How I revived my old Android phone with an open-source OS
How I revived my old Android phone with an open-source OS
https://www.howtogeek.com/lineageos-how-i-revived-my-old-android-phone-with-an-open-source-os/
Publish Date: 2026-02-05 09:30:00
Source Domain: www.howtogeek.com
Got an old Android phone sitting unused in a drawer? By installing an open-source ROM, you can bring it bang up to date and give it a whole new lease of life. That’s what I did with my old Motorola phone. Here’s how it went.
Why I chose an open-source OS
Like many, I keep an old phone on hand as an emergency backup. Mine is the Moto G7 Plus. It was a pretty solid mid-ranger back in the day, but it quickly fell foul of Motorola’s patchy update policy.
As a result, this seven-year-old phone is stuck on Android 10 and hasn’t been updated for years. Even as a backup, it’s not ideal. But fortunately, there was a way to give it a new lease of life.
Android’s custom ROM scene is not what it was—and with good reason—but it’s still going strong in some areas. LineageOS is by far the most well-established and widely available open-source custom ROM. There should be an official build for you as long as your device isn’t too obscure and you can unlock its bootloader. Sadly, many modern Samsung flagships and some recent Pixels are unsupported, but most other brands are well catered for.
It’s up to date, too. LineageOS 23 is based on Android 16. For my Motorola, the Android 15-based LineageOS 22 is the latest version, but it’s still developed and gets regular updates, so it’s a perfectly serviceable option.
It comes without the Google apps and services by default, although you have the option to install them if you…
