Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S and Note line is typically offered in two different processor variants around the world. While devices in USA, Canada, China, etc. receive the Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset, most other regions receive devices with an Exynos chip. The bootloader unlock situation on Snapdragon-powered models is somewhat complicated, so custom ROM development for Galaxy devices is normally focused on the Exynos variants. This is exactly what happened with the flagships of Samsung in 2017. If you own an Exynos Galaxy S8, Galaxy S8 Plus or Galaxy Note 8 and want to try a version closer to the stock of Android 11, well, now you can.
XDA Forums: Galaxy S8 || Galaxy S8 + || Galaxy note 8
Official versions of Project Sakura Custom ROM are now available for Galaxy Note 8 and Galaxy S8 series on our forums and you can flash it to your device immediately. The ROM itself is based on LineageOS 18.1, therefore the version brings all the cool new features introduced in Android 11 while providing a clean user experience supported by some useful tweaks.
Since these are very old versions, there are quite a few broken and missing things at the moment. On the one hand, Hardware Composer (HWC) is not working properly. Second, you will not be able to use the hotspot to share the cellular internet connection. Additionally, HDR video playback is buggy, while Wi-Fi Direct functionality is also discontinued. Regardless, for the section of the Android community that still uses these devices, it’s great to see them still on life support.
If you don’t mind these bugs and still want to try this aftermarket Android 11 port, you can find the download links and step-by-step flashing instructions at the links below for your respective device. You must have an unlocked bootloader and custom recovery like TWRP installed on your device to flash this ROM.
Download Project Sakura ROM based on Android 11: Samsung Galaxy S8 / S8 + || Samsung galaxy note 8
