The Galaxy S8 and Note 8 can now be upgraded to Android 10

While Samsung prompted speculation last week that the Galaxy S8 and Note 8 would eventually receive One UI 2.0, its custom version of Android 10, there are no guarantees. If the company's past behaviour is anything to go by, then the Galaxy S8 and Note 8 will be abandoned on Android 9.0 Pie builds of One UI. By extension, this would apply to the Galaxy S8 Plus too, although all three are capable of running Google's latest OS. Samsung is releasing One UI 2.0 to newer but less powerful smartphones than its trio of former flagships too, so we doubt there are any hardware restrictions at play.

Thankfully, community developers are on hand where official developers are not. Several on the XDA Developers forums have already brought Lineage OS 17.1 to the Galaxy S8, S8 Plus and Note 8, albeit an unofficial version of it. LineageOS is, for those who are unaware, an open-source OS that forked from CyanogenMod in 2016.

Please keep in mind that you must have TWRP installed before you can flash Lineage OS 17.1, or any custom ROM for that matter. Unlocking the bootloader of your device is a prerequisite for installing TWRP, too.

The unofficial Lineage OS 17.1 projects are also in their infancy. Both launched yesterday and are currently affected by several bugs. The bug list is as follows:

• Signal bar is broken, it's like empty most of the time
• Screen Cast
• Stock Camera Video recording is broken
• Some Bluetooth headphones don't work apparently. But some do.
• Selinux permissive

If you are interested in flashing Lineage OS 17.1 to your device, then you will also need to grab the latest version of GApps. Once both are downloaded, then simply reboot to recovery, flash both packages and then reboot your device. Personally, we would wait a few weeks before the community developers address some of the bugs listed above. However, the ROM should eventually prove a good alternative of upgrading your Galaxy S8, S8 Plus or Note 8 to Android 10 if Samsung never gets around to bringing One UI 2.0 to the three devices.

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