If you still have a venerable Samsung Galaxy S3 or Note 2 in a drawer, now is the time to take it out and install Android 14 on it. A feat made possible by a specific version of LineageOS.
Just because you have an old smartphone doesn’t mean you necessarily want to get rid of it, as long as it works. And with Google ensuring 7 years of updates on the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro for example, that encourages keep your device for a long time. Except that not all models are in the same boat. Technological advancement obliges, as the years pass, some become obsolete. They do not refuse to light up if you have taken care of them, but remain stuck on an old version of Android. Well, not exactly.
Released in 2012, Samsung’s Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note 2 officially received Android 4.4.2 KitKat as the last update, with the famous TouchWiz overlay from the Korean manufacturer. Not even mentioning the many missing features, such an old operating system is more vulnerable to security breaches, mostly uncorrected. But that was without counting on a developer of LineageOS, a custom ROM born from the ashes of CyanogenMod. Thanks to version 21, the Galaxy S3 and Note 2 run Android 14.
The Galaxy S3 and Note 2 run Android 14 in video
In the demonstration video below, we can clearly see the mention Android version 14 in the settings of a Galaxy S3. Please note that this is more of a technical demonstration than anything else. In absolute terms, it works, but there are bugs and some stability issues. THE storage encryption is not possible, and you will not have the OneUI overlay neither. If, however, you want to try the adventure, you will need to be patient and scrupulously follow a tutorial.
As a reminder, broadly speaking, this presupposes first of all unlock bootloader of the smartphone. You will then need to install a “custom recovery” like TWRP from software, Odin Or Heimdall For example. Only after this can you “flash” (install) LineageOS on the smartphone. The ROM does not contain any Google applications. If you want to use them, you will also need to install a package including them.