Google has updated the end-of-life (EOL) dates for presently supported kernels and added additional support lifetime guarantees to the official documentation on Android Common Kernels (ACK). The Android Open Source Project (AOSP), which encompasses Google’s own Android implementations for outside businesses involved in the Android ecosystem, is mostly divided into ACKs.
In 2017, Linux developers made the decision to sustain LTS releases for six years. The support period was later reduced to two years when that decision was changed. The LTS Linux kernel is a crucial component of the Android codebase since Google chooses the most secure open-source kernel and adds extra features and vendor-specific features that are needed by Android devices.
Google’s direct involvement is helping to deepen the relationship between ACK and Linux LTS. Now that most Android versions are supported for at least four years, the company will extend support to stable LTS kernels. Based on the Linux 6.1 LTS branch, Android 14 will be maintained through 2029. In the interim, support for the Android 15 kernel (Linux LTS 6.6) will last until 2028.
Third-party providers will be subject to extra requirements as a result of the new support policy. OEM makers will now have to use the Linux kernel’s 6.1 or 6.6 LTS branch when releasing phones built on Android 15 or later.
Security updates and bug fixes are constantly applied to Linux LTS, although it is not updated with the newest (and sometimes unstable) features found in kernel branches outside of LTS.
It is explicitly stated in Google’s official documentation that “ACKs receive bug fixes for Android-specific code as well as LTS merges from upstream.” The security patches that the company lists in its monthly Android Security Bulletins are among these Android-specific fixes. The support lifetime for the stable (LTS) kernels is four years, beginning with kernel 6.6. Google labels devices running the relevant Android versions as “vulnerable” when kernels are no longer supported.
In addition, Mountain View is streamlining the ACK release process. Android 15 will only use the android15-6.6 branch since the company will only release one new ACK branch for every kernel version.