The Pixel 4 rises from the ashes with Android 16 from LineageOS

That relic of a tool that’s gathering mud in your drawer may nonetheless have a lease of life in it but. Google formally stopped updating the Pixel 4 again in 2022, however the telephone is now getting Android 16 anyway — simply not from Google.

As noticed by Android Police, the LineageOS workforce has formally added help for the Google Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL as a part of LineageOS 23. The Pixel 4a, 4a 5G, Pixel 5, and Pixel 5a are additionally now supported. That’s the undertaking’s Android 16-based launch, and the “official” standing means the maintainers think about it steady sufficient for on a regular basis use, with core options working as anticipated.

This transfer comes properly after Google’s remaining OS replace for the Pixel 4 sequence, which arrived with Android 13. Whereas the system has technically been in a position to run unofficial LineageOS 23 builds for some time, official help is a step up, signalling broader testing and ongoing upkeep slightly than a one-off construct.

LineageOS 23 itself relies on Android 16’s preliminary steady launch, slightly than the newer QPR builds. Meaning a few of Android 16’s headline options launched afterward aren’t included right here, although the bottom platform adjustments are current. As with all customized ROM, putting in it requires unlocking the bootloader and manually putting in new system software program, which isn’t one thing each Pixel proprietor will wish to try.

The Pixel 4 may be one of many oldest units to obtain this remedy, nevertheless it’s removed from alone. LineageOS 23 already helps Android 16 on a protracted record of units, together with a lot newer Pixels such because the Pixel 6 by way of Pixel 9 sequence, alongside telephones from Samsung, OnePlus, Xiaomi, and others. In that context, including a 2019 Pixel highlights simply how far past Google’s official timelines neighborhood tasks can stretch system help.

In the event you’re nonetheless utilizing a Pixel 4 or have one as a backup telephone, LineageOS 23 now presents a technique to run Android 16 lengthy after Google has moved on. Simply keep in mind that that is nonetheless a customized ROM, with all the standard caveats that include manually putting in unofficial software program. For a listing of supported units and set up directions, take a look at the undertaking’s web site.