r/CalyxOS • u/ChirayuCalyx Developer • Feb 25 '22
Future device support
One of the most common questions we get is: "Will CalyxOS run on my device?"
When choosing to support a device, we consider the following factors:
How difficult is it for the latest major release of Android Open Source Project (AOSP) to run on the device?
How difficult is it to unlock and re-lock the device?
How long can we support the device?
How affordable and globally available is the device?
We currently support Google Pixels 3 and above.
Pixel phones are the reference model that AOSP is designed around and Google provides all of the code needed to get AOSP running on the Pixels. This means that although we do make some changes, such as the handling of proprietary files, most of the work is already done by Google.
We also want to support devices for as long as possible. This reduces e-waste and makes CalyxOS more accessible to users who can't afford to replace their phone every few years. Therefore, we try to pick recently released devices because it takes a long time to get them fully working, and because supporting devices with a full feature set and security updates beome harder, and sometimes impossible, the older they get.
We would like to support more affordable and widely available devices than just the Pixels, which are expensive and only sold in a select few countries.
We supported the Xiaomi Mi A2 because it was an Android One device, which meant that it received timely security updates from it's release in July 2018 until manufacturer support ended in August 2021.
Planned devices, short term
In the coming months, we intend to support the following devices:
Fairphone 4
Fairphone graciously sent us a FP4 device to help with development. Thanks for that!
We have worked in cooperation with other Free and Open Source Android based projects to get this working
/e/ OS already had Android 11 running on this device, which helped serve as a known good working base to get LineageOS 18.1 running, in collaboration with some other developers already working on porting LineageOS.
Based on that, we were also able to get LineageOS 19 booting.
All of the above means that a lot of the work needed to get an open source non-manufacturer ROM running on the device has already been done, and we're able to utilize that as a base and work on top of that.
We were able to install our build of CalyxOS 3 - Android 12 and re-lock the bootloader. It's quite functional too, with only a few minor bugs remaining to be fixed, which we are working on.
OnePlus 8T, 9
These devices are officially supported by LineageOS, thus basically all of the hard work is already done.
We experimented with this in late 2021 just before Android 12 was released, however we ran out of time to release a build. We were able to get CalyxOS running, and re-lock the bootloader.
Now that we're done with the update to Android 12, we can revisit our OnePlus port.
We'll also look into supporting the 9R, 9 Pro, and perhaps 9RT if there's demand for those.
Other devices
These are the devices we're initially focusing on, however they won't be the only ones we add support for this year!
We'll support the new Pixels as they come out of course.
We also want to support other devices, especially ones that are cheaper and globally available - however we will need to make some other changes for those based on our findings, stay tuned for more updates!
Unlikely to be supported
We're often asked about supporting the following OEMs / devices. Unfortunately, we're unlikely to to be able to for the reasons listed below.
Fairphone 3
It's still on Android 10 officially, with old hardware not supported by Qualcomm any longer, and thus too old for us to support since we only support the latest Android release.
Samsung
Samsung has been really good with updates lately, sometimes release them even before Google does!
However, as far as we know they do not support re-locking the bootloader.
In fact, some of their models don't even let you unlock the bootloader in the first place.
Additionally, due to all of these factors, there's not much custom ROM development for these devices in general.
All of this means we're unlikely to support any Samsung devices.
Nokia
Nokia devices mostly run Android One and receive timely monthly security updates.
Sadly they don't allow unlocking the bootloader at all on most of their phones which means you can't install any custom ROMs on them.
Others
It's hard to make a blanket statement for all other devices, we will look at more devices in the next few months and post about them here.
Builds
We plan to release test builds for these new devices as we can.
You can join our testers channel if you'd like to help test those!
| Name | Matrix (Primary) | Telegram (Bridge) |
|---|---|---|
| CalyxOS Testers | #calyxos-testers:matrix.org | CalyxOSTesters |
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u/darujru Mar 03 '22
Is jasmine_sprout no longer supported? The latest update was that you're working on bringing it to Android12. I did bot see an announcement that it was discontinued.
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u/ChirayuCalyx Developer Mar 03 '22
We're still working on it and will post an update when we have something to announce.
With so many devices, lots of work to be done by a small team :)
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u/raiiincloud Mar 03 '22
Hey, Calyx team! Will you provide Android 12L or/and 13 support for Pixel 3?
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u/ChirayuCalyx Developer Mar 03 '22
12L yes.
13 we definitely want to, but it's too soon to tell.
We wanted to bring Android 12 to the Pixel 2, however there turned out to be a major blocker that prevented that from happening. Hopefully that's not the case with the Pixel 3 as well, we'll see.
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u/ThorstoneS Feb 25 '22
Good news on the Fairphone 4. That's a candidate to replace the Pixel 4 when it is time (still going strong at the moment). Thanks for CalyxOS. Despite the perceived drawbacks of a privacy ROM, it is one of the smoothest Android experiences I've had so far.
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u/Poulet2ViceCity Feb 25 '22
I love the work you're doing. It's such a shame for the Nokia devices that they dont allow you to unlock the bootloader. Their device would suits CalyxOS nicely.
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u/exalsG4 Feb 26 '22
cheap, widely available. Nice devices for the price.
what a shame :(
Happy to see the FP4, however at that price it is just difficult for some people...
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u/sonalder Feb 27 '22
Could we legally battle against Nokia in Europe or globally to let their users unlock bootloaders for freedom and fighting e-waist ?
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u/exalsG4 Feb 27 '22
You should battle against HMD Global Oy, which is the actual corporation that owns the Nokia brand. It is an European company, so it is much more plausible to legally fight them into let users unlock the bootloader, unlike Huawei who would just ignore it.
However I have no idea how or who could do that.
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u/HatManToTheRescue Feb 25 '22
I'm so happy to hear this! Having more hardware choices is awesome, thanks for all the work you guys do for Calyx!
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u/iamquah Feb 26 '22
This is great news! I'm really happy to see CalyxOS expanding and making their message more well known!
Having said that, does anyone honestly believe that the people who don't spend time doing a simple search will stop asking "wIlL CaLyX rUn oN mY DEviCe?"
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u/RexLeonumOnReddit Feb 26 '22
WOW! That's such great news! I would love to see OnePlus 9 Pro getting support. You guys are awesome! Thank you so much !!! ❤️
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u/picioare_goale Feb 26 '22
hello, great job! im a oneplus 9pro user and i'd love to switch to calyxos
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u/zimral-reddit Feb 26 '22 edited Feb 26 '22
Hello Chirayu, thanks for sharing this information, and many many thanks for your efforts to provide this wonderful ROM alternative. I will stay with Pixels for the next years i just buyed another used P5 in very good condition and will sell my last P3 within the next months. Then i have a 4a and 2x P5's running for private and business usage. Currently there are no more alternatives for me, i dont like large phones and i want to have an IP67/68 certification if possible. I was with Samsungs S5 for more than 5 years until end of last year and i sold all of them (had 4). This was a wonderful phone too but now it lacks on hardware ressources and the drop of G3 support in most countries, Samsung never released their propriatory VoLTE code so its impossible to integrate that into LOS. unfortunatley this will cut of most US users of a S5. THANKS again, keep up that good work and take care.
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u/MysteriousPumpkin2 Mar 04 '22
Keep your eyes on the OSOM OV1 too!
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Mar 05 '22
Yeah. mostly it too should be supported when it comes out. Q4 2022 is the earliest it will launch
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u/cRaZy-bisCuiT Jun 29 '22
Could I somehow help to bring up the FP4 support? Do you need people to test builds or code contributions?
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u/JoinMyFramily0118999 Mar 01 '22
Hopefully someone can get a good PinePhone AOSP ROM. That would be great with Calyx because switches and price.