In recent days, we’ve informed you about a variety of official Android 12 updates. They all had one thing in common: Every update was delivered to devices that are currently supported by the respective OEM. But what happens with much older and unsupported smartphones? Do they gather dust? Not a chance at XDA.

When it comes to aftermarket development, some devices never cease to amaze us. And while it may not exactly be the venerable HTC HD2, the Samsung Galaxy S III is certainly carrying on its legacy. Samsung may have long declared the end of upgrade support for this model, but the modding community hasn’t forgotten it at all. The 2012’s flagship has been dual-booted, made to natively run the Linux-based Sailfish OS, and even received mainline Linux kernel support. The latest in the series of developments for the device is an unofficial LineageOS 19.0 custom ROM based on Android 12!

The Exynos 4412-powered Samsung Galaxy S III 3G (model number GT-I9300) can now boot Android 12, courtesy of XDA Recognized Developer html6405. Among the things that do work out of the box, you can find that the cellular radio, camera, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and software/hardware-accelerated video playback are working just fine. However, many LineageOS-specific features are lacking in the ROM, but that is alright as we are still in the early days and these aspects will be fixed on the source side over time.

Samsung Galaxy S III XDA Forums

A few words about bugs, because unfortunately, they are present: The SIM PIN unlock is broken as of now. As a precautionary measure, you must disable your SIM PIN using a different device first, otherwise, you’ll end up with a locked SIM. Formatting a microSD card as the adoptable storage results in a bootloop in the current release. Furthermore, the NFC module of the Galaxy S III isn’t functional yet under this ROM. We are keeping our fingers crossed for the developer to fix these issues soon.

If you still use a Samsung Galaxy S III or have it somewhere hidden away in your desk, make your way to the custom ROM thread and give this amazing piece of work a try.

Download unofficial LineageOS 19.0 based on Android 12 for the Samsung Galaxy S III