[Samsung Galaxy S 5 Unified Development] curiousrom:
Galaxy S5 LineageOS 17.1 Upgrade to 18.1 + OTA Update Success Using TWRP

I upgraded my S5 7 days ago and did not lose any apps & settings: Galaxy S5 G900M LineageOS 17.1 klte build 2021-04-18 + Open GApps Pico + TWRP 3.5.2_9-0 >>> LineageOS 18.1 klte build 2021-04-25 + MindTheGapps for Android 11 ARM + Magisk 22.1 which I just OTA updated to LineageOS 18.1 klte build 2021-05-02: everything went smoothly & GApps + Magisk survived the update.

The only major issue is the unusable stock Camera as described here: LineageOS Snap Camera U.I. Not Showing the Full Image Preview. Edit: Good news, following a conversation with a dev this commit was merged & will be included in next build: Snap: use translucent control background on 16:9.

Note: three S5 users so far AFAIK, including @Massedil in his post here, reported not being able to unlock their devices after upgrading to 18.1 from 17.1. I always disable screen & SIM locks before an update or upgrade just to remove variables that may go wrong.

Old versions of TWRP may fail to apply OTA updates. See How To Update TWRP Using TWRP Itself.

BTW don't install the TWRP app when offered in TWRP as it may causes bootloop because LineageOS is enforcing priv-app whitelisting rules.

Several S5 klte variants users reported failed to boot on 17.1 with a modem older than Android 6.0.1. This may also cause No Network or No Service issues on 17.1 & 18.1. See S5 Odin Flashable Modem & Bootloader.

Also before a major upgrade to a higher version but not before regular updates: Magisk > Uninstall > Restore images to preserve my Magisk settings & modules while disabling Magisk (screenshot).

Re-flashed Magisk-22.1.zip after successful boot to System after the upgrade.

MindTheGapps is similar to Open GApps Nano. See Open GApps Package Comparison.

Searching apps with Google in /System:

Android Accessibility Suite

Android Auto

Android Setup

Data Transfer Tool

Exchange Services

Google (search app)

Google Calendar Sync

Google Contacts Sync

Google Partner Setup

Google Play services

Google Play Store

Google Services Framework

Google Text-to-speech Engine

Market Feedback Agent

Markup

You can also download the MindTheGapps package, unzip & search it with apk.

You can disable the Google's search app with it's optional personal data hungry Assistant in it's app info. Which I did because it has too many running services for my taste.

AFAIK from the available Open GApps for Android 11 test builds 20210130 @ the present, only the Pico package was reported as issue free in the Open GApps support thread on XDA: GAPPS DAILY Open GApps for Android; All Android Versions & Devices.

I have been an Open GApps Pico user for years on several devices but since there are no official releases for Android 11 @ the present, I decided to test MindTheGapps because that's what LineageOS links to @ the present in https://wiki.lineageos.org/gapps.html and wanted to post about it.

See https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/ > {device} > Upgrade to a higher version of LineageOS.

After a full TWRP backup (including the important EFS partition but except the Cache) & triggering a fresh Google Backup* (Settings > System > Advanced > Backup in 17.1), I did the same steps as described in that upgrade guide except that I use TWRP 3.5.2_9-0 so sideload must be started manually on the S5 before sideloading from the computer: TWRP > Advanced > ADB Sideload > Swipe to Start Sideload.

Or simply copy the files to the device & flash from there using TWRP.

To make the TWRP backup smaller I use SD Maid > AppCleaner to clear the cache of all apps & make sure to delete all downloaded updates in Updater by long pressing them or if rooted move them from /data/lineageos_updates/ to external or internal SD Card.

In case of failing to boot you can restore only the System, Data & Boot (boot.img is actually the kernel) partions from the full backup.

Obviously there are other backup methods but that's the one I use since a couple of years & restored them both successfully.

On some devices, some versions of TWRP do not work well with LineageOS 18.1 and the Lineage recovery is recommended in those cases but on my S5 klte, TWRP wins hands-down with it's backup/restore feature, File Manager, installing both manually or via sideload & applying successfully OTA updates so I don't see any reasons for switching to the Lineage recovery @ the present.

Tip: to make the S5 18.1 U.I. faster & more fluid when opening the apps drawer, scrolling through home pages, opening Settings, etc: > Settings > Accessibility > toggle on Remove animations.

Try it before & after as fast as you can to see the difference.

*: Warning for people using a pattern lock screen see this bug report: Google cloud backup cannot be restored when using a 4x4, 5x5 or 6x6 lock screen pattern

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Thank you to the Lineage Team & Mr. haggertk for keeping our old S5 up to date. :cool: 👍

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