You can now get Android 10 in Motorola Nexus 6 with Official LineageOS 17.1. To recall, Nexus 6 was released with Android Lollipop out of the box and later upgraded to Nougat, and then stopped getting updates after that. This official LineageOS 17.1 brings all the features of Android 10 along with exclusive LineageOS features. Downlink link and Installation guide are provided in the post.
LineageOS is the most trusted and most used Custom ROM for Android. It is an AOSP based Custom ROM that focuses on giving Stock Android experience with some extra essential features. There are many great features in LineageOS 17.1 and it gives a good performance and battery life. LineageOS also push monthly security patches that ensure the safety of your device.
Speaking of Nexus 6, it was released back in October 2014. It sports a Qualcomm APQ8084 Snapdragon 805 chipset and Adreno 420. It came in two variants: 32GB 3GB RAM and 64GB 3GB RAM. The display is a 5.96 inches AMOLED panel at a resolution of 1440 x 2560 pixels with Corning Gorilla Glass 3. Coming to the Cameras, it houses a single 13 MP lens on the back and a 2 MP lens on the front. It is fueled by 3220 mAh battery and supports Wireless Charging.
Table of Contents
Download LineageOS 17.1 for Nexus 6 (Shamu)
GAPPS Use ARM GApps
- Visit the XDA Thread of The ROM before flashing
- All Credit to the developer Elektroschmock
Issues:
- Trusted voice is not working and probably never will
- TWRP is not able to decrypt your data if you encrypted it with lineage-16.0
- IMS is not working (VoLTE, VoWi-Fi and Carrier video calling)
About LineageOS
LineageOS is the most used and most trusted Custom ROM out there. It was started as CyanogenMod and known to be the first custom ROM or firmware which was able to make its way to some smartphone as pre-installed default firmware.
LineageOS is based on AOSP code and you will hardly feel a difference from stock Android. There are some third-party apps like Trebuchet, AudioFX, Clock, Dialer. Jelly, Eleven Music Player, Recorder, Snap Camera. All the apps are useful and there are no Ads in them. LineageOS comes without Google app or GApps, you have to install them after flashing the ROM.
Due to its stability and performance, many other custom ROMs use LineageOS code as their base, some of them are Resurrection Remix and crDroid.
If you want a daily driver with good battery life and performance, then LineageOS is one the best option for you.
About the Android 10
Android 10 is the latest version released by Google with a lot of new improvements in much-needed areas. With an increased focus on Privacy, the new Dark Mode, and the improved Gestures, Android 10 brings a lot of long-awaited features.
Dark Mode
Dark Mode was a very requested feature and Google gave Dark mode in some of its Apps before. System-wide Dark Mode is finally here in the Android 10. It can save a lot of battery life especially if you are using an AMOLED screen. It also goes on your eyes.
Privacy Features
A more powerful set of Privacy features is not just necessary for the user but for the big companies too because of the hefty fines they are getting by Government.
The Permissions are now very strict and will ask if an app can use a particular thing like GPS or a Sensor every time, only when the app is open or it can’t use the Sensor at all. You can find the new Permissions manager in the Setting which will list all the apps using a specific sensor or service.
New Gestures
Android 10 finally brings a New Gestures system that can replace the traditional Three-button navigation system and Android Pie’s navigation bar.
Although the Gestures are inspired by iOS’s gesture (It is the same), the Gestures are now usable and are easy to use.
New Theming options
Theming options were found on Beta 2 version of Android 10 and are expected to come with the release of the Pixel 4 launch.
Focus Mode
Focus Mode is a feature introduced to curb your Phone addiction. The main point of this feature is that you can select a bunch of apps that are distracting and you can stop them all for a duration of time. At that time, there will be no notifications and you won’t be able to use the app.
The New share menu is now ordered alphabetically and the suggested apps appear on top of the list. It is a big relief as the previous Share menu was a complete mess.
Live Captions
Live caption is a feature that will display captions on a video played offline or with the Video player. It looks like a very good feature for Deaf and people with difficulty in hearing. Also, it can come in handy at night when you don’t want to wake the person sleeping next to you.
How to flash LineageOS 17.1 Custom ROM on Nexus 6
Instructions are taken from Official XDA thread of ROM
Pre-requisite
- Remove all Pins and Password so Decryption dont fail
- Install ADB and Fastboot
- Make sure to update to latest Firmware
- Flash the latest TWRP given above
- Charge the device to at least 50%
Using Lineage Recovery
- Download the Recovery, rename it to recovery.img and move it to adb folder in C Drive
- Open Powershell Window by Shift + Right Clicking simultaneously
- Type this command to Temporarily flash the recovery
fastboot flash boot recovery.img
- Format the Data by Going in the Wipe Section, this will remove the encryption
- On the device, select “Apply Update”, then “Apply from ADB” to begin to sideload.
- Go to the ADB folder and move Lineage ROM there. Rename it to rom.zip
- Open Powershell window by Shift+Right Click and open Powershell
- Sideload the package using the command
adb sideload rom.zip
- To flash GApps, Goto Advance and Reboot to recovery
- After Rebooting Recovery, Tap on Apply update, then Apply from ADB and sideload the GApps using the aforementioned command.
adb sideload gapps.zip
The first boot will take some time so be patient. And that’s it, you have flashed the LineageOS 17.1 Custom ROM for Nexus 6.
If you are facing any problem or got a question, leave a comment below.