, but my bootloader is one update off, I have v6 but he only supports up to v5. I hate ordering new devices when my current ones are still functional. I also am getting rid of my fitbit I also just got and replacing it with the amazon band 5 since it can connect to gadgetbridge. Degoogling is expensive, it shouldn't be this bad just to get privacy. I'm not sure what to do with my devices I am replacing, but I hate that they had to be replaced in the first place. I also switched from google services to proton mail/drive/vpn.
- Keep them forever like I do! Just start collecting smartphones because it's better for the environment. I have like 10 of them never going into a landfill. Maybe find people who actually need phones idk.
  
  I'm thinking about selling my old phones on eBay. It's better if someone can get any use out of them instead of them just laying around in my room.

Lineage is fucking Awesome. I fucking love android without google crap

Does this include devices running unofficial ports of lineageOS?
- Represent

It's my daily for my only phone. But I also run it on my 10 year old Nexus 7 because it's still supported and a good experience.
- Hmm I should dig mine up, see if it still boots.

And some applications still refuse to launch on it, preferring an outdated version of Android because Google does not send its security updates after 3 years.

I've changed thanks to not having any update on my Moto G7 Power since 2021.

Wow, I thought it was more than that. I guess among other things that shows how much less shitty stock OEM Android ROMs have gotten.

How do I get one with it preinstalled?
- Put simply, you don't. If your phone is supported and the documentation is there, the installation is a breeze.
  
  No. If it was easy to install then there would be a installation guide on the phone. Not even a installation program available on the computer to assist.
- Buy one from someone who does the installing on sites like Ebay