March 2024 Quarterly Platform Release & Security update
- Pixel 5a and newer pixels
- Also coming soon for Pixel 4a (5G), 5, Fairphone and Motorola
- Pixel 3, 3a, 4, 4a work in progress
Changelog
- CalyxOS 5.5.0
- March 2024 Quarterly Platform Release & Security update
- Chromium: 122.0.6261.105 (latest stable)
Known issues
- Icon, font and shape customization is missing. Existing customizations should stay applied
- Separate Wi-Fi and Mobile data tiles have been removed, use the unified Internet tile for both
Pixel Tablet, Fold
- Taskbar toggle is missing
- Fingerprint sensor touch to unlock setting is not working, it’ll always be on
Pixel 5a, 6, 6 Pro, 6a, 7, 7 Pro, 7a, 8, 8 Pro, Tablet, Fold
- These are the fastest to update for us because Google supports them and handles everything
- We only had to make some minor changes to get them working
| Release channel | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Security express | 8 March, Friday | |
| Beta | 11 March, Monday | |
| Stable | 13 March, Wednesday |
Pixel 4a (5G), 5, FP5, FP4, Moto G32, G42, G52, FP4
- Google no longer supports Pixel 4a (5G) and 5, but they share code with the Pixel 5a, which got updates that needed to be tweaked.
- Since we maintain the code for these devices, we had to do the device-specific changes and make sure everything was fine
- Work in progress, tentative schedule below, if all goes well.
| Release channel | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Security express | 11 March, Monday | |
| Beta | 12 March, Tuesday | |
| Stable | 13 March, Wednesday |
Pixel 3, 3 XL, 3a, 3a XL, 4, 4 XL, 4a, SHIFT6MQ
- Android 14 has been in beta for these devices, except 4a for which it is stable
- Google made a lot of changes in this update, which breaks telephony on these devices entirely
- We’re looking into it and still figuring out what to do
- We’ll keep posting updates here as we try things out and know
Trunk based development
- This was a big update, and Google is switching to a new development model for Android, called trunk-based development
- This is why the build ID now starts with “AP1A”.
- Instead of working on features for months and then releasing it all at once, they’ll constantly keep iterating on the code and avoid having one major release with too many big changes.
- Previously, some new and upcoming features may not be present at all in the code releases.
- Now, more of those upcoming features will be present in the code, just turned off via configuration flags. This makes it far easier to work on and manage those changes.
- This development model is followed by many companies, including Google themselves for most of their other projects, and now Android is following it as well.
- Hopefully for us this means that future releases don’t have too much turmoil, resulting in less work for updates. We’ll see how that pans out later in the year.
Note
- Over-the-air(OTA) Updates: Starting from CalyxOS 7.2.2.0, CalyxOS updates resume automatically over the air. No manual install of updates needed. However, if you would like to manually update your CalyxOS device, see our OTA installation instructions.
- Security Updates for Pixel devices: The Pixel 9a, 9 Pro Fold, 9 Pro XL, 9 Pro, 9, 8a, 8 Pro, 8, Fold, Tablet, 7a, 7 Pro, 7, 6a, 6 Pro, and 6 stock OSes follow a monthly release schedule in direct alignment with the AOSP security bulletin. However, Google has stopped publishing the source code for AOSP QPR1 and QPR3 releases. As a result, CalyxOS is not able to timely include updates of the proprietary components, such as the bootloader, modem, and vendor firmware, for versions based on those specific QPR branches. The CalyxOS releases for the above models only contain the latest fixes to the open-source components, such as the operating system and the Linux kernel. Proprietary components get updates as soon as the corresponding AOSP source code becomes available.
- Security Updates for non-Pixel devices: The Fairphone 5, 4, Motorola moto g 5G 2024, moto g84 5G, moto g34 / g45 5G, and SHIFTphone 8 stock OSes follow a different security update release schedule, which is usually behind AOSP updates by a month or two. The CalyxOS releases for these devices only contain the latest fixes to the open-source components. Proprietary components get updates as soon as the stock OS update becomes available.
- End-of-life: The Motorola moto g52, moto g42, moto g32, Pixel 5a (5G), 4a (5G), and 5 are no longer being updated by the manufacturer, the CalyxOS updates for these devices only contain the fixes to the open-source components. Proprietary components no longer get updated.
Matrix channel
- If you’re having trouble trying to post messages to the #CalyxOS matrix channel, try to leave the channel if possible, and then try writing
/join #CalyxOS:matrix.orgin any chat in Matrix. That should re-connect you to the channel.